How to Advertise a Garage Sale

Staging your house to sell? Cutting the clutter before a move? Just looking for a little more breathing room in your closets? If so, a garage sale could be a Saturday morning well spent!

But, before you start weeding out your college clothes or hauling your great-aunt’s china hutch onto the driveway, be sure to set your sale up for success by planning out your garage sale advertising. We’ve gathered some tips to help you tackle this task online, in print and through local signs. 

Where to post garage sale ads online

Today, there so many free online resources available to advertise your garage sale. Sites like YardSaleSearch, Gsalr, PostMyGarageSale and GarageSaleFinder—and their mobile apps—enable garage sale enthusiasts to browse sale listings and even map out a route of their favorites. Some sites also pull info from Craigslist, so don’t forget this old-school resource!

If social media is your thing, there are some opportunities to get additional eyes on your garage sale details:

• Create an event on Nextdoor to grab the attention of your neighbors. You may find there’s even some interest in doing a multi-family garage sale on your block, which could bring in even more traffic than your solo sale.
• Do a Facebook search to see if you have any active garage sale groups in your area. You’ll want to start far enough ahead of time that you’ll be able to join the group and list your sale (either as a post or a Facebook event or both) and then allow some time for the posts to trickle into followers’ news feeds. You may even choose to post a follow-up message or two if the group rules allow it. Just remember to be respectful of your audience—spamming your message too often could do more harm than good!
  TIP: If you want to post to several of these groups but you’re worried about having your own feed flooded with sale content, you can choose to unfollow the group without leaving it. 
• See if there’s a local subreddit where people are posting their garage sales and other community events. 

Next step: tap into these incredible networks of garage sale shoppers by writing and posting an effective ad.

Tips for writing a successful garage sale ad:

Include dates and times.

It may sound obvious, but people still forget to include sale dates and times in their listings. It’s ok to be vague about how long your sale will last, but a start time is an absolute must unless you want shoppers knocking on your door at the crack of dawn.

Provide an exact address.

Make it easy for sites to correctly map your sale by providing a clear and specific address. Spell out all the words, include your zip code and don’t worry about supplying directions unless you’re in an area that Google hasn’t mapped.

State your terms.

If you don’t want people calling in advance, say, “No previews or calls.” Planning to set up inside a garage or other shelter? Say, “Rain or shine!” Late sleepers: do yourself a favor and add, “No early birds!”

Use the right lingo.

While “yard sale” and “garage sale” are fairly generic and interchangeable terms, there are other sale names that are frequently misapplied. A “rummage sale” or “jumble sale,” for example, typically refers to a sale of donated items for the benefit of a charity. “Estate sale” should only be used if you’re selling the majority of your household goods, not just the clutter. If you’re having a “moving sale,” shoppers will expect to see a lot of useful items that you just don’t have room to pack or you plan to replace, such as cookware, linens, furniture and small appliances. Don’t forget to use buzz words like “multi-family garage sale” and “community garage sale” if they apply; bigger sales draw bigger crowds.

Tease your target audience.

Some things—like craft supplies, baby clothes and toys, tradesman’s tools, musical instruments and sports equipment—appeal to a very specific audience. To maximize your chances of selling these items, you might want to call them out in your listing. Big-ticket items like furniture and vehicles should also be mentioned so buyers know to bring enough cash with them and the necessary transportation to haul them away.

Safety first.

Try to provide as little personal information as possible in your listing and use caution when interacting with people online. Set up your sale in your yard, driveway or garage and don’t invite shoppers inside your house. If your home is located in a high-traffic area, or if the roads in your neighborhood are too narrow to accommodate the extra parking you’ll need, consider locating your sale at a friend’s house.

Proofread your post.

Shoppers probably won’t notice (or care) if you misspell a word or two in your ad. However, typos can work against you in other ways. Some shoppers set up email alerts or do keyword searches for items they’d like to buy. If they’re looking for an “accordion,” your “acordion” may not appear in their search results. Typos in your address are particularly bad, as they may send shoppers somewhere else entirely.

Once you’ve taken the time to write one killer garage sale ad, it’s a simple matter to submit it to as many online listing services as you can find.

What about print advertising?

Free and low-cost classified newspaper advertising may also be available in your area, and it’s worth your time to check them out because there are garage sale shoppers, especially retirees, that prefer print. You might also find that publications run their garage sale ads in both print and online formats, which can further broaden your audience.

Flyers may be another print advertising idea for you, if there are local gathering places that let you post them. Look for bulletin boards at churches, senior centers, grocery stores, coffee shops, rec centers and other places that get a lot of foot traffic and ask permission to add your garage sale flyer. Not confident in your flyer design skills? Free programs like Canva can help you design a flyer using pre-made templates, so all you have to do is add your info and go.

Keep our ad writing tips in mind regardless of where those ads end up! 

Don’t skimp on your signage.

Even in this age of GPS and Google Maps, signs are a valuable part of your garage sale advertising mix. They can draw in casual, impulse shoppers as well help ad respondents find you. Signs can be especially useful if you’re in a rural area, or if you just happen to be the only person with a garage sale in your part of town that day. Shoppers who see your ad online may not think it’s worth the drive for just one sale, but passersby might be persuaded to stop and browse if your garage sale is well marked and easy to find.

Tips for writing garage sale signs:

• Write signs clearly. Signs are a great way to attract attention and lead traffic to your location. The key is to keep them simple and easy to read from a distance. “Garage Sale” and a directional arrow in a bold, dark color, against a light background should be sufficient. Drivers don’t have time to read much more than that. A good test is to tape your sign to your car and see if you can read it from two or three houses away.
• Place signs strategically. For best results, place a trail of signs leading from a busy street, all the way back to your sale. Don’t assume that drivers will know which way to turn at each intersection.
• Post signs legally. It goes without saying that you should ask permission before posting signs on private property. But did you know that in some areas, it may be against city ordinance or HOA rules to post signs on lamp posts, fences and other public structures? If that’s the case in your neighborhood, don’t worry. You may still have legal alternatives. Consider parking your vehicle along a busy street and placing a sign in your windshield. A tall cardboard box that’s weighted with bricks or rocks could also serve as a free-standing sign. Get creative!
• Don’t forget to take signs down. Unless you want confused shoppers showing up the day after your sale, be sure to gather up all your signs. Your neighbors will thank you.

Best of luck with your sale!

Remember, the more you can sell or donate before a move, the less you’ll have to pack, haul, and then unpack in your new home. Looking for more garage sale tips (or other ways to declutter)? Check out these articles:

• Where to Donate Household Items
• Preparing for a Move: How to Declutter & Minimize
• What To Ditch Before The Big Move