Attempting Spring Cleaning? Garage Sales Are Still in Style
Traditional rummage thrives in online world; tips on when to hold a sale
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
RISMEDIA, May 15, 2007-(MarketWatch)-The dirty and tarnished bracelet sold for 50 cents, but cleaned up to reveal a sterling silver and 18-carat gold piece of jewelry worth several hundred dollars. It's one of Jenn Callum's best garage-sale finds, and an example of why - even in the age of the online auction - many treasure hunters still seek out traditional rummage sales.
Call it a garage sale, a yard sale, a tag sale or a boot sale, but don't call it a relic that online auctions have rendered obsolete.
In fact, the Internet is increasingly complementing traditional garage sales, making it easier to connect buyers and sellers who once relied solely on newspaper advertisements and roadside signs. Many newspapers post sale listings online and other Web sites try to help sellers ramp up foot traffic by allowing them to post information about their events.
A greater amount of pricing information on the Web via online auction sites also is creating more savvy "garagers," said Callum, whose Web site, www.garagesale-guru.com, offers information for buyers and sellers. Some shoppers search the residential sales specifically to find items that will fetch a much more attractive selling price online.
And despite the ability to point and click to purchases from home, many shoppers of second-hand gems simply crave the sensory experience that online auctions aren't able to provide, said John D. Schroeder, author of "Garage Sale Fever!," published in 2005.
"Garage-sale buyers thrive on the thrill of the hunt and like to see, touch and ask questions about their purchases - and even dicker on the price - plus take the item home immediately from a garage sale. That does not happen in online auctions," he said.
Many municipalities charge a nominal fee for a permit to hold a garage sale. But there is no national database that tracks the number of sales or the amount of money that clutter-clearing homeowners reap from them. Judging by the growth of online sites that focus on the sales, business is booming.
Searching for sales
On many Saturday mornings, Callum heads out with a clipboard of garage sale addresses found on the Internet, arranged geographically to make the most of her time. The 39-year-old from Toronto can hit dozens of sales in a day, deciding with a glance if they're worth a stroll through.
"The online garage-sale-listings sites are slow to catch on, although they are certainly gaining in popularity," Callum said. Online newspaper ads are usually her sources of choice.
But newspapers are not the only sources for information on garage-sale whereabouts. Garage-sale specific sites like Garage Sale Hunter.com also offer free listings to visitors.
Diana Matheou, a 33-year-old from Cleveland, created Garage Sale Hunter with her brother in 1999 as a pilot project for their information-technology firm, E-ffective Services Ltd. Details on more than 1,000 garage sales are viewable on any given day during the peak season of June through September, Matheou said.
At the time the site launched, classified ad Web sites had been created to help sell cars and homes, but the pair didn't know of one that helped advertise garage sales.
"There wasn't anything targeting this market," Matheou said.
The site allows visitors to search not only by a sale's location but also by what will be sold there. Visitors can have e-mails sent to them when sales come up that meet their criteria. Next up on the development list: a tool that will map out a garage-sale circuit for shoppers.
Listings of garage sales have also grown substantially at Craigslist.org in recent years, said Susan MacTavish Best, a Craigslist spokeswoman. In April 2002, a couple of months after the listings first started appearing on the site, 2,447 notices were posted there; in April 2006, 46,129 garage sales were advertised on Craigslist. By April 2007, notices for about 120,000 garage sales were posted during the month.
"The Craigslist community is really about people connecting with other people in their 'hood, usually in person," Best said. More than 90% of Craigslist sales and transactions take place within the same community, she added. "With that in mind, it's really an obvious choice for people to advertise for free their garage sales on the site, as they know locals will see the ad, read the ad and come to the sale."
All of the online options are bringing an end to the days of searching in the local paper and circling the sales you want to visit, Schroeder said.
Priced to profit
At the same time, online sites like eBay are assisting in the pricing of specific items.
"I had an old plate from the early 1900s I got from a garage sale, paid $1 for it, and got all the info I needed on the Internet to find out the entire background of the plate," Schroeder said. In the end, he estimated that the plate was worth $65.
Looking around online can help sellers be smarter when deciding asking prices for their merchandise. Savvy buyers will move quickly on items that are greatly underpriced - and can turn around a hefty profit in some instances.
Callum, for example, once spied a Hummel figurine priced at 50 cents at a garage sale. Another shopper got to it before she did, and knew it was a steal - the collectibles fetch handsome resale prices, and at least one Web site, www.hummelexchange.com, has a corner that connects buyers and sellers looking for specific pieces.
But the extra information available to sellers can have a downside, Callum said. She has been to sales that seem more like roadside shops than garage sales, with noticeably higher prices.
When to have a garage sale, when to sell online
Can't decide whether to unload your unwanted items online or at a garage sale? Fees for both are nominal, but your choice can determine what kind of profit you'll rake in.
Schroeder offered the following tips for people deciding what method to use.
When to sell online:
- When you have an item that requires a national prospects rather than local. It may be a specialized collectible that needs a wide audience to sell.
- If the item is small and easy to ship.
- If the item does not have any flaws or imperfections that prospects would need to see.
- Sell online if you can offer sharp and multiple view photos of what you are selling.
- If you want maximum money. You usually don't get into bidding wars at garage sales.
- If you have some time to wait and let a buyer find your item. Online buying can require patience for seller and buyer to find each other.
When to sell at a garage sale
- When the item is common and does not justify a national ad to find a buyer. Examples are CD players, toasters, books and videos.
- When the item is large, heavy or common and would be a pain to ship to someone. Examples are a nice sofa, or a kitchen table and chairs.
- When you want to get rid of clutter and money is a secondary factor.
- When the item has imperfections that a potential buyer would want to see before buying. This includes electrical items that buyers can plug in and see it work.
- When you enjoy the interaction of meeting new people and selling.
- When you want to get rid of clutter quickly.
- If you have the time and energy to organize and hold a one-day sale.
- If you have lots of items you want to get rid of all at once.
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
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