Garage & Yard Sale Pricing

It is the start of garage sale season! I LOVE shopping at garage sales. I have been a garage sale shopper since I was kid. My mom and I would hold garage sales or head to the swap meet every weekend to try to make ends meet. I am sort of a garage sale expert- well not really- but I do know a thing or two about having them!

Our local area had a community yard sale last weekend. Although we did score some great deals, I was not impressed overall with the pricing. I know that many people hold yard sales to makes money, but overpricing is not productive. Overpricing actually has the opposite effect- no sales. If you price your items correctly, you can make a good amount of money quickly.

Pricing Tips

Price all of the items. It takes time in advance, but you and the customers will be less stressed the day of the sale. Use masking tape and a sharpie pen or the Dollar Store sells preprinted labels.
Price items at about 1/3 the retail price.
Price to sell. Remember that most of your items are used. Mark your used items down to one third to one quarter of the original price. In my experience, if you price low, you will be more successful overall.
Clothing can be difficult to sell. Baby clothes usually do well. I have always priced general clothing from $0.25 to $0.50 each. For nicer clothes, consider consigning them. Jeans I price at $1 or $2.
Books don’t usually sell well either. I price paperback books at $0.50 and nicer hardbound books at $1. Children’s books I price at $0.50.
As the sale hours go by, mark down your items. Since the goal is to get rid of clutter and make money, I never want to haul the stuff back in the house. I would rather make a little money rather than nothing at all.
Some customers will haggle. Be prepared with the lowest price you will accept. I found that the majority of people will pay your asking price if your price is right!

If you do have nicer items that are a high asking price, consider consigning them or selling them on ebay or craigslist.

For more garage sale tips, check out my How to Hold a Yard Sale post!

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.