If you are doing fabric price it by the pound and have sacks to put it in as they gather. $2.00 a pound is the going price around here.

use or make an apron with pockets, tool aprons are good, keep your money there and take the excess in the house ever so often so you aren't pulling wads out in your hands.

Good signage from every direction with something that makes yours stand out, 3 balloons or red neckties or something.
The further ones only need to say MOVING or ESTATE or whatever you are calling them. Within 3 blocks they should have the address. Look at some signs this weekend on a little drive and tell me how many you see that you can read :)

If you can get a couple of neighbors to do one the same time it will really bring traffic up. (on their own property)
Be friendly friendly friendly to every person that comes by, if nothing else but approaching them and saying good morning. Then leave them alone ;) Friends that ignore traffic and sit around chatting to each cost themselves a lot of lost sales. Your sale may not be Macy's, but each person who stops is a potential paying customer.

Friday 8-5 or later if you are in a high traffic area
Saturday 8-4
Sunday if at all 8 to noon, 1/2 price on everything.

Don't let the dealers talk you into letting them in early. Yes, they need stock for their shops but what have they ever done for you that the customers there on time haven't?

Don't pack the stuff left, back in the house. Pack it up and take it to donation

See if you can search Martha Stewart for garage sale info. Years ago she had a great article on setting up a sale.

Make it like a party, have some fun music playing.

If you are selling anything that uses electricity, including lamps have a extension cord ready at that table so people can see stuff working.

Make sure anything glass is clean, You would be surprised what people will buy if it looks cared for.

Keep like things together.

Make pricing easy for you. I found it best to wear a carpenters apron w/ pockets so you don't have to keep going to one spot and not be able to keep your eye on the money.

If it is going to be a nice day, have some coolers with canned drinks and even if you priced it just to pay for it, people appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Have good signs posted the week before.

It is a lot of work, just remember your goal, to get rid of "stuff". Everything that goes is a good thing!:D

peace

Don't place knives, scissors or other sharp objects low enough for a child to grab. Charge "early birds" double. I prefer to start the sale at 7am because they are going to be there at 7am if you advertise you are open at 8am. 7am - 3pm works great for me but I just couldn't handle more than a 2-day sale. If you are selling earrings, cut an index card in half and insert the posts through the card. It makes it much easier to display the earrings and the pair doesn't get separated. Good luck and have fun!

ditto on keeping your money ON you in an apron, instead of a cash box. I did a lot of flea markets and always did it that way. Large bills went into my pants pockets, ones and change in the apron.

Expect to be aggravated that your belongings are notworth much at a garage sale and that everyone will want to pay Less. Too much work and time spent for little $$$ . I, frankly, hate garage sales.

Enjoy! And good luck.
sandy

I usually have a couple of garage sales a year, so I pretty much have this down to a science.

Start pricing items 2-3 weeks prior to the sale.

Buy matching tablecloths at the Dollar Store to make items more appealing. Yard sign & balloons are a must have.

Restroom routine...NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! Politely direct them to the nearest gas station or McDonald's.

Try to have someone working with you, one to answer questions and collect money, the other to watch for shoplifters.

Mark down items about 2 hours before closing, unless you don't mind keeping them. If you don't want your leftovers, post an ad on Craigslist 'Garage Sale Leftovers', must take all. Box everything up and wait for a response.

Pack a lunch the night before and try to enjoy the experience. :thumbup:

Most things have been covered already by others, but I wanted to add a comment. We lived in the Sun City area for many years before we retired and some of your buyers will be "different" than those found in other parts of the country. One method of "shopping" that was used most often by buyers is to arrive in groups (especially family-aged groups) and spread out over your sale area. That way they are able to distract you in one area while another person in their group helps himself to things for free. Unfortunately, having extra helpers is almost a must for yard sales these days. Hope your sale goes well and you make lots of $$$$$.

Have a spotter...a friend or relative that will walk among a group as if shopping too, that way it will help in stealing, sorry to say but it happens..

What I did was list everything on CL. I made lots of some things (ex. a box of cloth, 10 shirts etc.) and listed big ticket items separately. You will be surprised how far people will drive for a 5 or 10 dollar item. It took a little longer but I didn't have anything stolen (including money). I never listed my phone number, I could weed out people from their emails and only dealt with people I wanted too. Of course, I never set appointments for when I was home alone and I also said to bring correct change because I did not keep any cash at home. If I were going to really be selling a lot of valuables I would use a company that handles estate sales. It will surprise you how many people come to yard sales to steal.

I don't have anything to add to all the wonderful advice you're getting, but I have a rule for my garage sales - it never comes back in the house. At the end of the sale, I load whatever didn't sell goes into my truck and straight to Good Will, the second-hand shop, whatever. Also, if you're on Facebook, check to see if there's a buy-sell-trade page for your area. You can ask to join the group and advertise your garage sale on there. It's also a good place to advertise anything that's more high dollar than the rest of your stuff.

have fun!