Featured: Garage Sale? Need advice and pointers!

That sounds really awesome and a lot of fun!  I should see if they do anything like that around here too!   I just found out about something new yesterday.  I ordered some stuff from Diapers.com and got an enveope with a bag from ThredUP.com.  They offer you credit for your gently used clothes, but it has to be in "superior" condition.  They give you $10-$25 in credit at their online clothing store on Diapers.com.  I might do this with some of my daughter's clothes and donate my son's baby clothes to Harbor House, along with the other stuff we have.  But it would be nice to make a little money off of the stuff too!  Here's the website in case anyone is interested!

http://www.thredup.com/

OH, and I have to say, I have to stay with the stuff or my sister will sell everything at 10 cents each, I'd make nothing if she had her way with pricing!!

As far as pricing things, I tend to think what would I pay for this if I was buying it used?  I sold a baby swing for $20, I paid $80 for it, but I didn't use it much!  I'm having a rummage sale, but we are going to a school fundraiser rummage sale to do it!  We pay $20 for a spot in the school football field and set up our stuff!  Several others and venders go and rent a spot too!  So this may be our best chance, because more people will walk by us and see what we have!  I stand to make $80 off my daughters clothes, I priced between .25 and $3!  All my pricing is set to where no dimes, nickels or pennies should be needed!  I still have to price her toys she grew out of!  But with the knock knacks and her clothes I can make $100 !!!

I never really thought about the stranger aspect-it just comes along with the yardale territory. We have had some pretty scary characters drop by a time or two. We also have 2-4 people on duty and never the leave money box unguarded. In fact we keep it locked too!

WOW!  You never think of these things, and I'm glad that someone is being cautious.  I'm glad you mentioned that, though.  My house is the second house on a corner, and the house that's on the corner is having an addition put on their house.  Lots of construction going on.  The last thing we need is a serious accident, or car damage.  By the time they are done, it will be way too hot to hang out in front of my house to sell anything.  

What about safety regarding your family and house?  With all the craziness that goes on, is it worthwhile to put your address and info out there, and have strangers come around your property?  I live in a gated community, so that may not fly here.  It's a scary thought, now that I think about it.  It is quite possible that at this point, donation may be the better decision.  Besides, I believe in Karma.  When you do something good, good will come back to you.

No, as in, "If you get hurt on my property, it's not my fault," or "If you park along the street and someone runs into your car with their car, it's not my fault."

The weather does not effect things too badly around here.  It is funny how people continue to flock for deals!  The Harbor House does sound like a wonderful place to donate to though

Okay, so one of 2 things is going to be happen.  It's way too hot for us to have a sale in the FL heat (it's been in the 90's!), so I'm thinking a place like Once Upon A Baby and sell it, or donations to Harbor House, which I've done before.  Maybe we'll do both.  Harbor House is a place for battered women and their children who've left their abuser, and because it may have been so abrupt, that they left with only the clothes on their backs.  Harbor House provides them with clothing, accessories, etc.  We gave them tons of stuff last year, and they were so happy to see bags and bags full of stuff.  Thank you all for all the advice, but I'm starting to think that this is something that will be more successful in late Fall or early Winter.

I haven't done one before, but good luck! Hope you make a lot of $$! :)

Awesome!  Thanks for all the responses!  I never really knew anything about it, so this is great help and advice!  Will follow up if we have one and if I can get some help from the family!  Thanks!

It really depends on your area and the going rate for things, but I agree about the prices for clothes anywhere from .25 to $2. $2 if it is a nice outfit.  The co- sleeper I would say could go for $30. Your stroller could be priced for more than $20. If it is with the car seat I would say between $35 - $40 depending on the condition.  If it a regular bouncy seat I would say maybe $10. It really depends. For the larger items people may give you an offer. If you price things too high people will just look and leave. Iwould suggest advertising in the paper and listing those big ticket items. The times for your sale can vary. Some in my area do start at 8, but remember people will try to come early even if you say no early birds. 9 is also a good time and in my area they usually go from 9-3 or 4 or 8-3 if you are an early riser and very organized. If you don't want people to come early you might want to put "no early birds" in your ad. Good Luck............. I LOVE yard sales, just picked up a bunch of clothes for my nephew this weekend.

Haha, that's great!  Good ole Grandma, gotta love her!  I guess youre right, I mean, Ive never done one of these, so that seems like the only fair way to fo it.  At this point all of the bigger items sold would have know warranty/registration cards, since they were all used in our name.  What I was thinking of selling was an Arm's Reach co-sleeper with all the covers (about 3-4), Fisher Price Animal Jumperoo, Fisher Price Safari bouncy seat with toy bar, a baby's bath tub, a Chicco Cortina stroller (maybe with the car seat and base, if we can buy a new seat first), and so much more.  Clothes I expect will sell quickly, they are all in excellent condition, no stains or tears.

A lot of times around here I see those big single strollers (not the little folding umbrella style ones) go for up to like $30, especially if it looks almost new. Sad thing about reselling stuff is you can't get back what it cost new. Lol I had my baby carrier car seat in great condition, had saved the box and the instruction pk and everything, and I marked it $30, and when I went in the house to get a drink, my grandma sold it for $15, I was like, "Gramma! We need to make some money here." She'd sell everything for $1 if you let her

A lot of the stuff that I have is in GREAT condition, and I wonder how I would price that.  The highchair, the jumperoo, a single stroller, stuff like that, how do I price it?  Clothes are something else, I don't mind selling that for cheap, but I wonder how to treat some of the other stuff.  Thanks peeps, I appreciate all the comments!

My family does a yard sale almost every summer. We get my grandparents and my mum and her husband and my brother and his gf to all chip stuff in to make it bigger. Then we advertise in the local paper, listing all the stuff we think will be the 'hot' items, like 'baby clothes', 'car seat', 'fishing gear', 'tools' etc. We also put up signs at all the intersections nearby. I've never thought of advertising on Craigslist though, will definitely try that this year, see if it boosts business. My grandma usually stocks up on those little colored circle (or square) stickers you can get at Walmart, and each person gets a different color, and then we put the prices on 'em. Clothes usually around .50-$1, toys a couple bucks or less, depending on what it is, big ticket items like strollers or car seats for $20 or less depending on condition/quality, etc. I have fun doing our yard sales, I like seeing my stuff go to a new home where someone will get use out of it. :)

Oh, that's interesting!  Accidents as in, if they broke it, they pay for it?

I LOVE yardsales!!! Usually you advertise in your local paper and with signs posted around your neighborhood. Normal time frame is around 8 am to whenever people stop coming which is usually by 1 or 2 pm. The better priced the items are the better they will sell, obviously. I price items with a sharpie and a roll of masking tape. I only like to pay a max of 50 cents to a dollar for clothes (2 if it's a dress, nice children's outfit, etc) and for those bigger items I wouldn't put more than $10 or maybe at the absolute max $15. Also make sure to put up a "Not Responsible for Accidents" sign.