Best garage sale buy ever?A man in the U.S purchased 65 glass negatives at a garage sale in california over ten years ago for $49 and has recently had them authenticated as the work of iconic nature photographer Ansel Adams, with experts placing an estimated value on the negatives of over $200 million. Wow! Imagine the surprise he got! Click here to read the full story. I hope it inspires you to hit the garage sales in your area this weekend and hopefully you can find that hidden garage sale treasure! Good luck! HUGE community garage sale
'Garage Sales R Us - Old Bar Beach, 4th September 2010 The town of Old Bar Beach is up for sale on Saturday 4 September! This day will be the official launch of the Old Bar Beach Festival where Old Bar Beach is holding its annual RECORD attempt to have the most garage sales in the one town on the one day called 'Garage Sales R Us'. The tradition started a few years ago when town resident Chris Rowsell saw the value to garage sale holders when multiple houses joined forces and sold second hand goods on the same day. He took the idea to the Old Bar Beach Festival committee and the event has become the launch of a month's worth of activities in the town of only 3000 people, east of Taree. Garage sales will be everywhere – it is anticipated that there will be over 130 houses participating on the day, with two garage sales on every street! Garage sales will be marked at the end of each street using a common sign throughout the town. The house numbers that are having the garage sales will be written on each sign. The houses will then be marked by the wheelie bin on the gutter edge, with 'Old Bar Beach' balloons hanging off them! Last year the town attracted somewhere between 10 000 - 15 000 people from as far south as Wooloongong, as far west as Wee Waa, and as far North as Lismore in a 6 hour period! This is an event NOT to be missed if you love a good bargain! Other attractions on the day include: - · Bargains and sales at all businesses in Old Bar. · Massive second hand Book, Record & CD clearance sale. So get your trailer ready, you ropes and straps handy to tie down the bargain furniture and white good finds, and head to Old Bar Beach on the 4th September! Don't forget the early bird catches the worm! Most garage sales will open between 6am - 7am, with closing time around 2pm.
To find out more about the Old Bar Beach Festival and the 'Garage Sales R Us' event, click here Markets in South East QLD
Whether you identify yourself as a garage sale enthusiast, a second hand bargain lover, a yard sale know-it-all or a well seasoned estate sales visitor, chances are you know a good bargain when you see one.
Garage sales and the like are a great place to start when planning your weekend bargain hunting expedition, and the weekend markets are a great place to finish.
Whether you want to buy fresh fruit and vegetables for half the price of supermarkets, find yourself some great plants to re-landscape your garden, refurnish that wardrobe that you have been keeping on the backburner for month because of the lack of budget, or just simply to browse a wild assortment of furniture, crafts, gadgets and trinkets, weekend markets are the key!
Farmers markets, craft markets, car boot sales, church fetes and more, you will find a huge assortment on offer in your city each weekend: Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. They are ideal places to save money, get inspiration and to keep the kids busy, and even better – gets you outdoors!
So grab your $5 for the sausage sizzle lunch and mobile coffee van expresso, pack in your green bags, slap on the hat and head to your local market!
This week we feature Gold Coast markets - the home of surf, sand and bargains galore!
Friday Night Markets:
Where: The Esplanade, Surfers Paradise
(Between Elkhorn Avenue & Cavill Mall) When: Every Wednesday & Friday night, 5.30pm - 10pm Contact: Surfers Paradise Alliance Telephone: (07) 5584 3700 Email: markets@surfersparadise.com Website: www.surfersparadise.com Saturday Markets:
Where: Cnr Gooding & Manchester Drives, Carrara
When: Every Saturday & Sunday, 6.30am - 4.30pm Each Friday, 7am - 1pm (Farmers Market) Contact: Carrara Markets Telephone: (07) 5579 9388 Email: info@carraramarkets.com.au Website: www.carraramarkets.com.au
Where: Rear of Currumbin Sanctuary Car Park
Tomewin Street, Currumbin When: 1st & 3rd Saturday of month, 6am - 11am Contact: Terri Telephone: 0417 759 777 Email: terri@marketsdownunder.com
Where: Village Square, 2 Sickle Ave, Hope Island
When: Every Saturday and Sunday Time: 7am - 3.30pm Contact: Nikki Hudson Telephone: 0418 151 643 Email:markets@marinaquays.com.au Website: www.mqmarketvillage.com.au
Where: Palm Beach Currumbin State High School
Thrower Drive, Palm Beach When: Every Saturday, 6am - 11am Contact: Michelle Nugent Telephone: 0405 185 683 Email: michelle@yourlocalmarkets.com.au Website: www.yourlocalmarkets.com.au Sunday Markets:
Where: Burleigh Heads State School
Lower Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads When: 1st Sunday of month, 8am - 1pm Contact: Sarah or Marissa Telephone: (07) 5679 0375 Email: stalls@thevillagemarketsgc.com.au Website: www.thevillagemarketsgc.com.au
Where: Lavelle Street, Nerang
When: Every Sunday, 6.30am - 12 noon Contact: Liana Baffari Telephone: 0417 728 844 Email: info@goldcoastfarmersmarkets.com.au
Where: Miami State High School
2137-2205 Gold Coast Highway, Miami When: Every Sunday, 6am - 11am Contact: David Whyle Telephone: (07) 3358 6309 or 1300 668 603 Email: info@gcorganicmarket.com Website: www.gcorganicmarket.com
Where: Gold Coast Turf Club
Racecourse Drive, Bundall When: Every Sunday, 6am - 11am Contact: Michelle Nugent Telephone: 0405 185 683 Email: michelle@yourlocalmarkets.com.au Website: www.yourlocalmarkets.com.au
Where: Kurrawa Park
Old Burleigh Road (opposite Mall), Broadbeach When: 1st & 3rd Sunday of month, 8am - 2.30pm Contact: Art & Craft on the Coast Telephone: (07) 5533 8202 Email: info@artandcraft.com.au Website: www.artandcraft.com.au
Garage Sale RSS FeedsWe're pleased to introduce our new garage sale RSS feeds!RSS feeds are a great way to keep you informed about the lastest and greatest garage sales advertised with whatgaragesale.com.au. Each time someone advertises with us, the feed updates and let's you know, it saves you time by eliminating the need to visit the site frequently to check for new garage sales. To begin with, we've arranged RSS feeds for the following areas,
If you would like us to add another area to the feeds, please contact us! If you would like to sign up for our RSS garage sale feeds now, visit our RSS page.
From the wgs team! Beerwah's Great Garage Sale!Beerwah's great garage sale is on againSaturday August 14th!After last years success, Australia Zoo is looking to repeat it again this year. If you live in the Sunshine Coast region, why not get your spring cleaning done early and take your unwanted goods to Beerwah's Great Garage Sale! Held in the Australia Zoo carpark, it's sure to be a great event, and there will be stacks of exciting events inside Australia Zoo through the day! There are a number of ways to get involved in Beerwah's great garage sale,
For the full details(including regstration forms and contact details) click on the link below,
Spring clean pricingA big part of many people’s spring clean routines, is to have a garage sale to make some money out of de-cluttering. A big part of making money at a garage sale, is knowing how to price for a garage sale! After all, you only make as much as you sell! Follow some of the tips below and you might find at the end of the day you are headed to the bank with all your hard-earned garage sale cash, rather than headed to the shed to pack it all away again.
Step 1:
Try not to plan a garage sale at the last moment. A good, productive, money earning garage sale takes time to plan and so does pricing the goods at reasonable but not outrageous values.
Step 2:
Once the date for the sale is set, use the weekends leading up to the garage sale to slowly clean, and appraise your goods. Use the time to internet research the value of your items (ebay, trading post and the US site ‘craigslist’ are good places to start). Use the time to decide will you sell that item at a garage sale, or is ebay or the trading post a better environment?
Step 3:
Grab some good stickers/price tags to start pricing your items. Many people find individually pricing their items time consuming but it does save confusion for you and the customer on the day of the garage sale! If you are having a combined garage sale (with family/friends), make sure you initial your price tag to help keep track of who makes what money.
Step 4:
Start with the items you really don’t want to sell, but you know you don’t need. Give these items a reasonable price to make it worth your while. If you strike resistance on the day, a great line to use is ‘I have priced it at a bargain price already and am only prepared to deal with people who will offer me a fair price for it”. This will ensure you get a fair price for your quality goods and if people are not prepared to pay what you want, then you still get to keep it!
Step 5:
The better condition the item is in, the higher the price can be marked. A good benchmark is 30% of the ‘as new’ price. Do not make the mistake of pricing an item close to what you paid for it, unless it's something that retains or increases its value. People know it’s stuff you don’t want!
Step 6:
Before pricing clothes, think about the season. People probably won't buy warm-weather clothes in the middle of Autumn. Likewise for ski gear in November. A benchmark garage sale price is around 5% - 10% of the ‘as new’ price although baby/kids clothes can be sold for slightly higher. Niche clothing (ski/scuba/hockey gear) can be sold slightly higher too, depending on wear and tear.
Step 7:
When pricing furniture, always leave a little negotiation room. If you know you will take fifty dollars for a dining suite, mark it at sixty dollars - guaranteed, someone will bargain you for it.
Step 8:
As the sale wears on, don't be afraid to slash prices, especially on big things like furniture you don't want to bring back into your home. Around 10.30am - 11am is a good time to start bringing the prices down. Your biggest crowd will be first up in the morning and then again mid-morning.
Step 9:
Remember, garage sale enthusiasts (they do exist) and others will know within the first two minutes whether your sale is worth their time. Moderate prices and organization is a great way to keep the customers from leaving to quickly. New garage sale blog!I'm pleased to announce the launch of our garage sale blog! On our blog, we'll be sharing our garage sale adventures, letting you know about our bargain purchases and of course those "funny moments" that only shopping at garage sales can bring!. We're looking forward to hearing about some of your own garage sale stories too, I'm sure there's plenty of them out there! If you have an idea for a blog topic, please just let us know, and we'll add it to our list. In our first blog, we introduce our "garage sale bargain of the week". Where we take just $20 and search garage sales for the best possible bargain! It's sure to be challenging and very entertaining! Click here to check it out. Regards Greg Spring cleaning and garage salesAs the weather warms, we inevitably get active again as the countdown to Christmas begins. We are moving into Spring Cleaning season and across Australia you will find garage sales starting to boom again in late August, with the boom lasting all the way to November. Shoppers are spoilt for choice! There are more bargains to be had as people get their homes ready for summer entertaining, and seek to create some fast cash to support the Christmas splurge.
Garage sale advertisers need to be aware of the competition they face and ensure that preparation is thorough. They need to make their garage sale the must-have stop on a garage sale enthusiasts list!
Following are our hottest tips when preparing your ‘spring clean’ garage sale:-
For some great spring cleaning tips to help you choose what to sell at your garage sale, click on this link. The article covers decluttering, cleaning and maintaining your home. Garage Sales in KoreaEver pondered who else in the world holds garage sales with a passion on the weekend? New Zealand folk are avid garage sale enthusiasts like us Australians, and the Americans love their yard sales. But who else in the world loves finding and selling a good bargain through the weekend ritual of a garage sale? Searching online for the answer we stumbled across an expat living in Korea and his blog. Trying to get rid of his unwanted household goods, he stumbles across all sorts of cultural barriers and finds that the bargain lovers way of doing things is not such a bargain in Korea! Read on for a small giggle by clicking the blog link here.
A garage sale convert is born
Check this article out, it's a great tale about discovering the wonderful world of shopping at garage sales.
A garage sale convert is born
July 2, 2010
The day started out a little slow. I was looking for two things -- an outdoor table and chairs and an eight-ounce measuring cup. Seriously. I did not want to pay $8 for a new Pyrex cup in a store. The sales were hit and miss (mostly miss at first). If you were looking for children's toys, you were in luck! But I wasn't. And there were a lot of cast-offs that, frankly, I wouldn't give away or throw away, much less sell. But gradually our hunt gained momentum as we sought out the less centrally located sales. We found some great deals and items we didn't know we needed.
There are many time-tested tips out there for garage sale shoppers, from the obvious -- arriving as the sale begins and plotting out your map -- to toting your own bags and boxes, bringing cash and small bills, and learning how to haggle. But I realized there were two things, for me, that make for a successful shopping trip. One is patience. If it's an item I don't need right away, I can wait to buy it -- like an iron. I got a free one late in the day at one sale. The other is buying and bringing home only what I have room for or can't live without.
Among other things, I scored a weathered teak outdoor table and two chairs for $35. It fits perfectly on my deck, and I love the well-used look of the thing. I got the coolest vintage covered casserole dish in a beautiful bird's-egg blue for $5. It's perfect for making bread pudding and Midwest-style casseroles. At an estate sale, I found a tall, cherry wood chest of drawers in pristine shape for $30 and a whole bin full of brand new painting supplies, including brushes, rollers, sanders, scrapers and more for $8.
One friend bought a bathroom storage chest for $15, Mexican oil cloth for an outdoor picnic table for $3, and, for a niece, a vintage ViewMaster with Mary Poppins disks for $5. We both got old-school pull-down maps formerly used in classrooms -- for only $10. Hey, country boundaries may have changed, but the vibrant, kitschy colors make them great wall art.
However, the "master treasure-hunting" prize went to another friend, who politely asked at one estate sale, "May I buy your trash can?" I thought it was an odd request. They emptied it and gave it to him for free. With his practiced eye, he had scored a white plastic, cylindrical waste-paper can from the 1970s, designed by the famed Italian company, Kartell. New renditions sell for $60.
What are your favorite garage sale finds? Do you have any garage sale shopping tips to share? The neighborhood sales are convenient, efficient and fun.
(Oh, and I did not find the measuring cup. Next time...)
We'd love to hear your garage sale stories too! Our email address is info@whatgaragesale.com.au Wardrobe Clearout Tips Miss Money Penny Fashion Emporium is the smartest and fastest way to shop for Brand New With Tags (BNWT), Just Slipped On, and Vintage Designer fashion - for a fraction of the retail price. Miss Money Penny has kindly given us some fashion tips to help you get through this winter! Miss Money Penny's Top Wardrobe Clearout Tips... Keep only those items that;
My last tip refers to those of you who can sew, have a mum or grandma who can, or who know of a great alterations shop and dry cleaner or shoe-repair man.
Visit Miss Money Penny to find out more!
Spring Cleaning Tips
Spring Cleaning TipsWe may still be in the depths of winter, but spring will be here before you know it!
Springtime is a popular time for garage sales all across Australia, as families look to free themselves of unwanted goods and the clutter that comes with them. There’s absolutely no doubting that after a good spring clean, you feel rejuvenated and more motivated.
To help you get organized for your own spring clean, we’ve put together some useful spring cleaning tips, for all areas of your life.
Have a plan: Take some time to identify and prioritise which areas really need your attention, working on those high priority areas first will give you a greater sense of accomplishment and keep you motivated to continue!
Make sure you have enough rubbish bags, cardboard boxes, tape and marking pens available to tidy and dispose of things.
Be honest and ruthless, ask yourself these kinds of questions: Do I/will I use it? Do I REALLY need it? Do I love it?
Start a garage sale pile - Rubbish pile – donation pile
Here are some spring cleaning tips for specific areas of the house,Lounge
Bedroom
Kitchen
Bathroom
Spring may also be a great time to clean out other areas of your life, here’s a few ideas to get you thinking…
We hope you find these spring cleaning tips useful, and if you have any of your own you’d like to share, please let us know about them!
School holidays part 2www.whatgaragesale.com.au prides itself on giving our community of bargain hunters and ecological minded folk an abundance of ideas for ways to save money, to get creative and think laterally, and to enjoy life.
If you’re looking for free things to do in Brisbane then try the Brisbane City Council Libraries website. There is loads going on over the holidays, with something for everyone! Enjoy a holiday in Brisbane and learn to cook, about the local environment, how to belly dance, or just make it a great day out with the family.
School holiday funStuck for things to do these holidays? Have you thought about the following ideas?
Brisbane:
1. The Teneriffe Festival – reinvigorating one of the oldest parts of the city, and keeping its woolly history alive, a new festival has been launched in 2010!
Date - Sat 3 July 2010
Time - from 9am
Where - Vernon Tce and Commercial Rd, Teneriffe
How Much - Free
2. The Abbey Medieval Fun Day – if you love all things medieval, give your kids a day of fantasy and fun too! With loads of activities they can sign up to (gypsy dance workshops, sword deign, jester training, knight school, drum making… the list goes on!), you will have a full day of family fun, guaranteed to bring them home exhausted!
Date – Tues 6 July 2010
Time – 10am – 2pm
Where - 1 - 63 The Abbey Place (off Old Toorbul Point Road) Caboolture
How Much – varying prices per workshops
3. Insectarium – get your bug eyes on and go gaga over all things insects at the QLD museum… finish it off with a picnic in Southbank!
Date – 28 June 2010 – 9 July 2010
Time – 9:30am – 5pm
Where – QLD Museum, Southbank
How Much –gold coin donation for some activities
Sydney:
1. Kids in the park – a HUGE event at the Sydney Olympic Park. Tons of free activities and some for a penny or two, you will be spoilt for choice!!
Date: 3 – 18 July 2010
Time – varying times
Where – Sydney Olympic Park
How Much – all activities free or less than $50!
2. Drama Workshops with Australian Theatre For Young People – want to foster that creative spark in your young one? Head to one of Australia’s premier theatre training hubs for a day and get your costume on!
Date: 3 – 18 July 2010
Time – 9am – 5pm
Where - Walsh Bay, The Rocks
How Much - $20
3. Indoor Rock climbing – Kids ever driven you ‘up the wall’? Do it literally these holidays with some indoor rockclimbing!
Date: 3 – 18 July 2010
Time – Varying times on different days
Where – Level 2/40 Third Ave, Blacktown
How Much - $10 after 5pm on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s. $22 maximum price.
Melbourne:
1. Whale Watching – watch nature’s gentle giants as they head into Logan’s Beach to calve.
Date: June - October
Time – Try your luck!
Where – Logans Beach, Logans Beach Road, off Hopkins Point Road, Warrnambool
How Much – Free!
2. Behold and Bedazzle! – what happens when you mix science with magic??! Prepare to be astounded in this 20 minute show and left wondering ‘how did they do that?’
Date: 26 Jun 2010 - 11 Jul 2010
Time – 12pm and 2pm
Where – Amphitheatre, Science works, Melbourne
How Much – Free for kids, $8 for adults
3. Roola Boola – Get your kids experiencing puppetry, theatre, magic, pop music, circus and musical theatre!
Date: 29 Jun – 2 July
Time: 10am – 3pm
Where: Chapel Off Chapel, 12 Little Chapel Street, Prahran, Melbourne
How Much - $15 per event
New council fines for illegal sales
Fines for roadside sales of unwanted items are being taken to a new level on the Sunshine Coast – you thought garage sale laws were tough! Due to an increase in the number of cars being illegally sold beside main roadways on the Sunshine Coast, local residents and council are looking at bringing in new fines to deter sellers.
Citing road safety and aesthetic problems, offenders could be fined up to $50 a day if the new council laws go ahead.
Road safety and aesthetic problems are also part of the reason why illegal garage sale signage can also attract fines. We encourage you to head to our local laws page or check out you own local council’s website to make sure you don’t get fined for your garage sale signage. Check out our hints and tips on garage sale signage too for how to create really effective signage!
Great website for savings
Advertising a garage sale is a popular way to make money quickly in Australia. By selling those unwanted items as trash and treasure, you not only spring clean the house but also get to make a profit. A great way to compliment the spring clean (or winter clean) and create some extra funds is finding ways to also save money. It has become a vital part of modern day living where we live in a climate of ever-increasing living costs.
A great Australian website that covers saving, budgeting, smart shopping and do-it-yourself is ‘Simple Savings’. Having been featured on a variety of news programs and radio stations, www.simplesavings.com.au is changing the way Australians spend money one dollar at a time. For a low membership fee of $47, you have access to a community of saving hints and tips, real-life success stories and inspiring ways to live better for less.
We love ‘Simple Savings’ as it is made in Australia for the Australian way of life. And anyone, and everyone, can reap the benefits of generating an income simply by better financial management. Garage sales are about turning trash into treasure, reusing quality items and making some extra money along the way. How about making that extra money each week?
You might have already heard about the website, but if you haven’t, it is worth your time checking it out. You can sign up for the free newsletter and see if it is for you before you join. It’s a great way to compliment the bargain hunter in us all!
Garage sale bargaining
A lot of people can find the true bargainers at their weekend garage sale a little awkward to deal with. You know, the person who fills a box with all your goods and tells you matter-of-factly that they will take it $2 when the marked prices add up to $20! Or the person who offers you an absolute bargain basement price for your quality second hand good at 6am, telling you they won’t be able to come back later in the day when you are dropping prices because they found your garage sale ‘by accident’ and live hours away! Or the person who refuses to move even a dollar to meet you half way on what you think the items should be worth. Let’s face it, if you are not used to bargaining, these situations at your garage sale can be awkward to handle.
At a recent garage sale we held, we were faced with all these scenarios and more. For a lot of our quality items we wanted appreciation of its true worth (and appreciation of our labour in setting up the garage sale to sell the items!), and didn’t want to give in to the people who will try anything, to get something for nothing. But how to go about this aim without being rude?
A great line one of my garage sale helpers used was this: “We have already marked the item down to a price that is well below what it is worth, and are only prepared to do fair deals on its price”. This line soon sorted the wheat from the chaff, and most people were happy to recognize that they were already getting a bargain, without the need for further reduction.
Try it yourself and see how it works!
If you have any other successful lines that you have used either as a shopper or seller, please email info@whatgaragesale.com.au and share your top tips!
Virtual Garage SaleComing soon to www.whatgaragesale.com.auWelcome to Virtual Garage Sale!Virtual garage sale is a brand new way for people across Australia to buy and sell any secondhand goods. Didn't sell everything at your recent garage sale? Do you live in an apartment, unit or flat and can't have a "traditional" garage sale? Had enough of those over priced under effective online classifieds? Then, welcome(again) to Virtual Garage Sale!Essentially, virtual garage sale is an online only garage sale. It's great for people whose living arrangements don't permit them to hold "traditional" garage sales, or perhaps you have just a few things you'd like to sell without a lot of effort, that's where we can help you. whatgaragesale.com.au has a rapidly expanding online following of dedicated bargain hunters and can get the results you need. Forget those other expensive, less effective online classifieds, Virtual Garage Sale is the new way to sell any secondhand furniture, whitegoods or electrical items, in fact almost anything at all! Even used cars, boats and motorbikes! Virtual garage sales work like this...
It's as easy as that!
Calling all antique loversIf you are an antiques lover, there may be more on offer than your traditional garage sales in Brisbane this weekend, A local school just may be hosting your type of event. Wondall Heights State School in Wynnum West (Wondall Road) is hosting a weekend antiques and collectibles fiesta. Opening night is Friday 4th June, and runs 6pm – 9pm. Opening night will give you premium access to the antiques and collectibles, and has a ticket price of $10. The rest of the weekend will cost you only $5 entry, and is open 9.30 – 2.30pm both Saturday and Sunday. On offer is a veritable smorgasbord of memorabilia, quality second hand items, collectibles and antiques. No matter your collector’s taste, you are sure to find it at this little fair - lamps, clocks, quality china, furniture, chandeliers, vintage clothes, toys, military memorabilia, music & film memorabilia. If you do like the grassroots approach and bargaining aspect to collecting, don’t forget about the plethora of garage sales, Brisbane on each weekend. You never know what treasures you will find! Garage sale to ebayApart from selling your unwanted items at garage sales, have you ever thought how else garage sales can help make you money? A trend many ‘early birds’ long ago picked up on, was to buy one man’s trash, and SELL it as another man’s treasures. These treasure hunters roam garage sales Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and all in between, foraging for hidden gem stones that simply need quick fixer-upper to become a must-have item by another shopper.
Often all these items need is a polish, a reupholstering, a good clean or a simple fix, and you have a VERY sellable item. And you acquired it for a fraction of the price!
And where to sell it? The enduring auction site ebay certainly pulls a few of these revamped goods, with many vintage and collector’s items having previously been sold at the humble garage sale before finding their way to ebay.
If this way to fast cash suits you and your internet habits, then have a read of the following article. With a few extra tips you may not have thought of, you will soon be transforming garage sale goods, to ebay treasures!
The garage sale revivalRecently we were contacted by a journalism major student at Melbourne’s Deakin University, seeking to do an article on the garage sale and second hand goods culture of Australia. She had contacted many garage sale and vintage wear websites and wanted to know our thoughts on the longevity of garage sales in Australia. Below is her article, based upon her interviews and observations. We hope you find it an enjoyable read and if you have any thoughts you would like to add, please email us and we will add it to the site. ‘Old is New’
By Danielle McFarland
The large group of people moves excitedly and anxiously, bright coloured balloons sway back and forth and amongst the laughter and loud conversations there is the sound of coins dropping into a wide tin as garage sales host, Pavan Sandhu smiles willingly at her earnings. Arranged precisely on foldable tables are all sorts of items from clothes and jewellery to cd’s and teddy bears. Hanging from each item is a small price tag paired with an even smaller dollar amount, and naturally the second hand belongings are selling quick.
While garage sales may seem like a thing of the past it is safe to say that history is repeating itself, making them bigger and better then ever before.
A moving house garage sale, in Narre Warren is proof that people are still fascinated in attending sales and have no shame when it comes to saving some extra cash. Host, Pavan Sandhu, openly tells “this is my first garage sale in a long, long time so it’s very exciting for me and I’m surprised at how successful it has turned out to be.” When mentioned the increasing popularity of garage sales she was quick to add that “almost every week there is at least one garage sale around here, sometimes more. My neighbours had a sale a couple months of ago that was a huge success. The sale took place on a Sunday morning, and I remember waking up to a lot of noise coming from next door. When I looked outside my window I saw a lot of cars parked down my street and I assumed one my neighbours must be having a party. Later on when I realised it was a garage sale I was amazed at how many people actually went and it was pretty early too.”
On A Current Affair in March 2010, a story on frequent garage sales shoppers noted how early some of the buyers attend the sales. Almost like Boxing Day sales people are driven to arrive as early as possible so they don’t miss out on any of the better items.
While Miss Sandhu has used the conventional ways of advertising for a sale, (“I made a sign and stuck it at the front of the street with a couple of balloons. I’m not the most creative person”), a prime reason as to why garage sales are blooming is due to the many websites that allow for them to be advertised.
“I have been to some really cool garage sales that I found on the net. It’s a shame I didn’t have time to post mine,” Miss Sandhu says with clear disappointment in her voice, “but there’s always a next time.”
There is a wide range of these websites that is accessible to the public. The sites provide search engines to locate any upcoming garage sales in your local area and also give you the opportunity to advertise your own sale. Sights such as www.whatgaragesale.com.au and www.egaragesales.com.au also offer some valuable tips on how to ensure that your garage sale runs smoothly. These sources add credibility and ease when running a garage sale, an option that was not provided in earlier years.
“Web sites such as egaragesales.com.au allow the seller to really detail what they've got. Also buyers have a lot longer to search for sales compared with other media as ads can be placed weeks ahead” says Rob Polman, who works for the website www.egaragesales.com.au, described to be Australia’s largest garage sale website.
In comparison, a worker from www.whatgaragesales.com.au, Heidi Schramm states that various mediums are needed when advertising for a sale: “You need a mix. Your audience is varied and many people visit a garage sale because they drove past, some because they picked up the Saturday paper, others because they trawl the net. You need a mix of advertising mediums, but the internet does open you up to a wider audience” she says.
Looking back the many, many years ago when garage sales were first introduced. The excitement and bizarreness of someone selling their things in their garage attracted a lot of attention bringing all types of people together. In certain ways sales used to be seen as taking on a meaning to community and being an event of local significance. In the United States in particular, people recognise sales as a chance for neighbours to get together. The ‘Highway 127 Corridor Sale’ is promoted as the world’s largest sale which spans out across five US states.
Although this seems a bit far fetched in today’s era when everyone leads such busy lives Mr. Polman says, “we have many customers who have arranged garage sales with neighbours to present multiple households in the one sale. Some enterprising organizers have also managed to have a whole-of-street garage sale. This would certainly have neighbours communicating.”
This is in contrast to the opinion of Brian King, from another popular garage sales website (www.streetgaragesales.com.au ), who says that people attending sales to interact with the neighbourhood is highly unlikely. “While it’s a nice concept, one that we in fact try and promote, but I believe its simply about people selling their unwanted items. If a neighbor does turn up, it’s a bonus but we have also noticed a reluctance from close neighbours to purchase anything.”
In one instance King tells “our web site was launched to promote our first ‘street’ sale which attracted 40 households and an amazing 8,000 visitors on the day, largely because we got to spruik it on ABC radio promoting the ‘street’ and ‘community’ aspects. At the end of the sale, unsold items from the 40 sales were donated to Diabetes Australia. They rang me a few weeks later to say thank you for the estimated $2K donation of goods.
About a year later, we were shocked to discover neighbours at one end of the street (who had participated in our sale) had organized another sale but had not invited neighbours from the other end. It felt like a real kick in the guts for the so-called ‘community’.”
So why is this latest craze into going out and finding the best previously owned itemssuddenly blooming? Mr. Polman suggests“in these time-poor times, garage sales are a quick way to move stuff on in a short time frame. People are also lumbered with "old" technologies as new electronics are purchased.”
It really has become more than just getting a good bargain, as the ‘vintage look’ has now become an obsession with adolescents in particular.
It almost seems incredibly ironic how in modern times people are have become more than acceptable of purchasing second hand goods. Stepping aside from garage sales, thrift stores, vintage boutiques and op shopping have become increasingly popular. Often friends of mine will be complaining about how all the op shops have been ‘raided of the good stuff’. On the positive side they won’t fail to mention an entire new outfit they bought from a second hand store such as ‘savers’ for an insane price. Although you can save some extra money by shopping like this there are many second hand stores in the city in particular in which buying a top would cost the same if you bought a brand new one from a clothing store. Fashion magazines are promoting this vintage ‘hand me downs’ look as a lot of their pages are being filled with the retro and vintage look replacing the elegant, formal clothing.
In an article called ‘Turn Your Wardrobe Into Cash’it is noted that women are realising they don’t need to go to shopping centers to find the big brands when you can buy them pre-loved for a fraction of the retailed price.
In this way garage sales can also contribute to finding these unique designs. Schramm says, “people are realizing that they can make their money extend further by going second hand. Garage sales present an opportunity to haggle to get the best price, and you can find designer goods, retro, and antique items for a fraction of the price. It allows you to clean out your garage and make some money back!”
These latest fashion trends have been accepted and recognized by Penny Flanders, creator of fashion website www.missmoneypenny.com.au This website is a popular online shopping sight that allows the trade of second hand clothing. “Once upon a time it was only for the treasure hunter and the enthusiast”, Penny says when asked about the huge attention being given towards second hand shopping. “Of course now it is much more mainstream, fashionable, acceptable and environmentally responsible to shop for used items – be it fashion, baby gear, furniture or whatever.” Comparing it to garage sales Penny strongly believes that her site and garage sales have a lot in common and that both are widely accepted in the modern era. “I think it is now far more socially acceptable – even ‘smart and cool’ to shop and sell at garage sales. I bet if you looked at the number of newspaper ads for garage sales they would have gone through the roof in the last few years as buyers are more comfortable purchasing this way and sellers accrue too many items to lug to a market.”
Garage Sales progression has continued to develop over the years with the aid of technology in terms of advertisement and publicity, with ever changing technology its safe to say that this hype may even get bigger than what it is. As Heidi Schramm reassuringly comments, “as long as there are second hand goods, there will always be a place for garage sales in some shape or form”. It certainly proves that the phrase still lives on, ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’. Moving?So your garage sale is finally over and it’s time to move house. When you are moving house, the garage sale is often just the first step. You’ve managed to sell many of your unwanted items, but how best to move all the items you still want to keep from one house to the other? Some key questions for many people following a garage sale are – “how do I even start to prepare for my move?”, “how do I move all my worldly possessions without paying a fortune?”, “how do I make sure my quality items don’t get damaged in the process?”
If you don’t have ready access to a truck and a bevy of helpers, it can be daunting. Often you find you have just one week to box everything, pack it into a truck, and move it to your new place. With so many options out there, what do you choose? Hire a truck and do it yourself… ouch! Get some mates over… too many Sunday roasts that need to be cooked to repay the favour!
Here at www.whatgaragesale.com.au, we believe in the work of MiniMovers. Just as we serve garage sales in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and across Australia, MiniMovers is a nationwide company who move people locally in all the major city centres. With big and small trucks MiniMovers can handle from one item to the largest home or office, even pianos and pool tables are no problem. You can pack, or MiniMovers professional prepackers can help you pack. MiniMovers can deliver all the boxes and packing materials needed to help you pack AND will even buy the boxes back when you have finished unpacking. AND all MiniMovers services come with a “Written Workmanship Guarantee”.
Moving house or a business couldn’t be simpler. All you need to do is follow the simple checklist below:
Here at whatgaragesale.com.au we are passionate about the community and MiniMovers is a proud part of every community. If you want to make your moving process more affordable, less stressful and efficient, check out www.minimovers.com.au and let them help you move!
Preparing for your garage saleIn today’s highly competitive world, you need to sell your garage sale as well as you possibly can to get the best result. Some people simply have a garage sale by throwing their unwanted items into their garage or car port, slapping a few prices on items, advertise last minute and then sit outside all day barely making a dollar for their day wasted, wondering where all the customers went. If you want to make money from your garage sale, you need to put in some time and effort. The following step by step instructions to preparing for your garage sale is compiled from personal experience and the feedback of many clients. The common theme? Preparations take time, and you get out of your garage sale what you put into it.
Then make sure you list it for the full two weeks online and have IMMENSE detail in your ad listing, taking stock of what is for sale. Use buzz words like ‘furniture’, ‘tools’, ‘DIY and renovators items’, ‘antiques’, and ‘collectibles’. At the same time list it in your local paper (most deadlines for these are a week and a half prior to your garage sale)
HOT TIP
The week before your garage sale starts, letter box drop your neighbourhood to raise local awareness (think 300 houses as a benchmark).
At the end of the day, the success of your garage sale depends on a number of factors,
But it also depends largely on your effort… so make the time you put in profitable! Having a cost effective holidayWith all the rate rises Australians have been experiencing in the last few months, the thought of a holiday does seem far away and out of reach. We will look at holidaying on a shoestring in the next few weeks… but what about a ‘staycation’? (forgive the reference to the Americanized ‘vacation’). So many of our cities and local towns offer a plethora of interesting things to do across a day, that you often don’t need to fork out for accommodation and meals. Simply pack up a picnic and head off in the car, or public transport! In Brisbane you can mix up golf, ferries, tandem bike rides, live comedy and entertainment are all just a taste of what you can achieve for less than $100 for two people in one weekend.
Sydney with a fantastic mix of mountainside retreats, heritage listed sites, coastal areas and historic townships, the same applies.
And Melbourne.. with vineyards, cultural retreats, European inspired alleyways and hideouts and the home of AFL, so much is possible!
Every littletown and city has something to offer - just pretend you are a tourist and immerse yourself in the experience!
Lose yourself in a ‘staycation’ and save those dollars to pay the increased mortgage or rent!
Brisbane MarketsYou’ve recently had a garage sale in Brisbane, and now you want somewhere to spend all the cash you made. All the sales at the stores don’t get your attention… it’s the second hand and home grown goods that do! This weekend is shaping up to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend in Brisbane, and how better to enjoy that fine weather Brisbane is famous for, than to head to the outdoor markets. The Brisbane market scene is alive and vibrant and if you know where to look, rivals that of Sydney and Melbourne. Have a look below to see where to find the great markets around Brisbane central THIS weekend and what’s on offer! Jan Power’s Famers Markets | Brisbane Powerhouse, Newfarm | Saturday 6am – 12 noon
Everything at these markets have been grown, made, caught, bottled, picked, pickled, dug or baked by the person serving you. Fresh fruit and veg, jams, chutneys, breads, pickles, cheeses, nuts, seafoods meats, herbs and more!
Saturday Fresh Market | Brisbane Market Place, 250 Sherwood Rd Rocklea |Saturday 6am – 12 noon
Fresh fruit and veg, deli produce, flowers, baked goods and entertainment. One of the BIGGEST food markets in Brisbane. Entry fee applies.
Valley Markets | Brunswick Street Mall, Fortitude Valley | Saturday and Sunday 8am – 4pm
A showcase for Brisbane’s up and coming designers. May a great name started on this humble stretch of ground and now own permanent stores along Brunswick street (like Nelson Molloy, Hopscotch etc). A great place also to source second hand vintage wear. Always great music and a great vibe! Saturday is the best day to browse the full range!
Southbank Markets | Southbank Parklands, Little Stanley Street, South Bank | Saturday and Sunday 10am – 5pm.
Fantastic markets for art and craft and handmade lovers! An eclectic mix of fashion, jewelry, fortune tellers, arts and crafts, homewares and health and lifestyle products. The best part of these markets? When you have finished you can unwind in the lagoon, or fine a secluded piece of grass to watch the clouds pass on by overhead… and head for a walk to the Kangaroo Point Cliffs on the walkway, or to the city, or to the botanical gardens. All within easy reach!
West End Market | Davies Park (off Jane Street) West End | Saturday 6am – 2pm
For everything from organic fresh produce, to bric a brac. Ethical free trade products (made by immigrants) to hand-made jewelry. A Mecca for second hand and recycled goods lovers, as well as organic and free trade seekers.
Riverside Craft Markets | Eagle St Pier, the City | Sundays
For EVERYTHING art and craft! You can’t miss this market accessible by city cat, ferry or bus. You won;t have enough time to browse it all!
Northey St Organic markets | Northey St Farm, Victoria St, Windsor | Sunday 6am – 10.30am
Brisbane’s ONLY certified organic farmers market, beside Brisbane’s own city farm. A real feature is the ‘edible landscapes’ nursery!
Markets in SydneyWhat to do in Australia’s biggest city this weekend? You shopped around garage sales in Sydney last weekend, and want to do something a little bit different. Why not hit the multitude of markets that you'll find in Sydney? With such a rich tapestry of ethnicities, cultural events, local and global influences, the weekend markets in Sydney provide a great opportunity for an inexpensive and enjoyable day out for anyone! Whether its farmer’s markets, arts and crafts, retro goods, car boot sales, emerging fashion, ‘around-the-world-in-just-one-market’, Sydney markets have it all!
See below for the list for a selection of what's on THIS weekend!
Saturday 1st May
ORGANIC FAMILY FUN MARKETS | Carysfield Park, Bass Hill, cnr Hume Hwy and Johnstone Rd Bass Hill , from 9.00am - 3pm.
Stall holders set up from 7.30am general stall start from $33.00 Food Stall From $55.00 Power $11.00 extra. Fruit and Veggies, Art and craft, Scented Candles, Perfumes and Fragrances, Books, Bric a brac, Coffee, Tea and BBQ, Lots, lots more fun and bargains for the whole family.
SURREY HILLS MARKET | Cnr Crown & Little Collins St (Shannon Reserve), Surry Hills, 7am - 4pm. Sydney’s most unique market sellingrecycled, handmade and secondhand goods.
For further information go to the website www.shnc.org.au
VINEYARD MARKET | Vineyard oval in the corner of Park Road and Windsor Rd
1st Saturday of the month between April and September
MOSMAN MARKET | Mosman Square, Spit Junction, 8:00am - 3:00pm A quality art & craft market located in the heart of one of Sydney's finest shopping precincts. 150 Australian art & craft stalls, together with gourmet food, entertainment & a lively atmosphere. COBBITTY VILLAGE MARKETS |Cobbitty Public School Grounds, Cobbitty Road, Cobbitty, 8am to 1pm We have 100 stalls offering a great variety of arts, craft, local produce and so much more. Enjoy our entertainers over a delicious BBQ breakfast or lunch, Devonshire tea, a wonderful variety of delicious gourmet delicacies and home made treats. Market supports local charities. www.cobbittymarkets.com.auROZELLE MARKETS | Every Saturday & Sunday, Rozelle School, Darling Street. 9:00am - 4:00pm. Specialising in second hand goods. From garage sales to antiques & collectables. 100 stalls. Food, massage, tarot, entertainment. www.rozellemarkets.com.au
SUNDAY 2nd MAY
Heritage Craft Fair | St Ives showgrounds 450 Mona Vale rd St Ives The largest, friendliest, most creative, Australian Made Fair in Sydney. The fair only allows Australian made items to be sold. We also have a fresh produce and growers environment which is dedicated to Australian grown. We have loads of great food to eat , lots of kids activities and live musical entertainment at every fair. www.heritagecraftfair.com.au KINGS CROSS ROTARY WEEKLY SUNDAY MARKETS | Historic Fitzroy Gardens, Macleay St -Kings Cross Organic Food & Farmers Markets, Frenchs Forest | Parkway Hotel, Frenchs Forest Rd East, 9am - 1:00pm Organic fresh fruit, vegies, bread, eggs, meat and other gourmet foods. www.organicfoodmarkets.com.au THE SYDNEY COLLECTABLES, VINTAGE & ANTIQUES FAIR | Wentworth Park Grey Hound Function Centre, Wentworth Park. Glebe, 9am - 3pm. 140+ sellers of COLLECTABLE, VINTAGE & ANTIQUE items. (Air - conditioned, ground floor, cafe & food bar). Admission $5 general, $4 seniors, $10 earlybird. Early BirdsGreg and I helped out a family member’s ‘tool and timber’ garage sale on Saturday and picked up an interesting take on the old early bird problem. After a VERY late night getting the garage sale ready to go on Friday night (I believe midnight was the official time of retiring!), we were rudely awoken at 5am by knocks on the door. It was the early bird! Knowing it was a tool and timber sale with some collectibles involved, this early bird was determined to get the worm! We informed him that no, the garage sale was not yet open (somehow he missed the whole house-in-darkness-must-mean-they-are-sleeping-still) and would not be open until 6.30am. He decided to patiently wait for an hour and a half until we opened the sale half an hour earlier. By this time, two more early birds had arrived and they eagerly bought up within 10 minutes quite a few of the collectible items on offer.
At 7am sharp, another buyer arrived. A newly baptized woodworker, he was eager for the offerings of the sale. He was disappointed however to learn that some early birds had already gotten in before him. His comment stayed with me, as it reflected the Australian notion of a fair go. He commented that it was unfair on the polite garage sale shoppers, who respected that start time of a sale, to allow early birds to access the sale before start time, especially when they rudely awaken a household at 5am! He did ask where the ‘fair-go’ was in this transaction and expressed a desire to see garage sales open at their advertised time to be fair to all bargain hunters.
I thought it a fair comment.
Be sure of your early bird policy. If someone drops a note in your letterbox a few days beforehand saying that they are neighbours but will not be there on the day of your sale, and asks to access goods beforehand (as they did to my family member), beware of the second hand dealer! A sale is a sale, but if you wish to keep your garage sale fair, you may just request them to wait until the day, or choose the items they are interested and send a buyer on the day in their place. Make sure you do list your start time clearly ONLINE and in the newspaper, to advise early birds with clarity (some of them pick up the paper as soon as it is distributed!) and deal with them assertively and politely – they are still potential buyers! Our early bird was happy to wait the hour and a half as we were not rude to him and he made an EXCELLENT first buyer.
Make sure you share your early bird policy with all helpers on the day, and account for a LATE night the night before properly setting up and pricing goods. A well organized garage sale sells the items! And sells them well! Markets in VictoriaWith a beautiful Saturday and Sunday shaping up for Melbourne this weekend, the only question is… how to make the most of the outdoors? If garage sales in Melbourne won’t be your prime pick, how about the markets? With fresh farmers markets, vintage clothing markets, trash and treasure markets and everything in between, you are spoilt for choice!
How about hosting an organic and local produce dinner party for friends on Saturday night, using only the goodies you pick up from your farmers market experience? There is nothing quite like bartering over fruit and veggies, filling up string bags of goodies knowing all the profits are going back to the people who made them, and not the corporations! You might pick up a chutney for entrée, a beautiful pesto to toss through some pasta, some locally made wine to accompany dinner, and cheese and breads to wash it all down!
If clothing is your thing, and you LOVE quality and vintage second hand goods, nothing beats the Melbourne markets for these! You can spend hours in the sunny weather browsing what’s on offer, never knowing what bargain find you might stumble across. I once found a beautiful silk shirt for only $2! Take your girlfriends and enjoy a day out and about, treating yourself to lunch from some local providers.
Check out the list below for an idea of what's on this weekend (apart from garage sales)!
A wide range of new and second hand goods 8am - 2pm, 4th Saturday of the month | Newhaven Hall, Phillip Island | Enquiries 03 5678 8078 Milleara Shopping Centre Craft Market
Templestowe Rotary Farmers Produce Market
A farmers' market featuring a large range of produce including meat, vegetables, seasonal fruit, bread, eggs, olive oil & olives, chutneys, jams Food stalls and tea and coffee are also be available. Entry can be made from either Thompsons Road or Bullen Road and a small entry fee applies. 8am - 1pm, 4th Sunday of the month | The Manningham Club, 1 Thompson's Road Bulleen | Enquiries 0412 558 066 Queen Victoria Market "The Queen Victoria Market is aptly named because she is the queen not just of Melbourne markets but of Australian markets.If you only have time to visit one place in Melbourne, then it should be the Vic Market. But try to visit while all the produce stalls are operating (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings) because they make up the real heart of the market.At the Vic Market you will immediately see a representative cross-section of Melbourne's population - its ethnic mix, dress styles, language and most of all their attitude to life. Faced with such animated and good-natured variety, it is hard to maintain for long that there is only one 'right' way to do things; that there is only one self-evident religion; that enmities from old countries should be continued in the new; that being called 'love' or 'darl' is sexually oppressive; that the working week that just passed is really that important.The Vic Market brings city people in touch with earthy realities. It is very clear that meat comes from dead animals; that vegetables are grown in dirt; that sweat and energy is part of commerce; and that Collingwood will win the Grand Final this year.It is truly the melting pot of Melbourne - Toorak matrons, tattooed labourers, politically correct families from the leafy suburbs, people from all walks of life.Listen to the spruiking. Much of the language comes direct from the 1930s. Or maybe earlier, when the Sentimental Bloke of C. J. Dennis' poems went down to the rabbit stall at the Vic Market to meet his mate Ginger Mick ("e 'umps the bunnies when he toils does Mick").Buy yourself sausage in a roll from the Bratwurst Shop and sit outside and watch Melbourne pass by. Particularly the children who believe that this is what life is like - only to be surprised when they move away from Melbourne". Saturday 6am - 3pm | Cnr Elizabeth and Victoria Streets, Melbourne Rose Street Artists Market "The Rose Street Artists Market is a venue where artists and skilled craftspeople can sell their wares direct to the public. Situated in a yard in bustling Fitzroy and close to Brunswick Street we recommend a visit on a Saturday morning if you are looking for genuine individual hand crafted items rather than the type of hand-made-to-a-repetitive-commercial-formula goods that dominate some of the more high profile craft markets. Enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine or champagne and some food from the cafe and chat with the artists". 11am - 5pm Saturdays and Sundays | 60 Rose Street, Fitzroy Some markets situated inside shopping malls are rather sad affairs, but not this one. White Hat found a range of quality hand made goods as wll as furniture and homemaking goods. This is just the place to pick up some lovingly made baby clothes. There is also a a strong community feel which sets apart from many markets of this type. 10am - 3pm, 4th Sunday of the month | Milleara Shopping Centre, cnr Milleara Rd and Buckley St East Keilor | Enquiries 03 9331 1255 Charitable garage salesHere at whatgaragesale.com.au we see a lot of people choosing to donate garage sale profits to their local charity. We also know many of you drop off unsold goods to charity stores post-garage sale. When we heard Ray O'Donnell from St Vincent de Paul speaking on the radio about the effect garage sales have on donations, we thought we would contact him to see what items are most in needs by charities. The list follows: Men's clothing No white goods! If you have unused goods around the home that fit these categories you might now choose to simply donate them to your local charity store. They will be appreciated by many a needy person! Or if you have them left over at the end of your garage sale, seriously consider donating the goods. You might make a donation whilst you are there and make a huge difference to someone's life. Charity stores for garage sales in Melbourne: Click HERE Charity stores for garage sales in Sydney: Click HERE Charity stores for garage sales in Brisbane: Click HERE Garage Sale SignageWe are about to hold a garage sale in Brisbane ourselves this weekend and we are experiencing the mad rush before the garage sale to get it ready! Just last night we mapped out where the garage sale signs would go and started painting them all. Thought it an opportune moment to remind all garage sale sellers out there how to make and place effective garage sale signage.
The important thing to remember is, if people cannot find you, you will NOT get customers. Some of your customers will be well prepared, have researched you online and mapped out their route, and some customers will simply be driving past… you want to grab them too!
Follow the steps below to create effective garage sale signage!
1. Create a sign to hang/place in YOUR front yard, visible from the street so neighbors driving by will be alerted to your garage sale. Wording to the effect of ‘garage sale HERE this Saturday’.
2. Take a tour of your neighborhood a week before hand noting the main roads that surround your place. Drive down the main road and decide where to hang/place your signs and create some drawings so you know which way to place your arrows. Decide whether you will need stakes/nails or other items to place the sign. Don’t forget about traffic driving on BOTH sides of the road. Create a map/notes for yourself so you know where you are placing the signs. Number the signs on your map so you can cross-reference them with the signs you create.
3. Choose locations where traffic naturally slows down so drivers have time to take note of your signs.
4. Working from the main road, you may need to sign each turn. We have given up on many a garage sale chase because we could not FIND the garage sale street!
5. Create your signs. Simply stating ‘garage sale’ with an arrow pointing the way (maybe noting your street name) is useful. Choose wording font and colour that stands out. Keep this font and colour consistent throughout your signs so people know they are following the signs to YOUR garage sale. Number the back of your signs to correspond with your map.
6. Hang out signs the night before.
7. Make sure the garage sale signs come down STRAIGHT after the garage sale.
Following this advice, you should increase the number of potential customers visiting your garage sale. We hope it works for us! Wish us luck! Announcing our March winnerWith her recent garage sale in Brisbane, Tina Marsh became the winner of the www.whatgaragesale.com.au Easter Hamper! Winning numerous Easter chocolate bunnies, lindt eggs, cabbury eggs and other goodies for her and her family, the win offset the stress of her pre-Easter move wonderfully! We hope Tina's move was a successful one and a little easier due to goods sold at the garage sale! Shopping at Garage SalesGarage sales are back in full swing after the Easter long weekend. With lots of great second hand goods to be found, you never know bargain you might find as a buyer? Will it be a barely-worn exclusive designer top whilst you are hitting the garage sales in Melbourne? Will it be an overlooked piece of antique furniture you find whilst browsing garage sales in Sydney? Will it be dirt-cheap outdoor setting you find at garage sales in Brisbane? You never know what bargains and treasures might be waiting for you early on a Saturday morning, as you head out, your ‘my map’ ready in your hands, guiding you to all those garage sales! Before you head out, keep the following buyers tips in mind…
Announcing our February $50 winners!
Announcing our February $50 prize winners!
www.whatgaragesale.com.au congratulates… Dave Pamenter. The February listing winner!
Dave’s family unfortunately fell ill to a nasty bug just before his garage sale, so it had to be postponed! Lucky for Dave he was the $50 prize winner! It shall give him a head start on profits come next garage sale!
www.whatgaragesale.com.au congratulates… Vanessa McRae. The February testimonial winner! Read on for some FANTASTIC tips on pricing, haggling and preparing courtesy of Vanessa’s recent experience!
Vanessa McRae's top tips:
How I prepared for my garage sale…
- gathered all the items we wanted to sell at the garage sale in one place. - grouped items in like categories e.g. kitchen wares, kids toys, music, outdoor items etc. - organised tables to display most of the smaller items on to make it easier for people to browse. - advertised the garage sale on www.whatgaragesale.com.au the week prior and posted signs up locally 2 days before to generate some local interest. - weather forecast was not working in our favour so we also had to erect a tarpoline so that we could go ahead. - organise plenty of change (both notes and coins) to make your transactions simple on the day. - made signs for whole tables or boxes with set prices to make it easier e.g. everything on this table $1 or everything in this box 50c or 5 for $2 - be prepared to negotiate as everyone comes looking for a bargain and if you have made the decision to get rid of it, any price someone is prepared to offer you may be better than having it left over at the end of the day. A key decision I would make next time, based upon my recent experience is…
… big furniture items draw the crowds so to make sure you have some big ticket items at reasonable prices. To make it more effective, might have been good to ask around friends and family if they have anything they want to get rid of because the more bigger items you have, the longer people tend to stay around and buy other items. Some useful tips I can share regarding early birds and hagglers are… …we didn't have any early birds this time due to the bad weather although
at a previous garage sale we had, we had people turn up at 5:30am for an advertised 8am start and we had only just got out of bed. I think the main thing for us is that a sale is a sale and as long as you are courteous to people, they are generally happy to cooperate. We anticipated early birds and we just explained to people that we were happy for them to look as we brought things out and got ready but that it would probably take us about an hour to bring everything out. At that garage sale, I recall that we had made about $400 before the advertised starting time so not in your best interests to turn those people away! At this garage sale, we did have some tough hagglers and those pretending that this was the first time they had ever been to a garage sale and there is an easy way to deal with them. Have an open mind what you are prepared to sell something for and know that people will haggle until the death to get it for nothing. If you aren't prepared to go lower than your set reserve then be firm and tell them that's the lowest price, take it or leave it. I also found people tried to haggle on every item, where I found it more effective and better outcome for me by telling them to choose everything they want and then I'll talk about giving them a good deal. You can package things up and make it seem like an attractive offer e.g. give me $20 and it's all yours as opposed to trying to haggle on each item. Congratulations again to our very surprised and happy February winners. The team at whatgaragesale.com.au wishes you successful garage sales in the future!
Long weekends and garage salesChoosing the right day to have your garage sale is critical to it's success, and with the number of long weekends coming up I thought it an appropriate time to revisit this topic.
As a general rule, we recommend to avoid holding garage sales over long weekends as there is a higher likelyhood of people(your potential customers) going away for a break, or just plain having a rest! Less customers equals less garage sale profits. On the other side of the coin, you may live in an area that enjoys extra population during these times and you may be rewarded handsomely for sacrificing some of your long weekend to hold your garage sale during this time. Some other public holiday dates to be aware of,
Enjoy your garage sales everyone! Greg
Kitchen Makeover!Want to do a kitchen make over but can’t seem to find the spare cash or time? With some lateral thinking, some garage sales, some second hand goods, your kitchen can go from bland to a statement! Read the article below for a few inspiring ideas!
A Current Affair garage sale feature!Channel Nine's A Current Affair featured an article on garage sales this evening. The focus? How to make the most money out of YOUR garage sale. Lots of pratical advice and tips, and featuring some What Garage Sale customers in Melbourne putting it to the test! How much do they make? What are the top tips to making your garage sale a success? Click the link below to watch the story and find out! A Current Affair garage sale article
Garage sales for baby clothingPre-loved baby clothes were the topic of an article on the Baby Steps page in Sunday's Herald Sun Newspaper. It explored the cheapest ways to purchase second-hand babies clothes, garage sales were obviously included! and we received a notable mention. To read the full article click the Herald Sun logo below.
Effective Garage Sale SignageIs this you?
You are out and about on a Saturday morning casually hunting garage sales and you see a sign for a garage sale on the main road. The address was too small to read, but you caught the words ‘garage sale’ and an arrow. A split second decision follows and you turn into the street the sign pointed to. And then drive around for a quarter of an hour trying to find a sign that tells you where the bargains are to be had, and find nothing!
Frustrating? You would be surprised how many people create small and infrequent signs to bring the customers to their garage sale!
When you hold a garage sale you want to make the experience as easy as possible for your customers. You want their business! This includes finding your garage sale easily in the first place!
Superb garage sale signage is easy... but it does take a little more time than taking a permanent marker to a piece of light cardboard last minute.
 If you live on a main road, opposite a park or similar, consider placing a BIG sign up outside your house for a week or two beforehand. It is a ‘teaser’ that tells people a HUGE garage sale will be at your place, lots of bargains to be had, with the date. The sign in the photo was hung for a fortnight prior to this garage sale in Bondi, Sydney, on the house. The house sat opposite a well-used park and encouraged many visitors to the day. As the sign is on your personal property, you will not be breaking any council laws.
A few days before your garage sale, letterbox drop your neighborhood letting them know where it will be held, date and time, and a few items that you will be selling. This will help get all the local people along!
Finally, on the day of your garage sale, you need to put out all the major signage. Think weatherproof signage. Water proof if you can! Signs need to be sturdy cardboard, metal, plastic or similar, or attached to a sturdy backing (like a crate/box/stake). Be aware of laws about attaching it to electrical poles. Your sign needs to be large enough to be read easily by drive-by traffic and needs to include the words ‘garage sale’, the date it is being held and an arrow pointing the way!Make sure the lettering is LARGE and readable. It's helpful to have all your signs look similar (same colored lettering or same colored cardboard used - that way when people are following your signs, they'll know they are following YOUR signs!
Start at the main road and then work backwards, signing each turn to make it as easy as possible for the driver. 4 - 6 signs is a good number, but if there are many turns, make more! At your actual house, balloons help indicate which house. An effective garage sale sign we saw recently was a car parked in front of the house, just to one side (so as not to obstruct view) with a big ‘garage sale here’ sign across the entire back and front windscreens. No mistaking which house it was! Ensure your house number is highly visible too. For a comprehensive list of garage sales and laws relating to signage, visit the ‘garage sale laws’ section of the site.
Finally at the end of the day, you need to ensure that you take down all signs to avoid council fines and to keep your hard earned cash!
A wesbite that adds some value to the topic of garage sale signage can be accessed by clicking here. They even suggest having a garage sale sign 'mascot'! A cute and pracical idea to really hallmark your garage sale! Effectively advertise your garage saleHere at www.whatgaragesale.com.au we see a lot of ads for people’s garage sales. Some short, some long, some are teasers, and some are to the point. Lately, we have had a lot of people ask us ‘how do I write a great advertisement for my garage sale?’ We have compiled the best tips on how to write a great garage sale advertisement, to increase your chances of a great turn out on the day.
Your garage sale is potentially competing with hundreds of garage sales in your area, so it’s important to make YOUR garage sale the place to be! Most people stop after a few garage sales as it is a time-exhausting process. You need to be one of the first they go to! Now the newspapers aren’t the only place to list your garage sale. One of the advantages of internet advertising is that you can list as many items as you want. Tell your potential buyers exactly what they will find at your garage sale, and the condition it’s in. You probably do not need to list all bric-a-brac and smaller items, but any larger items you have, people want to know about it! Upload photos of the bigger furniture/white goods/electrical items etc to help them see exactly what it is you have for sale (you can add photos for free with us under the ‘add more features to my garage sale’ when completing your listing). Most garage sale shoppers go out with a purpose in mind – it could be to furnish a room, set up a new house, find a new piece of furniture. You could have exactly what they want! Playing coy with garage sale advertisements does not help your garage sale stand out.
You will find groups of customers attracted to buzz words like ‘retro’, ‘antique’, ‘building supplies’, ‘tools’, deceased estate’, ‘children grown up’, ‘garden’, etc. Appeal to them!
Buzz words for second hand dealers are ‘jewellry’, ‘picture frames’, ‘antique’, ‘china’, ‘antique’, ‘retro’. Use this to your advantage to get the second hand dealers in! They will be your early birds, but you want to sell the stuff don’t you?
Often compiling several houses into one garage sale attracts larger crowds. People know that they will find a lot more bargains. If you can get your family/friends/neighbours involved, make sure you let the garage sale world know about it!
If your place is a little out of the way, include some basic directions in your ad to help people locate you. And of course, good signage on the day is a must! Check out next week’s article for more information on how to create effective garage sale signage.
And timing – a lot of bargain hunters are up early. Starting your garage sale at 9am is almost too late for some bargain hunters, so you are potentially missing out on the most eager garage sale shoppers. Saturday proves to be more popular for people shopping around at garage sales too, as Sunday tends to be a rest day.
Follow these tips on writing your advertisement, and you will be making the most of your potential customers, giving you the greatest return possible on your unwanted items. See you next week for the article on garage sale signage.
The team at www.whatgaragesale.com.au The January $50 winners
www.whatgaragesale.com.au congratulates… Jessica Richards. The January 'post-a-review' winner!
Jessica decided to list her Melbourne garage sale with www.whatgaragesale.com.au last minute. It led to a rushed flurry of activity however the day was successful! Jessica reflected that she would take her time and prepare for her next garage sale earlier. She felt she could have worded her garage sale listing to grab people's attention more and would advise people advertising to think carefully about how they will grab potential customer’s interest in their advertisement.
Second-hand furniture were the items most up for grabs at her garage sale and Jessica was the bargaining partner of many a second-hand dealer!
The big positive of the day was definitely the extra cash-in-hand, although Jessica did comment that her children enjoyed clearing out their room for a little of their own cash-in-hand! What a great idea to get the kids cleaning up and cleaning out!
For great tips on how to involve your children in your garage sale, garage sale signage and advertising for maximum impact, and how to word your garage sale advertisement, head to our hints and tips page!
www.whatgaragesale.com.au congratulates… Cath Healy. The January advertising winner!
Cath has been unable to supply www.whatgaragesale.com.au with feedback on her garage sale. The team congratulates her and wishes her the best in her next garage sale.
Announcing our January $50 prize winners Get creative in the rainWith all the rain around at the moment, the umbrellas are getting a work out! And you are anything like me, your never spend more than you have to on a brolly. This means given one foul gust of wind, your new favourite rain-protection device goes down the drain (along with 1000's of litres of flood waters!). So what to do with the old, broken umbrella you are now carrying around? Simple! Create a duffle bag to hold those gumboots, new (and better quality) umbrella, poncho and inflatable boat! And while you're at it, throw in a battery-operated fan, water bottle and sweat towel. Summer is lingering with a vengeance! A great way to have a durable and water-resistant, AND unique duffel bag. Just requires a bit of sewing nouse and you you've got yourself a one-off piece! A great gift to give too. And the money you save by MAKING this duffel bag, you can spend on a better quality rain-protection device! http://planetgreen.discovery.com/fashion-beauty/broken-umbrella-reuse.html
Garage sale bonding?Can garage sales strengthen the bonds between yourself and your children? I say yes! Some time ago I began taking my two children(aged 6 & 11) to garage sales on Saturday mornings. It didn't take very long at all for these two young minds to see the potential of the used toys and bric a brac that were available, I was soon asked(begged actually!) to purchase all sorts of items, some of which I did. They get just as much fun out of these secondhand toys as they would from a new version, but for a fraction of the price! As the weeks passed, their enthusiasm endured amazingly well, and each Saturday morning we were all up early hunting down garage sale bargains, my two eager garage sale sign spotters in the back seat full of excitment, anticipating their own new discoveries that awaited them! We'd often discuss how some things don't necessarily have to be brand new to be enjoyed, and they're really beginning to grasp this way of thinking. I took the experience one step further and I now give them each $10 to spend an whatever they want, no questions asked. It's truly interesting observing them really thinking hard about their purchases as they both try to get the most out of their $10, really a valuable learning experience for them. You too can turn your Saturday mornings into a time when you can really talk, teach and shop with your kids in a fun environment! Garage sale bonding! Have fun! Getting ahead in 2010After the GFC scare, the third interest rate rise in as many months, Christmas and back to school spending, how do you get ahead in 2010 and not fall behind again? Garage sales are a great way to MAKE money, but what about how to SAVE it? It doesn't matter what city you live in, be it Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or anywhere in between, this site has lots of usuable tips for you. The link will take you to 101 VERY practical tips for office, home, car and appliances will have you managing your finances and cash flow, and not wondering where it all went!
See us on FacebookCome join us on face book! You will find us under fan pages What Garage Sale: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=607570902#/pages/Gold-Coast-Australia/What-Garage-Sale/144728819777
Add your comments and thoughts about the garage sale world. What do you think people should know? Add your photos of great signage and garage sale layouts too for others to learn from! Trash from treasure at garage salesPacked full of video tutorials (you will need a good internet connection for this one) you will soon be hitting garage sales knowing what the must-buys are (and what you should leave behind) like a trained secondhand dealer! What is the worthless junk and what is the hidden treasure? Start to get garage sale savvy and you will soon be competing with the best of the early birds to grab the best secondhand bargain!
Smooth and profitable garage salesWe have lots of tips for every aspect of garage sales on our ‘hints and tips’ page (and more tips are added each week) but here is someone else’s point of view. Also useful to have more than one source of information! Garage sales are a phenomenon in Australia with the number of garage sales in Melbourne leading the way. Sydney and Brisbane garage sales are not far behind! It’s a weekend ‘club’ that the Australian public belongs to, with electrical poles and street corners everywhere signed on a Saturday morning ‘garage sale here!’. Lots of ideas exist for making the most of your garage sale experience. Take the time to learn from other people. Our homepage has lots of reviews, with what worked and what didn’t. It’s a great place to start! Click on the link below for a few more ideas before tomorrow's garage sale starts!
DIY office projectsIt’s well and truly back-to-work for us all (unless you took the big sick day with the rest of Australia!). The holiday shine has worn off and it’s back to the daily grind. A great way to liven up each work day is to personalize your workspace. Go beyond the traditional photos and personalized coffee cup and really own that desk! You’ll also be creating some great conversation starters about a more eco-friendly workplace, rather than lecturing your workmates about their own lack on recycling impulses! Garage sales aren’t the only way to recycle old goods! Check out the link: DIY office recycling Biodegradable cleaning clothsIt’s time to save some trees! Instead of using thousands of paper towels in a year, use a few reusable cloths that are proven to decompose in just 5 weeks (well so they say...). Skoycloth is an European product that allows every household to reduce their carbon footprint each and every day. Attention all cat lovers!For all the cat lovers and owners out there! How to make an inexpensive cat- tower toy (less than $5!) to keep your beloved pet amused for hours! If you are thinking of having a garage sale, all the strange people arriving at your house is sure to stress your cat out. A great way to keep your cat inside and amused for hours. Click on the link below and learn how to craft this one up from some old cardboard, corkboard and an old cat toy!
Click here: craftershock.com/blog/ Are all garage sales ‘bargains’?If you are anything like me, you love the unexpected bargains to be found at garage sales and spend accordingly! Generally I resist impulse buying and stick to the bargains that actually save me money (an actual need) but recently I did learn a lesson in the rules of garage sale bargain hunting. Not all bargains are what they seem! I was out searching for a single bed for the spare room and knew I would find such a bargain at garage sales! No furniture store ‘interest free’ bargains for me! Reusing someone’s unwanted goods is the key! I set myself the challenge of finding it THAT weekend (second rule learned: You will find your desired garage sale bargain guaranteed, just not always on the weekend you want! Persistence is the key!). I searched about 5 garage sales in the Gold Coast region until I stumbled upon a ‘moving out in a hurry’ garage sale. Everything in the house was up for sale. Ah, surely the bargain would be found here! After enquiring about single beds I was invited inside to the son’s room. Unmade and still covered with toys was the $40 bargain! I arranged an afternoon pick – up time, paid and left. I arrived later that afternoon and loaded the bed and mattress up. Upon arriving home I discovered the ‘trash’ to our ‘treasure’. A worn through mattress, some almost exposed springs, chipped and broken wheels, and several stains. The trash was definitely not treasure! Luckily the mistake only cost $40, but has reinforced some basic rules of garage sales.
1. Check your ‘bargain’ thoroughly to make sure it is in an agreeable condition. Barter your price from there.
2. Do not garage sale and bargain hunt when you are tired/in a hurry. It does take patience.
3. Not all desired bargains are found in the same weekend. Most likely you will find it a few weeks later!
Lessons that will see me saving money in the future, not spending it! Stand-by powerThere has been a lot of hype for a few years now on doing your part to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. How we use our electricity is part of our daily impact on the planet. There is a reason for personal interest in your energy consumption; with rising energy costs across the country (in addition to rising costs everywhere else), anywhere you can cut back on your energy consumption will save you on the quarterly energy bill. It is estimated that 10% of your energy costs comes from stand-by alone. This article covers a few of the main points and provides some great direction for eliminating stand-by power. Click here: How to save on stand-by power Announcing our December winners!Announcing our December $50 prize winners! This month both of our winners are from NSW! Both of them were happy to provide some great tips for our readers from their own recent experiences.
www.whatgaragesale.com.au congratulates… Chris Berry. The December listing winner!
December brought Chris from Ingleburn’s first ever garage sale experience! Chris was satisfied with his first ever garage sale experience. His aim was to make $500, and he actually made $400 from the day. Pricing most items at $1 - $2, the goods just flew out the door! However Chris did comment that he could have priced his goods slightly higher! The easiest items to sell at Chris’s garage sale were children’s clothes and DVD’s. Chris’s hot tip – start early. Give the early birds what they want and let them take all your bargains! It’s what they are there for! Chris kicked off his garage sale at 6am.
www.whatgaragesale.com.au congratulates… Sharon Metzl. The December testimonial winner!
Sharon from Bondi in Sydney(who has never won anything in her life until now!) originally aimed to have her entire street onboard with the garage sale. Her vision was to create a street of garage sales on the same day (almost like those amazing Christmas Lights streets). Being opposite a park and a football oval, this is using location to your advantage! Sharon also wanted to take advantage of the pre-Christmas opportunity to allow people to get their Christmas presents cheap! Sharon ended up going it alone on a VERY hot summer’s day, turning her unwanted goods into another’s bargain – she wanted to extend the life of the product. Cash wasn’t the aim!
She had two thefts on the day unfortunately. One elderly customer obviously needed her pillow cases more than Sharon did (sometimes you just got to let the small things slide). The other was two customers who were after some old books. After showing them to a bookcase inside and telling them they could take any books they wanted on the top shelves, Sharon was distracted by heavy business back in the front yard. A few days later she realized the two customers had liberated two stamp collecting books from the lower shelves. What a shame! Sharon’s hot tip – they are strangers, no matter how trustworthy they feel. Do not let them into your home!
www.whatgaragesale.com.au is happy that the $50 prize money levelled the playing field a little!
Sharon advertised on www.whatgaragesale.com.au, the local paper and a last minute decision on the trading post. She hung on her house a HUGE sign advertising the garage sale a few days before, and signed either ends of her street. She also knew the owner of the service station at the end of the road and was able to get a sign hung in the shop. Early birds weren’t a problem. Stating clearly in her ads, ‘no early birds’, the early callers patiently waited! Sharon’s popular items included overseas artifacts collected from travelling in South Africa, Indonesia and New Zealand (Christmas present opportunities?), photo frames and picture frames. Anything left over went to a very happy local St Vinnie’s store!
Congratulations again to our very surprised and happy December winners. The team at whatgaragesale.com.au wishes you successful garage sales in the future!
Cooking for twoSo Christmas is over, New Years is finished and it’s back to work! The budget has been blown, so take-away is not an option and you cannot bear the thought of cooking in the summer heat. You want to hold onto the last vestiges of that summer feeling and rally against the thought of preparing dinner and lunch for each work day – it takes too long when you could be outside enjoying the beautiful balmy nights! WHAT TO DO?
The link below provides you with 3 great tasting, inexpensive recipes, that allow you to use the ingredients on two different ways at the same time (simultaneously preparing lunch and dinner), cutting back on cooking time and the dollars! You will find you don’t need to eat out when you are cooking this well at home! A great way to budget and to enjoy the summer season!
Making your daily cuppa countIt’s time to return to work again. The holidays are over and so are the holiday sleep patterns! If you’re anything like me, you reach for the coffee first up in the morning (after a good work out of course) to get the blood pumping for the day and to shake those cobwebs away. After all, you do have a new year’s clean out to plan, and a garage sale to host! So how do you make sure that the coffee you are drinking is truly a ‘friend’ to mother nature and the farmers who grow it? In a world where Today Tonight ‘exposes’ the latest marketing scam, it seems ‘greenwashing’ the public is rife! Read this article to make your own mind up about the coffee you buy and the impact you are having on the world.
Bowling anyone?Happy New Year to all! Welcome to 2010. Thank you all for your support in 2009. We are looking forward to 2010 being an even bigger and better year for whatgaragesale.com.au! The first update of the year… a fun one! How to make a bowling game out of old plastic containers! Good for those of you with kids, those of you on holidays still, or those of you that feel like enjoying the summer fun!
Whether it is howling a gale in Melbourne (play the game indoors), full of sunshine in Sydney or raining cats and dogs in Brisbane, here is a game to keep everyone entertained! Great game to set up too to keep the kids entertained during the garage sales you will be hosting!
Simply take some old coke bottles (left over from New Year’s entertaining) and a rubber ball. Bobs your uncle, fun to be had!
Entertain for lessNow that the festive season is well and truly upon us all (and garage sales for the year have stopped), it’s time to focus attention on entertaining and entertaining in style! But if you are anything like me… well the budget doesn’t remain a ‘budget’ for very long when you have guests arriving every other night! So how to stretch out the entertaining dollar as far as you can and still enjoy showing off your hospitality and style? Greenopia has you covered! Click the link below and whether it’s rain in Melbourne, wind in Sydney or hot, hot weather in Brisbane, you will be entertaining for less, and keeping merry and festive along with your guests! Sustainable home make-oversLooking for a New Years home make-over? Why not do it green? With the recent clamour from the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, it’s clear everyone needs to play their part. Check out the great ideas from the green pages by clicking on the link below. There are even some hints on how to incorporate left over items you didn’t sell at your 2010 garage sales! Last minute craft and gifts ideasGarage sales are more or less over for 2010 and with them goes the chance to get yourself a bargain gift for someone special... so this is our last installment of Christmas crafts for you in 2009! Ornaments, gingerbread houses, Christmas candle holders, reindeer food and more. Six great ideas to keep the kids from saying 'I'm bored!'. Check out the Christmas Craft link and get busy on cheap and easy to make Christmas craft ideas! Announcing our November prize winners!CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NOVEMBER WINNERS $50 prize money goes to…
The winner of the testimonial $50 prize money goes to Roy Parfitt of Western Australia. Roy and his wife had a very successful garage sale and look towards having another soon in the near future. Congratulations Roy, we wish a successful second garage sale!
The winner for listing their garage sale with www.whatgaragesale.com.au goes to a Victorian winner. Tracey Gordon was a very surprised $50 prize winner! Tracey encountered some keen early birds (arriving at 5am for a garage sale listed to start at 7.30am!) and recommends sticking to your starting time. She was threatened with ‘I won’t be coming back then’, but as she attests to, with the right signage, advertising and preparation you will have plenty of people to snap up your bargains anyway!
The team at www.whatgaragesale.com.au encountered the early bird phenomenon ourselves just last weekend. We decided to visit one of our listed garage sales in Brisbane and paid a visit to a garage sale with lots of collectibles for sale. We arrived at opening time and as we turned down the street we were greeted to the sight of 20 or more people gathered outside high and locked gates, waiting for it to open! More cars arrived by the minute. Whilst it is encouraging for the people holding the garage sale, it would be intimidating nonetheless! The high, locked gates definitely helped. As we entered the garage sale seeking our own bargain, a melee greeted us! Popular items definitely included jewelry and watches and people jostled to be first to the grab the best bargain. Luckily they were well prepared with a great layout (easy to maneuver) and many hands to help the transactions.
Be aware that when you list popular items in your garage sale (jewelry, collectibles, crockery, watches, frames etc) you enhance the likelihood of both a high influx of visitors and of early birds. So be well prepared to cater for many people upon opening and for the inevitable early birds. Recycled Christmas Decorations
Now that holidays are here… are the kids driving you crazy yet? Need some easy-to-make Christmas craft ideas to keep them busy? Want some new Christmas decorations without the price tag attached? From soup can candle holders to sock stockings, check out this recycled rubbish website to keep the kids busy and your money in your pocket!
Click here: Recycled Christmas Craft Ideas
Budgeting for the summer appetite
‘Tis the season of over-indulgence and over-spending.. How do you enjoy the appetite our beautiful summer brings on and eat food that is good for you, and not lose your week’s earnings in an overpriced grocery bill? That is the topic of discussion in the article written by Grist. Garage sales don’t provide the answer to every budget conundrum, but you could find some great planter pots to get your own veggies a-growing! Check out the article here and start enjoying the summer appetite without paying for it later… or too much for it now!
Christmas shopping at garage salesChristmas doesn't have to be an expensive exercise this year. Garage sales provide great opportunities for the astute bargain hunter to make some very good purchases this christmas. Here at whatgaragesale.com.au we're very keen on it! The best purchase we've made to date has been a brand new(still in the box) Sunbeam foot spa for just $10! Whether you're buying for friends/family or just doing the secret santa for work, there's something out there for everyone! This weekend we'll be out looking for antiques and collectables. You may need to spend a little more time looking around, but at least garage sales aren't quite as crowded as the shopping malls at this time of year... Garage sales at this time of year are also selling lots of Christmas decorations and Christmas lights. It does take some hunting to find them, but worth your while in savings to find them! Here's a few things to keep in mind while you Christmas shop at garage sales....
We'll keep you posted on our own christmas shopping bargains, and we look forward to hearing from you too about how much money you've saved this Christmas! Don't forget to check out our previous article on creative christmas wrapping paper to finish off your presents! Click here to read the article. Happy shopping! Sustainable make-up
The post Christmas sales lure you to the shops, extra cash from your garage sale jingling in your pocket, and you stock up on all the essentials for much, much less!
For women, make-up often features in this ‘essential’ list. Costs you a small fortune every time you need to replenish stocks and the Christmas sale gives you the opportunity to get it for less. But with all the buzz around ‘going green’ and your skin condition of top concern, how do you decipher that list of ingredients??
This website from greenopia will help you determine what is best for YOUR skin and the planet.
Creative recycling with Christmas paper ideas
If you are getting a head start before Christmas, wrapping the gifts would be in sight! Ever wanted to do ‘something different’ than the traditional wrapping paper? For some great ways to recycle and reuse household paper and fabric, head to the website below. Full of tips on how to creatively reuse old paper and material goods you might have lying around, or pick up for a bargain at the garage sales! Your gift recipients will be wowing before they even open the present!
Click the link below.
Eco TourismThere is increasing clamour these days to do things the 'green way'. Garage sales are definitely a way to reuse, recycle and 'go green' and people from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and beyond are 'going green' each weekend with garage sales and making a small profit! So what to do with this profit? As the holiday season approaches and time with the family becomes paramount, we often think of local activities to do with our loved ones. Why not think green there too? Ecotourism Australia has a dedicated website where you can search for 'green' holiday alternatives and spend your hard earned garage sale money on your holiday fun and still be mindful of your impact on the world around you! Check out their site and search for activites in your area (look at the tab 'search for eco certified tours and accomodation' Keeping cool on a budget
Creative recycling xmas stockings'Tis the season to redefine the concept of 'reuse', and trim it with charm! Using old woolen jumpers and a little bit of patience and stitching, you can make to keep (or sell) your own unique Christmas stockings! Follow along with these easy to follow intructions and you will be ready for a greener Santa in no time!
Budget tips - organic produceNoticed how the cost of fresh food seems to be soaring! Have you noticed? Whether you live on a big block, or in a block of flats, you can save yourself lots of dollars by growing some of your own food. This guide gives some starting tips on how to go from seed to super size sweet corn! October prize draw winner!Congratulations to Carla from Carina in Queensland!Carla has won the October $50 prize draw for advertising her garage sale with us.We asked Carla a few questions about her garage sale experience, and we’re sure you’ll find Carla’s comments extremely useful for planning your own garage sale.
What would you consider the most important decision you made which contributed to the success of your garage sale?
I think that having the garage sale on a Saturday and quite early, was the best in terms of getting the most people. We found that most of the people came earlier in the day and we actually had people waiting out the front at 6am, when we started. Also, doing a lot of advertising is a good thing, because obviously, you need people to know you are having a garage sale. Doing proper advertising also helps to let people know what you have and what the start and finish times are. We put signs up around the neighbourhood to guide people, and advertised via whatgaragesale.com.au
Most popular item/items you had for sale?
We sold a lot of electronic goods, like old mobile phones, as well as household items, like carpet, clothes and bric-a-brac.
How did you deal with early birds/hagglers?
We made the start time very clear in our ad, so we simply did not start the garage sale until we were ready. We did have people waiting, but we thought that was their choice to wait, we made the start time clear and they didn't seem to mind waiting, because they seem to like being the first people in. I would say 90% of the people who bought things haggled. So it is a good idea not to sell yourself short with prices, and mark them up a little, so you have room to haggle, then people think they are getting more of a bargain too.
Any other advice you'd give to people planning their garage sale?
Make the start and finish times clear. Put signs up in your neighbourhood and take the signs down as soon as it's over. Make sure you advertise, there is no point having a garage sale with no people! I recommend using whatgaragesale.com.au as that is what we did, and we got a really good turnout. Make sure that you have everything ready and priced the night before, you will get people waiting as soon as it starts. It's also a good idea to go to the bank and get some change the day before. We also had an esky with drinks for sale, and you may even want to have a sausage sizzle, it’s just an easy way to make a little extra cash and people are always hungry and thirsty!
Thanks Carla, some great advice there, if you’d like more tips on planning your garage sale click here to visit our hints and tips page. Or if you’re ready to advertise your garage sale now, click here to head to our advertise page. Don’t forget every garage sale advertised goes into our monthly $50 prize draw! Creative recycling and xmas lightsWant to add an extra ‘something’ to your Christmas lights this year? Try this great ping pong ball idea. A great way to really make your house stand out from the crowd and to add the extra sparkle on the Christmas tree. Even use them in your garage sale to add a special something to the day! Ping Pong Ball Christmas Lights Sustainable PracticesIf you want to know your LED's from your CFL's, or just want to know how if choosing a green lightbulb does really make a difference, check out this site. Budget and money saving
If you are expecting a child, and your wallet is of the self-emptying variety rather than the self-filling (wish they would invent one of those), then some of these money saving tips will interest you. Wouldn't you know it, seeking out quality second hand goods at garage sales is one of the hot tips! Check out whatgaragesale.com.au for garage sales in your region that are selling old baby items.
How to have a baby without taking out a second mortgage!
Sustainable Living
You think garage sales are a great way to go green? Try waking up an hour earlier and incorporating these slight changes into your routine. You will be making a WORLD of difference!
Gift boxes from old cards - Creative Recycling
Ever put away the old Christmas cards for that ‘craft project’ you swear you will do next Christmas holidays? Have you grown tired of the carbon-cut gift boxes that swamp all stores come Christmas time? Do you need a real project that will get the kids hands-on and engaged?
Try this gem stone of an idea! Gifts cards into gift boxes! Using some creative origami folding, you can turn those old gift cards into unique and personalized Christmas wrapping. Even better, this idea works for birthday gifts and all occasions where gift wrapping is needed.
So grab those one-off gifts discovered in the hidden corner of the garage sale, and get out the old cards. You will soon be giving one-off Christmas gifts that will be the talk of the Christmas lunch.
Money saving tips - freecycleGive away unwanted goods that don't get sold at your garage sale, or pick up a free bargain you are finding difficult to locate at the local garage sales. "Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces wase, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community"
Creative Recycling for HalloweenHow to make Halloween costumes out of easy-to-find items and bits and bobs lying around your house Creative Recycling - xmas ornamentsThe countdown to Christmas has begun. Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks on some great creative recycling ideas for the christmas budget. First up - christmas ornaments! Plenty of ideas to get the kids helping to get Christmas ready! Creatively using all those bits and bobs you CAN'T sell in a garage sale! Sustainable Practices - Saving $$ at homeHere's 42 ways to not only reduce your carbon footprint at home but save yourself $$! Don't forget #43 - have a garage sale and recycle those unwanted goods!
Budget and money saving tips - beautyWant to save some hard earned cash and take care of your skin, hair and body at the same time? Visit this site for loads of natural and home-grown ideas to take care of you and your body. Who needs to spend hundreds of dollars to look their best? Mother Nature provides! Creative recycling with Christmas decorationsIf you fail to find second hand Christmas tree decorations when you go garage sale shopping, you can always make your own! Using household items, create your OWN unique and personal Christmas decorations! Great ideas to keep the kids busy during the holidays and save some money to spend on gifts for everyone (or even the post christmas sales!). Sustainable practices - green gardening practices!Making a difference by recycling goods at garage sales is a great way to help minimise your impact on the planet... but what about all the other ways you can make a difference? River City Gardens is packed full of information and ideas about how you can reduce your impact on the world around you, one mulch heap, one tree planted, one fertilizing technique at a time!
Garage sale tipKeeping the kids amused during your garage sale. Having the kids around while you’re organising and running a busy garage sale might sound daunting for some parents, but with a little thought, your kids could be of great assistance rather than just another thing to keep under control.
Sustainable living - Public TransportMoney Saving tip - recycled clothingEver wanted to know where to get the best bargains for recycled clothes in your city? Check out this extensive website. You will never be in the predicament 'I've got nothing to wear' again! www.communityguide.com.au/community.cfm Garage Sale tip - popular itemsPicture and photo frames are popular items quickly snatched up by early birds (who are often second hand dealers). Make sure to list these items in your garage sale description, but if you don't want early birds, make sure you list this CLEARLY in your garage sale listing. For the better quality frames, don't be afraid to ask higher prices. But beware asking too high a price - you don't want to be left with them at the end of the day! Sustainable LivingNext time you buy laundry liquid/powder, try out Earth Choice, 4 L, 2x Ultra laundry liquid. Super environmentally freindly and super budge freindly too! e For only $15 you will get 2 - 3 months worth of washing clothes. Capable of handling both heavy duty and gentle loads, you will only need a little to make a BIG difference! Pricing garage sale itemsPricing Items The key thing to remember when setting prices is that people go to garage sales for a bargain, price your items too high and you’ll end up with a heap of unsold stuff at the end of the day, if you’re having a genuine clean out that’s not what you want, is it? So if you really want to rid yourself of these items then price them to sell!
Here's some things to consider when pricing items for your garage sale...
Price your items clearly for all to see, this will eliminate many price questions from shoppers.
Money Saving TipMoney saving tip Use this site to compare the best price on goods BEFORE you leave the house! http://www.getprice.com.au/ Sustainable LivingSustainable living Use microfibre cloths instead of paper towel. It can take the place of 60 rolls of paper towel and is gentle enough to use on glass surfaces... even eye wear lenses. Saving money and reducing the environmental impact of your actions Creative RecyclingCreative recycling Raid your mum's linen cupboard and find amazing retro inspired bedsreads you had as a kid! Makes great over-the-shoulder sling bags, skirts, or even retro inspired ponchos! Unique one-off items, with memories galore. Picking the right dayTips on when to have your garage sale Give yourself the best chance of success by putting some effort into picking the right day to have your garage sale…
Good luck! Advertising your garage saleAdvertising your garage sale Effectively advertising your garage sale is a key factor in making your day a success. Essentially, the more advertising you do, the more people will come to your sale. Some forms of advertising cost more than others (as you may be aware) so carefully consider your advertising spend versus what you expect to make from your sale. Try combining your paid advertising with some of these mostly free and very effective ideas…
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