Pricing Your Garage Sale Items

It can be a bit difficult to figure out how to price the items you want to sell at your garage sale. This can be especially true if you are selling something with sentimental value, or that was very expensive when you bought it new. Remember – this is a garage sale, not a retail shop. You’ll want to sell at garage sale prices, so let’s talk about just what those are. Here are some tips to help you in pricing your garage sale items.

Price Things

Okay, this may seem a bit basic. But too many people give up on pricing altogether and just put their stuff out. Then everyone who visits the sale has to ask you a price, and you’ll have to make one up off the cuff or remember what you’re charging, and you’ll likely lose sales.

People want to browse and compare and budget, and you can’t do that very well if you have to ask about every item. And people who are uncomfortable asking might just leave your sale, even if there was something they would have bought if it had been priced.

In addition, clearly priced items help prevent haggling and bargaining, which can get tiring pretty fast.

Skip the Collectibles

If you have an enormous set of baseball cards from the 1960s, and you know they must be worth something but you don’t know how much, sources suggest that you do not sell them or similar collectibles at your garage sale. Instead, research the item(s) to determine the real worth, and try selling online or to an antique store.

Pricing Items in Groups

Experienced garage sale folks claim that some visitors will ask how much something is no matter how clearly you have it marked. So choose a method that works for you and your stuff.

Price each item. This can get tedious, but at least it’s pretty obvious how much each thing is. You can use masking tape and a permanent marker, or those little round stickers.

What Should Items Cost?

According to various sources, here is a rough guideline on what to ask for which items.

* Books: $0.50 to $1 each for hardback, $0.10 to $0.25 for paperback

* Clothing: $1 to $2 each for pants, jeans, sweaters, and skirts; $2 to $4 for dresses and pairs of shoes; kids’ clothes should be about half of what the adult clothing is priced as

* Kitchen items: $.25 to $0.50 for glasses and mugs; $1 to $2 for pots and pans; plates $0.50 to $1 each. A rough guide for appliances is to ask 15% to 30% of the original cost of the appliance (you could sell a $60 microwave for $9 to $18, for example).

* Toys should be around $0.25 to $1 each

* VCRs: $5 to $15

* Analogue TVs: $5 to $10

* Radios: $0.25 to $3

* Furniture: $5 for small chairs; $10 for small tables; $25-$75 for large dressers, dining tables, and bureaus; $5 to $10 for simple shelves

Hopefully, this guide has helped you in pricing your garage sale items. Good luck!