You can’t just put a bunch of stuff in front of your house and hope that people will come by looking to buy it. It just doesn’t work that way. In order to generate revenue from your garage sale, you need to advertise. Advertising is an essential part to any sale – and you can use many of the same techniques that major companies use to make your garage sale a success!
There are a three important factors to consider when thinking about how to advertise your garage sale – who your best customers are, when to advertise to them, and how to advertise to them. We’ll take you through each step along, but first, you need to take inventory.
Make sure that you have a list of all the major items that will be on sale, and take pictures of the items that you’re looking to sell the most. We recommend offering a range that includes low to high priced items for sale to attract the widest variety of potential buyers to your garage sale.
Putting it All Together
Let’s go through those three important factors to consider when advertising your garage sale…
Who Is Your Customer?: This one is easy. People who go to garage sales, go to garage sales. 
Many bargain hunters spend each weekend seeking out treasures from local garage sales like yours, so they are your best potential customer. Now that we know this…
When Should You Advertise?: These weekend warriors are out there every Saturday and Sunday rummaging through garages, so make sure that you’re out there with them for a few weeks leading up to your garage sale. Meeting your potential customers in advance will help you to get them to browse your sale – and buy when the time comes.
How to Advertise?: Just like any business, you’re going to need to invest a little if you want to get a lot in return. Take the time to turn your inventory list and selected pictures into a printed flyer for your garage sale. These are perfect for handing out weekends leading up to your sale.
Just before the weekend, you will want to remind the neighborhood of your upcoming garage sale with signage pointing them in the right direction. Stand out from the cheap poster board and marker crowd by printing yard signs to advertise your garage sale. Include the address, map with arrow directions and a shorter version of your inventory list to bring buyers to your door!
Not Everyone Will Buy Right Away
It’s getting close to Sunday afternoon and your biggest ticket items haven’t sold yet – but have generated a lot of interest. No need to fret. Print up a small quantity of basic business cards that you can hand out to people you think may want to save up some money before purchasing certain items. This way, they will remember to reach back out to you, even after the garage sale is over. Happy selling!