Garage Sale Business Idea

Some people love garage sales, putting them together with their own garage sale ideas, running them, visiting other sales, and finding unique items.

You may enjoy garage sales so much yourself that you want to start a garage sale organizer business.

Think about it: you get paid to organize someone else’s garage sale, and they pay the expenses plus a fee or commission to you.

HOW TO START

Start by deciding on your garage sale pricing structure. Normally a fixed-fee will work best to convince your first clients of your abilities.

Once you have a client, organize and run the sale by categorizing, labeling and pricing items, negotiating with your customers, and advertising the sale before you launch. You will also be responsible for cash handling, record keeping, and the post-sale cleanup.

There is a lot of work involved, but it will be worth the generous earnings you’ll make. With a large neighborhood sale you will need assistants to help, but your income will be multiplied by the number of people using the sale and the commissions or fees you charge on items sold.

You will also need a vehicle and supplies for price labeling, record keeping and the production of garage sale signs, and will need to get basic small business liability insurance to cover any problems you encounter as well.

EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS IN GARAGE SALE IDEAS

Begin by contacting neighborhood associations to gain interest in what you do, and then move on to contacting relevant individuals such as realtors. Reinforce your efforts by posting business cards and flyers in as many places as possible, sending out a press release to your local media outlets, and buying and creating unique advertising for yourself.

You could also consider creating a series of videos detailing any ideas and garage sale tips you gain from your experiences, and might even want to eventually set up your own online garage sale site.

Promote to your clients that you will be saving them both time and money. Not a lot of people have the patience to sit for long hours in all kinds of weather waiting for customers who want to always buy for less than your marked prices.

You do not need any formal education to excel in this field – just great garage sale ideas, good common sense, organization skills and a knack for bargaining.