Garage sales are a great way to pare down your excess stuff and make some quick cash in the process. However, you can make more money with a few little tricks. For example, consider not pricing your items to get more cash for them.
Photo by Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose
Lynda Hammond of GarageSaleGal tells Today.com:
A lot of times you will get more money if you don’t price stuff. Maybe you have an old chef’s cookie jar you’ve always hated and would take a buck for it. But, maybe the buyer has been looking for that and would name a higher price.
This tip surprised me. I’d assume that people would be less willing to buy an item if it didn’t have a price tag. But Hammond makes a good point, and for bigger ticket items, this might give the buyer a chance to throw out the first number.
For more selling tips, check out the full post below.
Show me the money! 11 ways to make more cash at your next garage sale [Today.com]
Comments
7 responses to “Make More Money At Garage Sales By Not Pricing Items”
So right, Kristin. I run a mile from goods with no price marked on them.
Why not just make a reasonable offer that you’d be happy to accept, and walk away if there’s no chance it’ll happen?
Because everything has a price. You don’t know what the seller has in mind, so you don’t want to make an offer that’s “reasonable” because then you’re potentially paying too much. If I wanted to pay market price for something, I’d shop on eBay, not at a Garage sale.
So, if you want to spend your day having people walk around your site saying “How much do you want for this?” for each and every item, don’t price your goods. If you’re going to go that extra mile and answer with “What do you think it’s worth?” or “Why don’t you make an offer?” Be prepared for people to be walking around all day looking at your crap that you think is worth $30 – $50 saying “This, $1?”, “This, $5?”, “This, $7.50?”.
If you want to have the offensive-bargin-hunters turn up silently, have a quick look and leave without wasting your time – price your goods.
“You don’t know what the seller has in mind, so you don’t want to make an offer that’s “reasonable” because then you’re potentially paying too much” – A “reasonable” price is what you’d be happy paying – Keeping in mind age, condition etc. Who cares what the seller wants. If they don’t accept, walk away or haggle if you wish. If they do, great, you were happy offering it, don’t try to take back the offer because it’s “only $10 more on eBay”.
Though I do agree that if people want to not price their goods, obviously they take the risk that people will make dumb and often offensive offers, potentially wasting more time than it’s worth for the money.
No, no, no. If there’s no price, I keep walking/driving.
Nope. No price, no money.
Yup, I’m the customer, your the seller, don’t make me do your work.
We are all stating how much we hate this and how we won’t engage but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work on aggregate.
I have no idea, but god I hope it doesn’t. The last thing I want is for this to be a successful strategy that propagates.