How to Price Garage Sale Items

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

30 Mar 2009 12:00 PM

If you want to have a successful yard sale and make a good profit, you'll need to know how to price items to sell. Here are some helpful tips. And be sure to look for a second post in this series that serves as a guide for common yard sale items and what they should priced.

Know Your Region

Yard sale prices can vary according to the part of the country that you are in, and what people are looking to buy.

The best way to figure out how to price your items is to go around to other yard sales in your area and see what prices are on the various items. This doesn't mean that you should copy the prices. Instead observe and ask what is selling and what is not. Tell the owner that you are trying to get ideas for your own sale.

Also check out your local Craigslist for ads on similar items. Generally, you can take about a third off of those prices to get your yard sale prices.

Price to Sell

Anything under $2 generally goes pretty quickly at a yard sale. So if you are debating on prices, keep that in mind. The difference of 25 cents can make or break the sale. Your upper limit should be about $10. That is not to say that you couldn't sell items above that price point, just that your sale should have most of its items priced below $10 if you want to walk about from your sale with as little inventory as possible.

Keep the really expensive items for auction sites, Craigslist, as consignment, or for sale in the newspaper. You will generally do much better when you sell antiques, artwork, appliances and such in ways other than a yard sale.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.

Favorite Deal Websites:

FreeCoupons

Related Articles:

The World's Longest Yardsale

Yard Sale Shopping Myth: Arriving Early

Finding the Best Garage Sales 2

Memorial Day Yard Sales

Finding the Best Garage Sales

Finding the Best Garage Sales 2

Yard Sale Frustration: Has This Happened to You?

Planning Your Yard Sale Route

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger