Cash in Your Clutter

Drive through almost any Southland neighborhood on a Saturday morning and you’re likely to see perfectly ordinary people hawking the extraordinary.

Lava lamps, antique tea sets, surrealistic paintings by unknown artists and rusted license plates sprout for sale in frontyards, as well as more commonplace items like old mattresses, lampshades, end tables, bicycles and books.

Cars pull up, earnest shoppers hop out and, a few dollars or even a few cents later, satisfied customers lug various odds and ends to their cars and drive away.

Whether labeled a garage sale, yard sale, moving sale or even estate sale, they offer a hodgepodge of used items that can add up to a little or even a lot of spare change for the brave and energetic who hold them.

Done well, a garage sale can rack up $500 to $1,300 in profits over a weekend, and just about anything can sell, said Lantana, Fla., author Peggy Hitchcock, who wrote “The Garage Sale Handbook” (Pilot Books, 1997, $7.95, plus shipping, [800] 797-4568).

“One woman who held a garage sale in her upscale neighborhood advertised a blue toilet,” Hitchcock said. “People came just to see that blue toilet, and someone bought it right away.”

Much more than the unusual changes hands at garage

sales, though, Hitchcock said.

“It’s possible to make a good profit by selling ordinary things that you no longer need,” she said. “Approach having a garage sale like you would any other business transaction and you will be successful.”

The secrets to a profitable garage sale are simple but critical, Hitchcock said.

You can cash in on items that are collecting dust around your home by cleaning them, attaching reasonable prices and displaying them to their best advantage. Advertising the sale is also necessary.

To have luck putting on a garage sale, keep a few tips in mind, and you’re likely to have plenty of money to count at the end of the day.

First of all, it’s important that you have enough merchandise for the sale, said Hitchcock, who advises having at least 100 items to make the sale worthwhile, because about half of the things will be worth only $1 or less.

If you don’t have enough items on your own, talk to friends and neighbors to see if they will donate things or at least give them to you on consignment.

Start planning your garage sale three weeks in advance, which gives you the opportunity to gather enough merchandise, clean it and advertise.

“Take some time cleaning items up and you’ll easily double your sales,” Hitchcock said. “No one wants to buy a mixer with pancake batter on the side no matter how well it’s priced.”

Thirty-year veteran garage-saler Yvonne Ray of Santa Ana agrees.

“If I walk up to a garage sale and there’s clothes laying all over the ground, mud caked on the bicycles and dust on the dishes, I just leave,” she said. “Things need to be neat and clean.”

Ray, a sales clerk, also has her own garage sales. At her most recent sale she made more than $700, not including the sale of a car.

Besides being clean, things should be well displayed. “No one wants to stoop down and rifle through boxes of junk,” Hitchcock said. “Borrow card tables so that you can get things up off the ground, or get sturdy boxes from the grocery store, which can be taped together to create disposable tables.

“Don’t dump clothes in a box. Rig up a clothesline. The idea is to make things easy to view.”

Also provide shoppers with a way to test mechanical merchandise, said Richard Harris, co-owner of Harris & Small Antiques in Mission Viejo, who has gone garage-saling just about every weekend for the last 20 years. He also recently held a garage sale where he sold all but two items and made $1,000.

“Run an extension cord out to the driveway so that people can test things like radios and kitchen appliances, or provide batteries,” he said. “Just telling people something works isn’t very effective, because they will tend to doubt you.”

One of the most challenging aspects of setting up a garage sale is pricing the items. Although some people skip this step, most experts advise against it.

“Many shoppers won’t ask how much something is,” Hitchcock said. “They’ll just assume it’s too expensive and move on.”

Ray agreed: “I won’t buy anything unless it’s marked, because I don’t like the fact that people could decide how much I should pay by the car I’m driving or what I’m wearing.”

When pricing items, remember that, at heart, garage salers are thrifty souls in search of the ultimate deal.

“The whole purpose of going to garage sales is to find really great deals, and it can be addicting,” Ray said.

“This past summer I wanted an iced tea maker, but I didn’t want to pay full price, so I looked at garage sales and found one for $5, but I didn’t stop there. I found two more at other garages sales for the same price and ending up buying them all and giving two away.”

Be realistic when pricing items, Harris advised.

“I often see things priced too high, either because people are attached to the items or they have no idea what things go for at garage sales,” he said.

“It’s a much different world than retail. If people are planning a sale and they haven’t been out garage-saling recently, I recommend they do so before holding their own.”

When placing a value on merchandise, Hitchcock suggests employing the 20% rule.

“If you bought an item like an electric knife for $15 and it’s brand new and never been used, then 20% of $15 is $3,” she said. “If it’s still in the cellophane, you may be able to go to $5, and if it’s used but still clean and in good shape, then it will probably sell for $2.”

The 20% rule doesn’t work for all items, including clothing, which should be priced very low, often for 50 cents to $1 or $2 per item.

Remember, too, that garage-salers often like to bargain. “If you want $5 for something, ask $7,” Harris suggested. “Virtually no one will want to give you what you ask, because they want to believe that they’re getting a deal.”

When you price items, also think about how far you’re willing to go down in price, Hitchcock said.

“If someone says something isn’t worth $2 and they offer 25 cents, decide if you’ll accept that,” she said. “Sometimes I suggest telling customers to come back later and, if the item is still there, you’ll sell it to them for the reduced price.”

For a more expensive item, offer to take the person’s number and call if it doesn’t sell.

To attract a crowd to your sale, it’s a good idea to advertise in the local newspaper, Hitchcock said.

When you advertise, highlight items that people might find of interest, such as toys, baby items, kitchen appliances, furniture and unusual, hard-to-find things. You can also advertise free at grocery store bulletin boards. When possible, make your own flier announcing the sale instead of using an index card. If you must use a card, opt for neon-colored ones rather than white.

Good signs placed within a mile radius of your home can also make or break a garage sale.

“The better the sign, the easier it is to find the sale and the more intrigued your customers will be,” Harris said.

Take some time making the signs, because they will serve as the first impression you give potential customers. A brightly colored, easy-to-read sign made on poster board with black magic marker is much more impressive than a scribbled scrap of cardboard or a paper plate.

When making the sign, write letters that are big enough for people to read when they are driving, because they aren’t going to turn around just to read your sign. Make sure to include the dates of the sale and use a lot of arrows, rather than the address, to guide them to your house.

Rise early the day of the sale because serious garage-salers will be out as soon as it’s light, and the first two hours are when you’ll make most of your money.

“Even if you say 8 a.m., people will pound on your door at 6 a.m.,” Harris warned.

“Also make sure there are at least two of you working, so that one person can answer questions while the other collects money. And have a lot of change on hand, because most people will have $20 bills.”

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Julie Bawden Davis is an Orange County freelance writer.

10-Point Garage Sale Checklist

1. Check the law. Before you do anything, check with the code enforcement office in your City Hall to inquire about any restrictions or ordinances on garage sales.

Some cities allow garage sales only on certain weekends, and many cities restrict residents to a certain number of garage sales per year.

Some cities may even require that you get a temporary license to hold a garage sale.

And there are often restrictions on what type of items can be sold at yard sales--usually only household goods.

Also check with your insurance agency to make sure you’re covered if someone trips on your stairs.

2. Set the date. Schedule the sale at least three weeks ahead, which will give you enough time to gather items and clean, fix (if possible) and price them.

For a profitable sale, you should have at least 100 items and a wide variety. If you don’t, join forces with neighbors, friends or family.

When searching your house for sale items, look for things that you haven’t used for two years or more.

3. One day or two? Decide how many days the sale should be. If you have a lot of stuff to sell and you have the time, do a two- or three-day sale. Friday and Saturday sales are more profitable than Saturday and Sunday because Sunday tends to be a slow day. If you want a one-day sale, choose Saturday.

4. Price items realistically. Consider what the item costs new and then figure out what 20% is and work up or down from there, considering the condition.

When pricing, try to separate your personal attachment to the item. Your mother may have given you that lamp when you graduated from high school, but it’s probably not worth more than a dollar or two to a college student looking for a cheap source of light.

Antiques, however, can be worth a substantial amount. If you aren’t sure of the worth of an item, take it to an antique shop for pricing help.

5. It pays to advertise. Paid ads should be placed to reach a five-mile radius around the sale. Be aware, however, that if you advertise antiques in the newspaper, dealers are likely to show up the day before the sale to try and snap up bargains.

You can also post index cards on supermarket bulletin boards and distribute homemade fliers.

Post eye-catching signs within a one-mile radius of your home that can be easily read from a moving car. Use lively expressions such as “Good Stuff” and “A to Z Sale” or hawk certain items. Use arrows to direct shoppers to your house.

6. Think like a merchandiser. Get sale items off the ground and onto tables covered by colorful tablecloths and separate everything by category.

For instance, group kitchen items and toys separately. Hang clothes and group by gender and age or size. Put accessories with clothing. Also display furniture as it’s displayed in stores: Place lamps and vases on tables and set up items like beds.

Have an electrical outlet readily available so that people can test appliances and provide a tape measure so customers can check the size of large pieces of furniture.

7. Rise early and prepare. Expect shoppers at sunrise. Have plenty of change on hand as well as lots of dollar bills and some 5- and 10-dollar bills.

There should be at least two people working the sale. Children 7 and over can often help at sales; you might let them set up a lemonade stand.

8. Warm welcome. Greet each customer with a smile and offer to answer any questions.

9. Expect to bargain. Not many people will want to pay what you are asking, so don’t get offended. Come to a price you both agree on; if that doesn’t happen, wait for another customer.

10. No layaways. Never agree to hold something, unless the customer hands you a 50% deposit, because many people won’t return for the item and you’ll be stuck with it at the end of the day.

What Sells at Garage Sales

The old saying that one person’s junk is another person’s treasure couldn’t be more apt than in the world of garage sales. Those old knitting needles you stuck at the back of the closet in 1987 could be just what a veteran knitter has been looking for. You’ll be surprised at what people will snap up.

Although the public’s taste is fickle, there are many items that tend to sell well at garage sales, including the following. (All items should be clean and in good shape.)

* Broken appliances (some shoppers will fix them, while others are looking for spare parts)

* Functional kitchen appliances.

* Old radios and cameras.

* Old diaries and pictures (intriguing to some shoppers, even if they don’t know the people).

* Old books.

* Craft items like yarn and knitting needles, hot glue guns.

* Dishes, new and antique.

* Children’s toys.

* Buttons.

* Old plant pots.

* Picture frames.

* Well-priced furniture like beds, tables and chairs.

* Old records.