Moving into a new home can be great motivation for hosting a garage sale and turning unused items into some extra cash. If you have a lot of items to dispose of, you might want to have an estate sale. Having a garage sale is a lot of work, but here are some helpful tips that should help you do it correctly.

First thing you want to do is check with your local officials and see if there are any restrictions on garage sales, if you need permits, where you can place signs for directions (if you need permits for signs, etc).

Advertise your garage sale in newspapers, grocery store bulletins, the internet(like www.craigslist.com, www.facebook.com, www.g-sale.com, www.haveayardsale.com, www.twitter.com, etc.) community centers, and don’t forget word of mouth.

Have signs available out on the road with arrows pointing out directions, and make them easy to read. A sign that is too flimsy or cannot be read can cause you to lose customers. Again, make sure to check with your city or county officials to see where you are allowed to put signs or if you need permits for the signs.

See if there are neighbors in the area who want to do a group garage sale, the more items to be sold, the more appeal your garage sales will have, plus you can cut costs for advertising, permits, etc. Its best to avoid holiday weekends for garage sales and schedule your yard sale right after the 1st of the month, many people get paid on the 1st or 15th, etc (and weekend garage sales are always a plus; payday is Friday)

Post your hours, make the hours reasonable, you don’t want a never-ending garage sale. Expect there to be early birds, so make sure you are well prepared. If you don’t want them, make sure to put No Early Birds!

Put pets away, even if you have the friendliest dog, you never know, an animal is an animal; you do not want any unexpected accidents with kids, etc.

Price things reasonably, and expect people to be bargaining looking for a deal. Make sure to have a price on everything. You can also group items on a table ($1.00 items), ($2.00 items), et c. Color coding is also a good idea for pricing items.

Make sure to have similar items grouped together like cds, kids’ toys, kitchen ware, bedding, etc. A good idea for clothing is to have racks out, and to have items grouped by men’s, women’s, kids, and also group the items according to season, and size.

Make sure all the items are clean for sale. You don’t want to sell something that is damaged, or unattractive, wipe everything down ahead of time. You don’t have to go overboard, just make items presentable.

Make sure to have enough change (singles, fives, tens, twenties) so you can break big bills if necessary. Keep your money close to you, so no mishaps occur.

Have plastic bags for the customers who do purchase.

If the day is very hot/humid, you can have your kids out selling water, snacks, etc., (nothing extravagant). Have a garbage can available so you don’t end up with a lot of trash in your yard.

Make sure to remove signs when your garage sale is done.

These helpful tips should help you host a successful garage sale, and turn your unwanted items into some extra cash.