I am not much of a garage sale person. It takes so much time to set it up, then people want to bargain with you to bring your prices down. At the end of the day you still end up taking a good bunch of what you had sell to a donation center. But, I still have them. Today, I want to give you five ways to earn money this summer. One of them is something that I just tried recently, and so far it has been successful!
1. Have a garage sale.
If you do like garage sales this is one way to make some money. My advice is to mark your items at least .50 cents higher than you want to sell them. Stores mark their prices up so that they will still make something when they have to put the item on clearance. So, if stores do a markup I would advise to take the time you set up the garage sale and markup.
2. Sell your goods at an auction.
I recently called an auction house in our town. Packed up everything that I wanted to sell in the garage sale, and then some antiques that I had accumulated. In total, I had about 6 large boxes of goods to sell. The man told me that they would separate my items into collectibles and common goods. He told me to even bring my baby items that I wanted to sell.
They take 25% commission, and then $1.00 per transaction. If you have alot to sell that is a great bargain. At least I think so because they do all of the work for you. Commission is collected but in the whole scheme I see that it was worth the time.
The man assured me that everything goes even if they sell it by the box. Which I would assume would be the less desirable items.
I really like the fact that I don’t have to stand in the heat at a garage sale and they still send me a check when the auction is over or I can go pick it up. The cash is not instant like a garage sale, it runs about 2 weeks behind, but that will be right in time for our vacation!
3. Try setting up a booth at a flea market.
If you have a lot of items try a booth. The prices are usually reasonable, and they let you have it for a day. Our prices in this area are $12.00 for the day. It attracts alot of people, and usually everything is sold. But, I still mark my prices .50 cents higher. I have found indoor and outdoor markets to be reasonable.
4. Set up an antiques booth.
If you have alot of antiques or this is something that interests you then call an antique shop and see how much booth rent is for the month. Then ask them how long you sign a contract for and what percentage you get to keep. The easy part of this is you don’t have to be present to make money. The antiques are put on display. The only drawback to this is you will need an interest in antiques.
5. Look in the paper for people who have ads requesting items for sale.
In our local paper there will be small ads from local individuals who are collecting a specific item. Look up the item on Ebay, call them to see if they are willing to purchase the item. Then apply your markup for what you paid for it on Ebay. It is a creative way to make money. I call it a game of “finders’ keepers'” because I find it for them and they keep it. Also, look around your home for items you don’t use that you may have inherited. or been given. If they are sitting in a box consider advertising them for sale in a local paper.
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