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Story and photographs by Karen Daiss
Clutching a ten-dollar bill in one hand, Sarah Metz (left) sorts through a bin of stuffed animals with her mother, Caroline. Toys are always popular selling items at garage sales.
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An organized yard sale using tables to display merchandise in groups will attract more traffic than a sale with a bunch of cardboard boxes scattered throughout the yard.
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Sleeping in on Saturday morning is something that Missi Blakey hasnıt done in years. Awake before the rooster crows, she drives to Wilmington Island to meet her two closest girlfriends for their weekly shopping trips. But Blakey and her companions do not head to the nearest strip mall they are bargain hunters armed with pocketbooks full of quarters, dimes, and one-dollar bills ready to conquer the nearest garage sales.
The trio departs from their home base at 7:45 in the morning in search of the dayıs best bargains. ³Iıve been going garage sale-ingı almost every Saturday for the past five years,² said Blakey. ³Itıs addictive.²
³The first thing I do on Friday morning is turn to the classifieds section of the newspaper and make a list of the garage sales I want to visit,² explained Blakey. ³The bigger my list, the more excited I get about the prospects.²
With her list in one hand and a map of Savannah in the other, Blakey and her friends start their shopping trip on Wilmington Island and then head into town. ³Itıs a slow day if we make it all the way to Georgetown by early afternoon,² she joked.
While rummaging through lawns piled high with unwanted items, this ³queen of cheap² has scored such finds as a brand new couch for $75. Blakey endures teasing from family, friends, and co-workers because of the thrill she gets when finding these great deals. Friends who own a pickup truck wonıt even answer their telephones on Saturday mornings for fear that theyıll be asked to transport her latest yard- sale treasures. ³My thirty-year-old son jokes about his Christmas and birthday gifts, asking how many of them came from garage sales, but I think most people can appreciate a good bargain.²
Like a true shopaholic, Blakey knows the best times to hit the garage sales are in early fall or after the Christmas holidays. Sales at the first of the month also draw bigger crowds because people generally have more money to spend.
How to hold a successful garage sale.
To attract loyal buyers like Blakey, Teresa Orvin, a frequent seller, said that advanced planning is the key to a good sale. And Orvin knows how to host a successful garage sale. Her latest sale in Windsor Forest accumulated over $700. ³I started planning my sale weeks in advance,² she said. ³I priced and stored my items ahead of time, so I didnıt have to do it the day of the sale.²
Orvin also recommended recruiting family members and neighbors to contribute items to the sale. ³The bigger the sale, the bigger the crowd,² she explained. ³Garage sales are a lot of work several helpers can help cut down the preparation time.²
To keep track of items sold in a multi-family sale, Orvin suggested devising a coded pricing system. ³I put the familyıs initials on the price tags and peel them off when the items sell, that way we know how much money to divide among the families,² said Orvin.
One of the most important aspects of a successful sale is advertising. You can place classified ads in the Savannah Morning News, local shoppers (such as the Pennysaver), and community or neighborhood newsletters. The best day to post your ad is one or two days before the date of your sale. If your sale is on Saturday morning, place a classified ad in Thursday and Fridayıs newspaper. Incorporate pertinent information about the sale including time, date, address (and directions if your home is hard to find), and a brief list of items sold. Posting flyers in Laundromats, gyms, grocery stores, or on church bulletin boards is also a great way to promote your sale.
Always place signs in high traffic areas of your neighborhood the day of the sale. Orvin placed signs on each end of her street and a few scattered throughout her neighborhood. Make sure your signs can be read from the street using large, bold letters or numbers (2-3 inches tall) in black ink with arrows pointing in the direction of your house.
Maintaining a consistent style to your sign such as using one color of poster board will help potential shoppers distinguish your sale from others in the area.
You should place big-ticket items such as furniture, appliances, tools, or exercise equipment near the curb of your house to attract the attention of passing cars. According to Orvin, toys, doll clothes, baseball cards, comic books, dishes, antiques, and Christmas items are always good sellers.
If you are selling a lot of clothing, mention the size ranges in your ad, and either fold or hang clothing on a clothesline. Baby clothes and childrenıs clothing sell the best especially at the start of the school term. Give potential buyers the opportunity to test electrical items by having batteries on hand or an electrical outlet nearby. If shoppers can see that items are in working condition, they are more likely to buy.
Organizing your items by category will make it easier for shoppers to browse the sale. Orvin advises borrowing or renting tables to display merchandise and grouping similar items like clothing, toys, electronics, household items, etc., in sections on the tables. ³People arenıt going to stop for your sale if you only have a bunch of cardboard boxes scattered across your yard,² she said.
Both buyers and sellers should carry a lot of change and small bills. Sellers should have a stack of one- and five-dollar bills at the start of the sale, as well as several dollars in change.
Be prepared for early birds. ³If you advertise your sale for 8 a.m., expect people to start showing up at 7 a.m.,² said Orvin. Also be prepared to bargain. Orvin suggested accepting reasonable offers made by customers. ³Remember, you are selling items that you donıt want anymore. You can either make a little money on it now or haul it to the Goodwill store later.²
Price items at about one-third the cost you originally paid for them, but do not expect everything to sell at this value. Clothing and books obviously sell for far less than items such as furniture or appliances. Use a logical pricing system, heavily used merchandise will not sell at a high price, no matter what you originally paid. People come to garage sales looking for great bargains. ³Iım a sucker for one-dollar items,² said Blakey. ³Sometimes you encounter sales where people think their stuff is worth more than it is, they usually donıt sell much.²
³Crowds start thinning out by noon,² said Orvin, who usually keeps her sale running until 2 p.m. ³If items arenıt selling, mark the prices down after a few hours.²
Garage sales are also a social event. They are a great way to meet your neighbors and people in the community.
At the end of the day, weary though you may be, you should have money in your pocket and a far less cluttered home.
Karen Daiss can be reached at (912) 652-0227 or by email at karen.daiss@savannahnow.com.
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