Garage Sale Gold

I never considered myself particularly creative. But when I started becoming a garage sale fanatic, I discovered that I did have talents to take items and reuse them in creative and artistic ways. I am no Martha Stewart, but I am a frugalista, looking to stretch every dollar and beautify my life in high garage sale style.

One achievement that I discovered quite by accent resulted in a wonderful enjoyment of one of my most favorite flowers – peonies. I have a wonderful garden of peonies and like to clip the fresh flowers and bring inside in vases.  However, I noticed that the peonies seem to last only a day or two before they start to droop.

One day I took a nice grouping of peonies and cut the stems short. I then took a basket that I got at a garage sale for 25 cents and took a recycled typperware container and filled it with water and placed the container inside the basket. I then stuck the peonies in there. Well, those peonies are still surviving almost two weeks later! I have to say that these simple garage sale pleasures really do make my day!

Below is a photo of my master achievement.  Happy Saling!

My favorite garage sales are those which involve multiple groups of folks who all band together and donate a portion of the proceeds to either a charity, community group, cause or any other type of group effort to raise money. It is a win win for all. Get rid of unwated stuff, recycle, make some money for yourself and donate to whatever the cause – be it raising money to send your kids on a sports outing, helping beautify a neighborhood, raise money for the needy, a church, whatever. It does not matter. What matters is that the community spirit of garage sales are what makes this country great and what helps  inspire the comraderie that keeps our fires burning.

Garage sales for groups are growing in popularity as the economy continues its lackluster performance and people all over are desperately needing funds. So don’t forget the community garage sale concept when you are thinking of fundraising ideas.  Get tons of helpful tips on my website www.garagesalegold.com.

If you need immediate help, you can get my book Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold on Amazon Kindle, if you can wait,  you can order on my website. I also have signs, labels and all sorts of things to help you with your sale.

I was at a great community garage sale this past weekend and took some photos  to share to inspire you.  My favorite is the girl scouts. God Bless America! Happy saling!

Garage sale season is in full bloom! Time to get out there and have your garage sale yourself or with friends and family. Having a garage sale can be hugely profitable or a big bust. These five sure fire garage sale tips are my golden keys to success and have been tried and tested by many. So, here we go:

1. Have clear, simple garage sale signs. Best are double sided with posts that go into the ground. State time, day with a huge arrow. No other info is needed.

2. ADVERTISE! Your signs alone will not draw a crowd. Advertise in your local paper, pennysaver and online at Patch.com, YardSaleSearch.com, GarageSalesTracker.com and GarageSaleHunter.com.  Many more folks will arrive from the ads than from the sign. If you cheap out and don’t advertise, you will surely not make as much money.

3. Having a garage sale is like dieting. You have to write everything down. That means organize what you are going to sell and write down everything you sold at your sale.

4. Everything must be tagged at a garage sale. Period. End of discussion. You should be a cashier at your sale, not a price inventor. Also more thefts occur when things are not tagged as you are focusing on the wrong things.

5. Feel empowered to say no to a bad offer. No is an important word at sales. If you take every offer, you will make less money. And many people will still buy the item for a higher price.

My goal is to help people make more money at their sale. These tips will help you achieve garage sale gold. You can find more tips on garagesalegold.com or follow me on twitter @garagesaleava.

Happy saling!

Having a garage sale takes time and planning. So why ruin it with small, unreadable signs posted (probably illegally) on trees or phone poles? Attract more people to your sales with large, double sided signs that get posted into the ground, so people can see it coming and going. Great signs are really hard to find at stores, which is why I created them for myself and am now sharing them with others.

Garage sale, yard tale, tag sale, estate sale, I have them all.  If you like Ava’s Garage Sale Gold on Facebook, you can get a code which will enable you to get discounts on all the signs you will need for your sale. The more signs, the more people come and the more money you will make.

Garage sale is in high season now, so go out there and make money!

Garage sale tips abound at garagesalegold.com and follow me on twitter @garagesaleava.

Happy Saling!

Being the garage sale maniac that I am, I was fortunate to make an appearance on a TV station in California (HUGE garage sale territory) giving some tips to folks who wanted to have a garage sale, but didn’t know how. Hope you will get some good nuggets from my tips.  Get more tips on garagesalegold.com Happy Saling!

Click here to see video:

http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?bctid=928190484001

In honor of my first year anniversary of starting GarageSaleGold.com, a site devoted to all things garage sale, I am offering an insider discount on all of my garage sale products if you like me on Facebook. Just go to garagesalegold.com and click on the facebook like and you will be able to use a discount code which applies to all of my products.

I started with my book, Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold, and then created an organizer, money aprons, signs, tags, everything you need in one place to have the best garage sale ever!

I used to run from Home Depot to Staples to Michael’s and on and on to find stuff for a garage sale and often came up empty handed. I have created everything in one place to showcase your goodies.

Garage sale season is just starting to be in full bloom, so take advantage of this great offer while I am still able to extend the discount.

See you at garagesalegold.com

You can also follow me on twitter @garagesaleava

Happy saling!

Garage sale season is in full bloom! Time to get out there and have your garage sale yourself or with friends and family. Having a garage sale can be hugely profitable or a big bust. These five sure fire tips are my golden keys to success and have been tried, try and tested by all who have read my book and followed my advice. So, here we go

1. Have clear, simple signs. Best are double sided with posts that go into the ground. State time, day with a huge arrow. No other info is needed.

2. ADVERTISE! Your signs alone will not draw a crowd. Advertise in your local paper, pennysaver and online at Patch.com, YardSaleSearch.com, GarageSalesTracker.com and GarageSaleHunter.com.  Many more folks will arrive from the ads than from the sign. If you cheap out and don’t advertise, you will surely not make as much money.

3. Having a garage sale is like dieting. You have to write everything down. That means organize what you are going to sell and write down everything you sold at your sale.

4. Everything must be tagged at a garage sale. Period. End of discussion. You should be a cashier at your sale, not a price inventor. Also more thefts occur when things are not tagged as you are focusing on the wrong things.

5. Feel empowered to say no to a bad offer. No is an important word at sales. If you take every offer, you will make less money. And many people will still buy the item for a higher price.

My goal is to help people make more money at their sale. These tips will help you achieve garage sale gold. You can find more tips on garagesalegold.co. Follow me on twitter @garagesaleava for even more tips.

Happy saling!

Garage sale season is right around the corner. Before you have your sale, be sure to understand all the rules and regulations for a garage sale with your local community.  Each community has rules and regulations which could range from absolutely nothing to hours of a sale, how many days in a row for a garage sale, if you need a permit for a garage sale, garage sale signs, where they can be posted, how far in advance and for how long.

I have been reading articles about towns all over the country that are instituting or more highly enforcing regulations on having a garage sale, as they have proliferated with the poor economy.

So don’t plan a garage sale without knowing your local garage sale rules and regulations if any. Don’t do all the work and then run the risk of getting shut down or fined. Better to know all in advance.

And when you are ready to have that sale, get my book Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold, available on my website www.garagesalegold.com or on Amazon Kindle.

Happy Saling!

You might say that it is too early for a garage sale. I say now is the time to start gathering up your items, sorting through your stuff and pricing and tagging, so that you will be ready for your garage sale in April or May.  Part of the fun in a garage sale is the wonderful feeling of getting rid of clutter, downsizing,  discarding the things that weigh us down.  Did you know that we can be more happy and care free the less we own? A garage sale is a perfect energy booster in the winter months to pep us up by paring down and organizing the things that we will soon be getting rid of.  Just think of all the space you will have after your garage sale and think of all the money you will make from your garage sale to pay down credit cards, get that new counter top from Home Depot, retar that driveway or pay for that cheerleading trip to see your daughter compete.

Having a great garage sale requires some prep time, but you can make it fun and go at your own pace. You don’t have to be selling your home or moving in order to have a garage sale, you can just decide that it’s time to unload all that stuff that is weighing you down.  And I promise that it is a huge pick me up and spiritual booster to be able to gather things up to sell, donate, consign or auction.

So, if you start to feel Winter blues, spend an hour or two starting to plan for your Spring garage sale. Once you get into the spirit of it, you will be happy you did. For tips on sorting, pricing, merchandising and marketing your garage sale, pick up my book Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold at my site www.garagesalegold.com or at Amazon.com on the kindle.

Happy saling!

Holidays are a great time to go shopping at yard sales.  As the retailers are screaming about their great discounts and web sites free shipping, yard sales sell items (often looking brand new) at steep, steep discounts.   Don’t be fooled by thinking there is just junk at yard sales or just antiques. More and more I find every day household items for kitchen, living room, bed room, even pet items.  Trust me, Fluffy would never care that her Christmas toy was once owned by another dog.  And gift items like jewelry are great finds at yard sales.  Buy jewelry as a gift, wrap it in pretty paper and who the heck would know where it came from? And don’t even get me started on Christmas decorations. I see tons of it at yard sells, all in perfect condition. I don’t know about you, but I like being in the holiday spirit, but when funds are low, it is hard to splurge on things like holiday decorations.  But, at yard sale prices, every house could glitter inside and out with a happy holiday glow.

How can you feel guilty buying a little something for yourself at a yard sale? At those prices, I say, treat yourself.  I work very hard and money is really tight now, but to get myself a wonderful treat for $2 or $3, I don’t beat myself up.  Holidays are a great time for yard sale shopping.  So take advantage of the ads you might find in your paper and online, and get out your bargaining Santa Cap and have some yard sale holiday cheer.

And if you are thinking of having a sale soon, get great tips in my book Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold on my site www.garagesalegold.com or on a kindle through Amazon.com.

Happy Saling!