Here 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.
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