How To Handle Early Birds
Early Birds – some people love ‘em while others hate ‘em. Plan
on early birds showing up even if you advertise that they will
be "tarred and feathered." Remember, you chase them away and
chances are they won’t be back!
For early birds I see two options:
-
Tell them no and be firm.
-
Let them buy early!
Our opinion is:
Plan on the early birds and be ready to open your sale one half
hour before your advertised time. Hey, their money is good so
why not accommodate them. However, don’t let them talk you
down on price just so they can clean out your best items
that would sell anyway when the sale officially opens! Why
should they be rewarded with lower prices for breaking the
rules?
TIP: Early birds have the great advantage of having the
first pick of your best offerings. This could result in a
shabby looking sale after they take your best items. For
this reason, you may wish to "hold the line" on prices and
not allow early birds to talk you down in
price.
It’s All Over, Now What?
At the end of a successful sale you have the daunting task of
putting everything away. If you enjoy the garage sale business,
this means packing things up and taking them to your storage
area for your next sale.
If you simply want to get rid of all your leftovers, you have
other options. You can make a tax-deductible donation to the
Salvation Army or some church thrift
store.
Another option is to take a trip to the recycling
center. Ouch, this one hurts! This is not thinking green,
and we know you can do better than that!
If you have something unique left over from your sale, it may
be a good item to sell on Ebay. Selling on Ebay can be very
lucrative.
TIP: Now that you have it down to a science, why not put
all your leftovers away to be sold at your next sale – with
some new stock to go with it, of course.
Congratulations, you did it!
You maximized your efforts and had the best garage sale you
could possibly have. Your house is free of many items you
didn’t need, and you made enough cash to fatten your vacation
fund or bank account.
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