MENU		PREPARING YOUR MOVE
		When done right, holding a garage sale can be a profitable and pleasant way to spend a summer afternoon, while at the same time you make a little room in your house. Reducing the weight of your shipment is useful and could possibly lower the costs of moving. Furthermore, this way your house looks much better when you put the FOR SALE sign up!
		GARAGE SALE TIPS
		First question you should ask yourself is do you have enough items to justify having a sale. If not, decide whether you want to hold your sale alone or hold it in conjunction with family members or neighbours. A larger selection attracts more buyers and you can share the work and expenses. Decide when to hold your sale. Do not pick a holiday weekend because the turnout will probably be disappointing on those days. Saturday is of course the most popular day, though many people choose to continue the sale the entire weekend. It is a good idea to plan an alternate 'rain date' in case weather interferes with your sale. Before you start your preparations, find out if there are any restrictions your neighbourhood may have regarding garage or yard sales. Sometimes a permit is required. Also inform your neighbours about your plans. Preparing your sale starts weeks in advance. Collect your merchandise in one area and sort it by type (clothing, tools, toys, etcetera). Clean any items that are soiled or dusty, because the better your items look, the more likely they are to sell at a better price. However, do not over do it. It has little use to polish an item for an hour if you are going to sell it for 75 cents. Preparing also includes testing any electrical items, and gathering the supplies and tables you will need. Have enough plastic grocery bags available to put sold items in. If selling breakables, have plenty of old newspapers available to wrap fragile items. Remember to have a calculator handy. Put in advance prices on top of each item (better than putting prices on the bottom). It is a lot of work, but worth it because you will not have people asking every 5 minutes "how much for this". Furthermore, there are also a lot of people who will not ask the price of an item even if they are interested in it. If you do not have the time to price everything individually, you could use a sign like "ALL BOOKS 25 CENTS", "ANY PIECE OF CLOTHES $1.00" or "ANYTHING ON THIS TABLE 50 CENTS". Volume pricing (for example 25 cents each or 5 for a dollar) will stimulate the sale of more items. Build some flexibility into your pricing to allow for "haggling". Many people expect you to negotiate with them since they consider this part of the fun of garage sale shopping. Make sure that before your sale starts you have a lot of small bills and change. Much of the success of your garage sale depends on the number of people that show up. The more people attending your sale means more likely you are to sell all of your items. Maybe you can put an ad up in your local newspaper. You can also put an advertisement up on the bulletin board in your grocery store, community centre, etcetera. Make sure to include the date and the location and use a striking colour for your card with easy readable text. Other possible ways to advertise your garage sale are message boards and free classifieds on the Internet. The most important way to direct people to your garage sale is by putting up signs. However, be aware that usually there are laws regarding the placement of signage, so you should check local ordinances before doing this. Keep a list of where the signs are placed to facilitate removing them after the sale. Put signs up in your neighbourhood the evening before your sale or very early in the morning. It helps to draw big arrows on the signs. Use sturdy cardboard and make the signs legible. Consider cutting the signs in the shape of arrows. Lids of pizza boxes are perfect for this purpose. Do not try to cram too many words on the signs. The only information that is really useful is YARD or GARAGE SALE, the date of the sale. the street name and a bold arrow pointing the way. It is very helpful to have all your signs look similar, so people know they are still following YOUR signs. Start directions from a busy intersection nearby. Use some balloons, flags, or other decoration material with your signs on major routes to get extra attention for your sale. After the signs are up. drive past them to see if you can read them easily. IMPORTANT: AFTER YOUR SALE IS OVER, REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR SIGNS DOWN! On the day of the sale put a sign up that read "ALL SALES FINAL" to avoid any hassles later on. Another sign should read "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS". Have at least one good size trash can near the entrance to your sale. You can use a canvas carpenter's apron as a convenient and secure place to keep bills and coins for making change. Put nicer items, such as furniture, near the street to peak the interest of passersby. Have some batteries handy to test toys, radios, etcetera. Do not lose sight that one of your goals is to dispose of the items for sale. Even if you do not sell an item for as much as you had intended, it is still out of your way. Since most sales are made in the early hours of your sale, you may wish to reduce your prices on the remaining items later in the day. Donate the leftover items to charity rather than returning them to your house. Most charities will come to your home at the end of the sale to collect the items, but if they will not, take the items to them. Keep receipts if you give to charity. All household items have some sort of value and this value can be deducted from your income for tax purposes. It is illegal to sell an item that may be dangerous under the Hazardous Products Act. You could be sued if someone suffers an injury from an illegal product that you sell. Health Canada Product Safety has concerns and inspectors for the department do spot checks at garage sales and flea markets. They have the authority to confiscate items. Useful information about this subject is to be found at the CBC.CA News website: http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/consumertips/garage_sales.html

CONTACT INFORMATION
		Rick McGuigan Toronto real estate sales representative Coldwell Banker Case Realty Phone: 416-696-5100 Pager: 416-461-0925
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