What to Sell at a Garage Sale
  • Subscribe
  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Cooking
    • Best Baking Recipes
    • Shopping & Storing
    • Kitchen Tools
    • This Month’s Recipes
  • Home
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Decorating
    • Gardening
    • Green Living
    • Home Improvement
    • New Uses for Old Things
  • Style
    • Clothing
    • Accessories
    • Shoes
    • How to Care for Clothing
    • Hair
    • Makeup
    • Skincare
    • Makeovers
  • Life
    • Health
    • Etiquette
    • Family
    • Money
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Weddings
  • Holidays
    • Gift Ideas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Hanukkah
    • New Year’s Day
    • Entertaining
  • Shop
    • Exclusive Real Simple Products
    • Digital Products
    • Reviews
    • Shop the Issue
  • News
  • Video
  • Subscribe
logout
  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Cooking
    • Best Baking Recipes
    • Shopping & Storing
    • Kitchen Tools
    • This Month’s Recipes
  • Home
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Decorating
    • Gardening
    • Green Living
    • Home Improvement
    • New Uses for Old Things
  • Style
    • Clothing
    • Accessories
    • Shoes
    • How to Care for Clothing
    • Hair
    • Makeup
    • Skincare
    • Makeovers
  • Life
    • Health
    • Etiquette
    • Family
    • Money
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Weddings
  • Holidays
    • Gift Ideas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • Easter
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Hanukkah
    • New Year’s Day
    • Entertaining
  • Shop
    • Exclusive Real Simple Products
    • Digital Products
    • Reviews
    • Shop the Issue
  • News
  • Video
  • TIME Health
  • Sign up for Newsletters
  • Saving and Budgeting Basics
  • Checklists
  • Weddings
  • Give the Gift of Real Simple
  • Weeknight Meal Planner
  • My Account
  • Logout
  • Sign In
  • Register
  • Contact Us
  • Customer Service

What to Sell at a Garage Sale

Henry Leutwyler

There’s an art to turning your trash into someone else’s treasure. But it’s easy once you know the tricks. First up: a hunt for merchandise. Move obvious sale items into the garage (or another staging area) and do a clean sweep of the attic and basement. Then go room to room, box in hand, checking cupboards, closets, dressers, and storage bins for stuff you want to off-load.If you're not quite sure what will sell, follow these guidelines.

1 of 4 Henry Leutwyler

What’s Sure to Sell

Dishes, cookware, and kitchen gadgets are at the top of buyers’ lists, says Kimy Kennedy, the owner of Peachtree Estate Sales, in Atlanta. Other popular items: toys and kids’ gear (strollers, playpens), artwork and frames, tools, lamps, and furniture (don’t rule out pieces with a few nicks or chips).
Advertisement
2 of 4 mark wragg/Getty Images

Save These to Sell Online

Anything high-end with a searchable name (like Venetian glass). Use eBay for trinkets that are easy to ship (gold jewelry, coins, comics) and Craigslist for heavy or large items so buyers will be responsible for pickup. But if you know that you’ll never get around to selling online, you’re better off purging stuff at the yard sale, though you probably won’t make as much as you would through a resale site.

3 of 4 ivanastar/Getty Images

Tougher to Unload

Stuffed animals and outdated electronics and media. In other words, prices for your Encyclopedia Britannica or Discman should be rock-bottom.

Advertisement
4 of 4 Simone Becchetti/Getty Images

Don’t Even Try

Stained clothes or dishware, used beauty products, food-storage containers, and worn bed linens. Says Chip Cordelli, a New York City–based organizer, “They’ll only junk up your display.”

You May Like

Home
9 Smart Garage Sale Strategies

Read More

Real Simple Newsletters

Get tips, inspiration and special offers delivered to your inbox.
Sign up

Subscribe Today

For as little as $1 an issue!
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Real Simple Newsletters

Get tips, inspiration and special offers delivered to your inbox.
Sign up
REALSIMPLE.COM
  • Food
  • Home
  • Style
  • Life
  • Holidays
  • Shop Real Simple Products
  • Sitemap
CUSTOMER SERVICE
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Customer Service
  • Media Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Your California Privacy Rights
  • Ad Choices
SUBSCRIBE
  • Subscribe to Real Simple
  • Give a Gift
  • Back Issues
  • Real Simple Digital Products
  • Email Newsletters
  • Time Inc. Careers
All products and services featured are selected by our editors. Real Simple may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this email on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Real Simple is part of the Time Inc. Food Collection and the Time Inc. Lifestyle Network. Copyright © 2018 Time Inc. Lifestyle Group. Real Simple is a registered trademark of Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.