15 Tips For a Successful Stoop Sale

Make some cash by combining your spring cleaning with a successful stoop sale with these tips from experts.

1) Sell on Saturday
Author and host of former PBS show Collect This! Aaron LaPedis is known as the "Garage Sale Millionaire." LaPedis says after more than two decades of success he has learned that Saturday is the day to host a successful garage or stoop sale. “Some cities require a permit for sales held during the week and Sundays are reserved by many people for church services and family activities.” 

2) Get a team together
Good planning starts with getting a team of family and friends together to help the day of the sale. “You’ll need someone to go out early in the morning and put up all your signage and a couple of people to be ready to open and work the sale,” he explains.

3) Check restrictions
Check your HOA and city regulations for any restrictions before planning your garage sale, says LaPedis. You can find out about local restrictions on stoop sales by contacting Community Board 6 or the 76th Precinct.

4) Start early
Veteran stoop sale shoppers will be out early in the morning looking for signs so plan to start yours “as soon as the sun is up.”

5)  Sell with your neighbors
Multifamily and neighborhood sales will draw more buyers. Plain and simple.  

6) Safety first
“Safety is often overlooked at garage sales. Make sure you take cash only. Use a fanny pack for collecting money and giving change and go in your house and empty it a few times as you collect lots of money. Do not allow anyone in your home for any reason.” 

7.) Save your big ticket items for eBay or Craigslist

8) Lots of good signage is key to a successful sale
LaPedis makes up to 20 signs using large pieces of white foam board or cardboard which he puts out very early on the morning of the sale. He says to include your address and the cross street, and to specifiy if it is a multifamily sale and if you are offering popular sale items including children’s toys and clothes, furniture and collectibles. Add arrows for buyers to follow to the sale. Chalk on the sidewalk works very well and gives kids a way to contribute. 

9) Use Craigslist and social media to get out the word
List your sale for free on Craigslist, says LaPedis, and use your Facebook page to promote it. You can also list your garage sale on the Carroll Gardens Patch calendar.  

10)  Price everything in advance and be willing to negotiate.
Coldwell Banker realtor and veteran re-seller Amy Barley says the most successful sales are those that price everything in advance. But remember that people will expect to bargain for less than the posted price. 

11) Don’t sell anything unsafe or recalled.
It seems obvious, but don’t sell anything that is potentially unsafe, including “drop-down” style cribs, says LaPedis. You can check the recalls.gov site that provides recall information from six government agencies. 

12) Catch their eye.
Put popular items such as TVs at the front of the sale near the street says LaPedis to get buyers to “stop, park and shop.”

13) Keep off the sidewalk.
Use tarps and tables instead. You can purchase tarps at Mazzone's Hardware.

14)  Offer free coffee or lemonade. It's friendly and people love freebies. Dunkin' Donuts locations on Court Street and Smith Street offer a box of fresh brewed coffee to go with cups, cream and sugar. 

15) Stay firm before noon, then get generous to move items.
LaPedis says most buyers will arrive early so you can afford to be firmer with prices before noon but be more flexible in the afternoon so you have fewer items to haul away for donation at the end of the day. Unsold items can be donated locally to Salvation Army on Atlantic Avenue.

This article includes additional reporting by Kathleen F. Miller.