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Lessons learned from another garage sale

I feel a bit like a broken record.

No matter how much I talk about advertising and promoting garage sales, people still don’t seem to heed my advice. A friend of mine had a garage sale this weekend, and even though I’ve given him pointers throughout the whole process, he didn’t follow through on the signage.

He did pretty well with the sale itself, but he made a few key mistakes when promoting the sale. He created nice, big signs, but then got a little fancy with the colors and letters. When you get too creative (ie. using a different color for each letter or making your font swirly or stylized) it can often be hard to read. Keep in mind that most people will see your sign for just a few seconds as they’re driving by. If it isn’t simple and bold, they won’t be able to figure out where they should be going. Not to mention, you have to include an address or arrows. My friend did not do this, and he lost a lot of business to a sale a few blocks away. Shoppers saw that sale first and assumed it was the one they were trying to find. Some never made it further down the street to the right sale.

This sign has the right idea. The sign is large, and the text is easy to read. Plus they included an arrow directing you toward the sale.

When it comes to garage sale signs, keep it simple. Here’s the basics of what you need to remember:

Make at least 20 large signs.
Use white poster board with simple red or black lettering. You don’t need to get any more fancy than that.
Include arrows and an address.
Put your signs up a few hours before the sale.

In addition, always advertise your sale on TagSellIt and Craigslist – they’re both free! Then let your friends know about your sale on Facebook, Twitter and any other social media sites you use. If you follow these simple tips, you’ll have a much better turn out at your next sale. And the more people that show up, the more sales you’ll have.

One last thing – Watch out! because you never know when I’ll show up at your garage sale and use your sale as the next topic on this blog!

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

Watch out for my feature on Yahoo.com on Tuesday, June 11. You’ll get to see me help a New Jersey family throw a garage sale!

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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The lessons learned at Denver Comic Con

This weekend, Denver hosted one of the top five comic cons in the United States. My art gallery set up a booth at the event where we sold Marvel super hero art, animation cels and artwork from the nationally recognized artist Fabio Napoleoni. It was our first time at this particular convention, and I thought it would be a great idea to have a booth in order to meet new clients and give the gallery a bit of extra exposure.

Any time I go to an event such as this one, I have the opportunity to observe other businesses to see how they operate. I’ve found that I learn a great deal from observing and allowing myself the chance to adjust and improve my own tactics in order to become a stronger gallery owner.

Observing other booths reminded me of a tip that I don’t think I’ve shared before. A lot of people don’t realize that no matter the situation, you can always negotiate a price. It doesn’t matter if you’re at a garage sale, an estate sale or a comic convention, prices are negotiable. The way to negotiate, however, is the big secret.

It’s always advisable to observe the seller before you approach them. Take the time to notice the size of the crowd at the location as well as how many people are actually buying. Instead of walking right up and making an offer, if you’ve taken the time to observe the environment, you can negotiate from a position of strength.

For example, from my booth, I observed our neighbors and the traffic at their booths. After just a few minutes, I realized that they did not have a lot of shoppers, and they weren’t selling much. With this knowledge, I would have been able to approach their booth with confidence, knowing that I could offer them a lower price for their items. They clearly were not having much luck, so they would have been more likely to negotiate down to a better price in order to move their product. (Please note that this does not mean you should offer an insultingly low amount. You never want to offend a seller and burn a bridge.) Had I not taken then time to notice their lack of sales, I may have made a much higher offer or else paid their sticker price.

So the next time you go to an event with the intention of buying, take a minute to look around. Don’t rush into an offer. In these types of situations, being the tortoise rather than the hare can often be the better choice.

Good luck and happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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Learning by doing

Last weekend I was in New Jersey helping a nice family put on their first a garage sale. We’ve been in contact for the last month, getting things prepared and going over all types of tips and tricks. I think it’s safe to say that they learned a lot from their first sale, but I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that I learned (and re-learned) a few things myself.

It’s not every day that you help someone throw a garage sale from start to finish. I’ve obviously thrown dozens and dozens of sales on my own, but when you’re working with someone else, there’s always a few surprises along the way that you don’t anticipate. Not everyone lives in the same kind of area as I do, and not everyone has the same type of items I do. This means that some strategies have to be modified. At the same time, there are certain tips that hold true no matter where you live or what you’re selling. I’d like to use this experience to share some things that I learned and reinforce a few of my most important tips for throwing a garage sale.

The biggest thing to note is that no matter how great your sale is, if people don’t know about it, they won’t show up. You need to advertise as much as possible in as many places as possible. You should use every avenue possible, including the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and Tagsellit.com are all free and can give you priceless exposure. In addition, you should never discount the need for physical signs. The family I was working with waited until right before their sale to put up signs, and this put them at a disadvantage. I always recommend putting up signs a few hours before the sale to give shoppers the chance to locate you. Not only that, but I would have put out twice the amount of signs the family had. You can never have too many, and they can never be too big. All of these factors will affect the number of people who show up to your sale. To top of it, some of our signs were yanked down at some point during the day. This doesn’t always happen, but it does reaffirm my advice to never put signs up the night before your sale. You need to make sure they’re out a couple hours before the sale, but putting them up the night before will open up the chances for someone to pull them down or for mother nature to ruin them.

The size of the sale is another factor to consider. If you only have a few items, you should probably hold off before having a sale. People don’t want to waste their time on a small sale, so they might not even stop at your house if you don’t have a large-enough looking sale. If you are low on items, do another sweep of your home; I can guarantee you will find more items to put out. If you still don’t think you have enough, try soliciting friends and neighbors. Combine your sale with someone else’s to make a really large display. The bigger, the better.

Once your sale is underway, you should make sure you have at least two people with a fanny pack of change. We only had one, and it significantly slowed transactions. I also recommend that you have as much change available as possible. Most items will require singles or even coins. If you don’t have a large supply handy, you’ll lose sales.

Lastly, spend the time to go through your items and see what can be easily cleaned or repaired. Unfortunately, the family I was working with did not take the time to this, and it meant we had to mark prices lower than we could have. If it will only take a minute or two to wipe down or fix an item, the value will be paid back four-fold.

In the end, we had a pretty great garage sale. The family was able to make a good amount of money and clean out a lot of unneeded items from their home. Hopefully they (and you!) picked up a few tips and will be able to make their next sale even better!

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

PS, If you live in the Toronto area, catch me on the Marilyn Dennis show on Monday at 10am ET.

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Become a Millionaire by Shopping Garage Sales

ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE

So how does one become a “Garage Sale Millionaire?”

Our own Aaron LaPedis, AKA “The Garage Sale Millionaire” shares his tips:

EDUCATE YOURSELF: Reality TV is not always reality, BUT, shows like Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars can still be good teaching mechanisms in that you can learn what items are in demand and how the experts appraise them. Become an expert on a handful of items, so when you come across those items, you know how much, if anything, they’re worth on the market.

Remember, sometimes the most valuable things to collect depend on the geographic region you’re in. If you live in the South, you’re surrounded by Civil War stuff, whereas in Colorado, there’s not much of it, so it’s priced at a premium. The same goes for Western memorabilia – it’s popular in the Midwest, where there’s less of it. So when collecting, consider the place you’re doing it in: What is that state or region known for? That’s where you’ll get the best price and the best value.

NEGOTIATE – IT’S THE ART OF THE DEAL: Be it a thrift shop, consignment shop or pawn shop, when you’re talking about the money, find out who the owner is because you’ll get the best deal from that person. The owner doesn’t have to worry about paying a commission and if they’re having any kind of money crunch, they’ll want to turn inventory. Cash is often king, because a lot of places don’t take credit cards, so you’ll get a better deal if you’re willing to pay cash.

DON’T LEAD ON TO BEING THE NEXT MILLIONAIRE ON THE BLOCK: How you dress is also important when shopping for collectibles. That means dressing in inconspicuous clothing, leaving expensive jewelry and shoes at home and parking your car a block away. If you drive up in a Lexus in front of a garage sale I’m holding, I’ll probably be hard-pressed to give you a good deal. Also, build a rapport before you start negotiating. Don’t immediately rush in with, “How low can you go?” Start a conversation about the weather an find common ground somewhere… cozy up to the seller, to the point you both agree it’s a good deal for both parties.

MIND YOUR MANNERS: Don’t be that guy… If an item is $100 and you offer $15, that’s an insult. You’ll turn that person off right away and they’ll never want to do business with you. I would start just under 50% on an item, sometimes even less, depending on how badly I want that piece. Don’t ever try to crush the other person during negotiations. The deal is never a good one if it doesn’t get done.

GETTING RIPPED OFF SUCKS, SO USE COMMON SENSE: Know that 50% to 60% of all signatures on memorabilia and documents are fake. Autopens allow people to copy signatures and unless you’re a foremost expert, you’d never know the difference. When you buy an autographed collectible, you don’t want to pay cash. Use a credit card or PayPal to protect yourself, and let them know you’ll insist on a refund if it’s not real. There are third-party authenticators that will verify whether or not an autograph is real. Sometimes making a “non-refundable” deposit to show the seller you’re interested before committing to paying asking price can save your A$$.

USE TECHNOLOGY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE: I have an online tip for buying offline – I use the website Tag Sell It and I also have their app on my smart-phone.

MOST IMPORTANT: Read My Book

FIRM BELIEF: Not only can garage sale treasure seekers make some money reselling various items, but they can make very substantial residual profits over time.

As the owner of two art galleries in Denver and former host of a local PBS show calledCollect This!, LaPedis knows how to track down hidden treasures and turn them into a profit. His recent book, The Garage Sale Millionaire (Wiley), offers advice on how to make money by digging around garage sales, storage units and everything in between. Aaron became an owner and partner with Tag Sell It Inc. in 2013.

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My first time

Well not mine …. But I was lucky enough to take a friend of mine to his very first garage sale a week ago. It was an amazing experience.

My friend would never have gone to a garage sale if he wasn’t filming me for a TV segment. Typically, camera men don’t play a role in the footage they’re shooting, but instead just record it for others to watch. And while his experience will probably never be shown, it definitely made the trip for me.

We were in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver, and there was a community-wide garage sale going on. Multiple houses had filled up their lawns and tables with bargain items. For me, it was my happy place, but for my friend, not quite. He never understood the appeal of a garage sale and was a bit overwhelmed by the assortment of items.

Throughout the morning we went from garage sale to garage sale, combing through items in search of hidden treasures. I wasn’t having much luck finding a good bargain buy, but then we came to a sale that changed my friend’s image of garage sales.

He was setting up his camera for a shot when he happened to look down. Out of nowhere, he screamed out like a little girl “I found one! I can’t believe I found one!” It was the moment of all moments; when a person catches the garage sale bug. My friend was referring to a mandolin slicer. It was brand new, still in the box, and was sitting amongst an array of kitchen gadgets. He scooped it up and charged right over to the woman in charge.

Without asking for any advice, he asked the woman how much it was and proceed to hand over the $7 she requested before I could say a word. He then proudly smiled at me, his newly purchased item in hand. I looked straight at him and calmly said “You know you’re with the garage sale millionaire, right? Did you even think to ask me for advice? You probably could have saved a few dollars, if not at least some advice on negotiating.”

He didn’t even seemed phased by my question. He was simply so excited to have found a brand new mandolin for a mere fraction of the retail price. “Now I know what my wife and I will be doing every weekend from now on,” he said.

At that point I wasn’t sure if I should call up his wife to apologize or to congratulate her on a newest. Either way, when you finally find that one item you’ve been searching for, it just doesn’t get any better.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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Tag, you’re it

I went garage sale shopping last week, and as I was looking around at my fellow buyers, scrambling and rushing about, I realized that I had the best tool possible at my disposal; I was using the Tag Sell It app. I always mention using your smart phone to research items on the spot, but I don’t typically mention one of the most valuable things it can do for you: it can tell you where the good deals are. The Tag Sell It app can assist you with a great number of things, but one of my favorite features is the sale search tool. You can actually map out the sales in your area and plan your garage sale route the day before, saving you valuable time. While everyone else is driving around with a newspaper and a map, or worse yet, driving around randomly, hoping to spot an garage sale sign, you’ll be zipping along, snatching up the best deals before everyone else even know about the sale.

I like to plan out my route the night before so that I’m all ready to go in the morning. I have everything ready to leave my house at about 7am, so that I can be at the first sale right when it opens. Most of the great items will be gone by 11am, so you need to plan out where you want to go first.

How do I decide which sale to visit first? Again, I turn to the app. You can check the sale listings to see what types of items will be at the sale and decide which ones sound the most promising. Hit those locations first, saving the more ambiguous sales for later in the morning.

Do keep in mind, however, that you can always swing by a sale around 3pm or so to pick up any items you’ve had second thoughts about. Odds are, if they’re still available, you’ll be able to get them at a much lower price. You might even get lucky enough to snag the items for free.

So my best advice to all you garage sale junkies is to save yourself some time and effort. Use the Tag Sell It app to plan your day, and have fun the next time you head out!

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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Who wants to throw the garage sale of a lifetime?

If you answered “me,” and you happen to be in the New York City area, I’ve got a great opportunity for you! May 17th and 18th I will in working with Yahoo! Finance, helping one lucky family throw the garage sale of a lifetime! If you’re within 1 hour of Manhattan and you are looking to throw a garage sale, send us an email (garagesale518@yahoo.com). Not only will you get personalized assistance with your garage sale, but you’ll get to appear on Yahoo.com (and who doesn’t want their fifteen minutes of fame?!?) I’ve worked with the Yahoo! Finance team before and can attest to the fact that they are fantastic, and between their assistance and my expertise, the selected family will be sure to throw a fantastic – and profitable – garage sale. If you’re interested, send us an email (garagesale518@yahoo.com) with your location, a family photo, description of family dynamic, why you want to throw a garage sale, list of items you hope to clear out, how much money you’d like to make, what you’d like to spend the money on. I would love the chance to meet you and your family and help you throw a successful garage sale! If you aren’t in the New York area but know someone who is, help us spread the word!

If you’re on the fence, check out my last feature with Yahoo!

Secrets from the Garage Sale Millionaire

I hope to see you in New York!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

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Finders Keepers?

Earlier this month a Tag Sell It Facebook fan posted a question on our page about a recent Estate / Tag Sale experience where they purchased an item and shortly after found some jewelry inside that item that was clearly missed by the party conducting the sale. Here’s the question…

“Hi… I have a question. I attended an estate/tag sale and purchased several items. I paid and then was removing one, which was a standing mahogany jewelry armoire. I was removing drawers to take it out of the house and there was some costume jewelry in the sides. I took it home with me but have to return to pick up a desk and the rest of the armoire. The estate sale company called and said that the jewelry was not supposed to be in the armoire and asked me to return it. I asked the owner of my favorite auction house and some other seasoned buyers and they said that jewelry belongs to me now. Your thoughts?”

Feel free to post your comments and thoughts below. Also, you can check out the thread on our Facebook Page to see what others have recommended.

Protect yourself at all costs

In my 20+ years of owning an art gallery I often come across buyers who are leery of doing business because of bad experiences they’ve had elsewhere. They tell me that another business made promises they didn’t keep, didn’t stand behind their items and/or sale, and just plain lied about the item they were selling. [...]

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A deal is never done until the money’s in the bank

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

That old proverb rings particularly true when it comes to selling in the second hand market. If you’ve ever sold something and gotten all excited only to wind up not getting paid, you know what I’m talking about. These situations not only leave you hanging, but they often cause you to lose other potential buyers as well, almost doubling the sting of disappointment.

I find that at least once a month I’m reminded that people are not always as honest as they claim to be. I am constantly asked to hold an item for a week or a month because the buyer claims they can’t buy it now, but they will definitely be able to buy it at said future date. No matter the sob story they present or the number of promises they make, you can never be sure they will come through – and in my experience, they almost always leave you hanging.

I am constantly asked to hold WDCC pieces. I was once asked to hold this particular piece for three months with no deposit. I refused, but miraculously the item was still available three months later. As you can imagine, I contacted the buyer, but they still did not have the funds to buy the item.

The only way to protect yourself from this kind of disappointment is to require a non-refundable deposit. This immediately weeds out a good percentage of the flakey buyers. I recommend that you require at least 15% of the total price. This way if they don’t pay by the agreed upon date, you at least have something to cover your loss of selling time.

I do understand that we all want to be kind and help out our fellow man when we can, but I guarantee you that if a buyer can’t pay you for at least 15% of the item now, they aren’t going to be able to pay you the full amount in two to three weeks.

One more thing to note for these types of situations is that you want to make sure you put everything in writing. Draft some sort of document for both of you to sign stating that both parties agree to the time frame and the total amount due, and don’t forget to include that the deposit is non-refundable. A lot of my friends like to call this tactic ”having skin the game.” It really is the only way to protect yourself as a seller. Words are worthless if they’re not backed up with action.

Good luck on all your selling adventures.

Happy hunting!

-Aaron

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.