Up For Sales

Garage sales for fun, profit and environmental benefits.

With spring clear-outs happening across the nation, a question inevitably arises: what to do with the perfectly good stuff you no longer want? “The answer is to host a garage sale,” says Darryl Nichols, co-founder of the Garage Sale Trail.

This year’s event takes place on the weekend of October 20-21 and an estimated 400,000 Australians are expected to take part, either as sellers or potential buyers. The reasons to sign up are pretty compelling, says Nichols. “Last year there were 15,151 registered garage sales and stalls, with the average household sale making $379 on the day, community groups $650 and schools $1500.”

In total, some $3.9 million changed hands in 2017. Furthermore, 93 per cent of participants say they’d do it again and 86 per cent say they’re now more conscious of the role they can play in reducing the waste.

“A lot of us are becoming overwhelmed by our ‘stuff’,” says Tanya

Lewis, an eco-conscious decluttering expert (ecoorganiser.com.au) and Garage Sale Trail ambassador. “I think there’s also more appreciation for the fact that finite resources are being used and manufactured in an energy-intensive manner to create the things we need and want.”

There are a few secrets to hosting a successful garage sale, says Lewis, and the first is to start getting organised early, three or four weeks ahead of the sale date. “Place a box in each room and ask everyone in your home to place items deemed suitable for sale in them,” she advises. “Then sort everything into the good, the bad and the ugly. Anything beyond repair is ‘bad’ and should be recycled or responsibly disposed. And remember, ‘ugly’ might be beautiful to someone else.”

RESELLING CAN EXTEND THE USEFUL LIFE OF THINGS YOU OWN BY GIVING OTHERS A CHANCE TO ENJOY THEM, KEEPING THEM OUT OF LANDFILL AND SAVING MATERIALS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE USED TO MAKE NEW ITEMS.

Everyone loves a bargain, so once you’ve decided what you’re selling, check out how much similar stuff is selling for at garage sales, op shops or online. Consider how best to display it all and start gathering boxes and bags for your buyers. Think about where to locate your signs and prepare for what you’ll need on the day. “This might include saving up small notes and coins for change, organising music, buying stickers for price labels, asking friends or family to be an extra set of hands, and arranging tables, tarps and chairs to sit on,” advises Lewis.

Finally, get ready to haggle, laugh and have fun. “At the end of the day,” Lewis says, “you can sit back, count your money and feel good about the unwanted stuff you’ve decluttered and diverted from landfill.”

To register for this year’s Garage Sale Trail, go to garagesaletrail.com.au.