Community Corner
Go-To Garage Sale Guide
Learn our top 5 best practices of holding a garage sale in the southland.
Garage sale season is around the corner. Maybe you’ve had a sale before, but if it’s been a few years, there are plenty of new web-savvy ways to get the most out of your sale.
The "Sell" Pile
When preparing for a sale, most people sort their items into three groups: keep, sell and give away. However, you might want to consider leaving the more expensive items like furniture or baby accessories out of the "sell" pile: at a garage sale you will get only approximately 10 percent or less of the purchase price of any item. Instead, Craigslist seems to be the way to get the most bang for your buck on those larger items or collectibles.
Abide by the Garge Sale Law
Many towns like Homewood and Chicago Heights require a permit from the village hall. There may also be restrictions on the days that area allowed and how many sales you can have per year:
Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Find out what's happening in Homewood-Flossmoorfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
A great resource to find out what’s allowed in your area is Garage Sale Warrior.
Free Advertising
Why pay to advertise when you can do it for free? When your sale is set and you’re ready to go, you can put up free advertisements. Patch’s marketplace area for Homewood-Flossmoor has the perfect place to advertise your sale with no cost to you! You can also advertise totally free on the south suburban garage sale area of Craigslist and Ebay classifieds’ (Formerly Kijiji) south suburban garage sale page.
Ready to go?
The is offering a massive consolidated garage sale event at the on May 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pre-registration is required and sellers are expected to provide their own table and set up. A seller's fee of $22 for residents and $33 for non-residents is also required, so you will need to assess ahead of time whether or not your profit potential justifies the additional cost. A rain date has been scheduled for May 21.
Give it away now!
So you’re all done with the sale, and wondering what to do with your leftovers? There are a variety of wonderful organizations that can use your items. You can also advertise on H-F or Chicago Heights Freecycle for people to come after your sale is over and pick the items up. There is also a great need for gently used items for the victims in the Alabama tornadoes. For more information check out Hearts with Hands Alabama.
Don’t forget your sunscreen, your cooler, and your change box–And remember when pricing items, people will be haggling, so take that into account.
Good luck!
