Earlier this month, we shared a blog article with some of our favorite moving tips. One of these tips was to reduce the amount of items you have before you start packing. This week we wanted to share some tips for holding a successful pre-move sale. As a moving company in Granite Bay, we have heard a lot of advice from people across the years about how they made some extra money from unwanted items before a move.
If you want to know how to increase your chance for success when holding a pre-move sale, keep reading!
Decide if you’d rather host an in-person or online sale (or both!)
There are pros and cons to both in-person and online sales. Yard and garage sales are great because people get to see your items in person. People are more likely to purchase when they know what they’re getting and who they are buying for. Online sales are great too because you can sell on a rainy day in the middle of February and you won’t have to worry about the turnout. We’ll share some advice for both in-person and online sales later in this blog post so that you think about which one is best for you.
If you want to sell online, use platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace
Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are great for selling your unwanted items online because you can target local Granite Bay sellers. There are a lot of online marketplaces, but you would most likely have to ship items to your buyers. This is fine for some people, but you’ll save a good amount of time selling to local buyers who can pick things up directly from you. If you want to learn more about our favorite apps, check out this blog post where we share apps to help you sell things before your move.
Make things look good
If you decide you want to sell something online, taking great pictures is a must. If you can, try to take pictures of your items in natural light with a good camera. You don’t need a professional camera, but if you don’t have a good camera on your phone consider asking a friend or family member for help. Another thing you’ll want to do is eliminate clutter from the photo. Try to create a nice environment with subtle background colors and greenery if you have it. A nice plant or a bouquet of flowers in the background can go a long way. Finally, make sure you get every angle. You don’t want to save any surprises for your buyer!
If you’re hosting an in-person sale, make sure all of your items look good. Clean off any stains, dirt or dust, and consider fixing anything that is broken. When your items are in good condition, you are increasing the chance that someone will buy them and possibly even increasing the sale price.
Choosing the right price
If you don’t know how to price your items, try searching them online and see how much they’re going for. You don’t want to price things too high and scare away potential customers, but you also want to make sure each item is getting what it’s worth. Once you choose the items you want to sell, it’s a good idea to make an inventory and price list. Making this list will help you keep track of what you sold and how much you made, which can be good for both online and in-person sales.
Ask for help
If you decide to host an in-person sale, make sure you recruit some help. You don’t want anyone coming to your yard sale and leaving because there was nobody to help them. Ask your friends or family to help and maybe treat them to some pizza or ice cream with some of the profits.Â
As Granite Bay movers, we want to help anyone in our community looking to make their move a little easier. If you want to learn more about our local, family-owned moving company, click here!
