Monday, October 22, 2007

Garage Sale Pricing

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


I usually go garage sale-ing every weekend and it never fails to attend at least one that is overpriced. You can tell these folks aren't very familiar with yard sales. And that's ok by the way, I'm just sayin'!

Therefore, that brings me to my post today. I thought I would offer a general guideline for pricing your garage sale items. Try to price them 75-90% off the original price paid. Where you want to fall on that range depends how desperate you are to get rid of your stuff.

So, let's say I have a bangin' picture frame I paid $5.00 for. As years have past, it doesn't bang for me like it used to and I'm ready to get rid of it. 75% of 5 bucks is $1.25. Take the quarter off and price it for $1. If you're really desperate to get rid of it, price it for $.50 which is 90% of $5. I'm not going any further. You get the picture (no pun intended) and that's the extent of my math skills.

Another thing you must note is CUSTOMERS DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU ORIGINALLY PAID FOR THAT ITEM. They only care about what they have to pay for it. People don't shop at garage sales so they can brag to their friends about purchasing something 25% off it's original price. Hell, they wouldn't even brag at 50%! If they want those kinds of deals, they'll go to Walmart, Target, etc. and BUY IT NEW. I promise I'm not being snarky when I say that. I'm just being honest.

Some common things I see overpriced are books, vhs tapes, and childrens clothes to name a few. I hope this helps you in pricing your items at your next garage sale.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I have garage sales i normally price the little things really cheap, like you said, but there are some items that I want a certain amount out of. I KNOW people are going to talk me down- that's what you do at a yard sale. I normally price those items at 50% what I paid for them, knowing I'll get talked down.
I have to admit, one thing I can't stand is when someone walks up to me with an item I already have priced VERY cheap then asks if I'll take half or less of what's on it.

Melanie said...

I can't stand that either Jes!