[mountainmist]

I encourage you to wait a year BEFORE you have a garage sale, and instead make a point of going to at least three dozen garage sales in your neighborhood before you have one.

I've been to quite a few "first time" garage sales, and some of them are really embarressing, because they are clueless as to the actual "market value" for their USED items.

For instance, in my own area, stuffed animals go for a quarter. Even the "new with tags." (NWTs)

In another neighborhood maybe the market value is higher, but not in my immediate surroundings.

Secondhand used books ALWAYS are a buck for hardbacks and fifty-cents for trade-sized softcovers and a quarter for mass market paperbacks.

Men's shirts normally are price 50 cents to a buck, occassionally something VERY nice, with very good label is marked for $2.00.

Most bluejeans are a dollar a pair, if noticably worn, then they are half that.

If Flylady is the kind of website that concentrates upon Pack Rats, then I agree with her that they shouldn't have garage sales - I've been to a few garage sales of Pack Rats and they have a very high opinion of their own junque and invariably overly inflate the value -- like $2 for a pair of USED SOX, when noone around here, IF they even put USED socks in their sales would EVER price them over a dime.

Pillow cases are a dime to a quarter; occasionally, if new or near-new, they are 50 cents. Sheets are either a dollar or a half dollar each piece.

Blankets NEVER go for more than two dollars - but in another city near hear, blankets are in high demand and the very few that appear in garage sales quickly sell at 4-7 dollars EACH.

I think it is crucial to find out about garage sales in your own area before having one.

Myself, I feel if an item is nice enough to be accepted by a consignment shop, then I'd rather it sit on their shelves for as long as it takes to sell, and it will earn ALOT more for me than the couple bucks I could feasibly charge in a yard sale.

I always use my towels up until they are given "new life" as rags, and then eventually they are totally worn out.

I wouldn't have any sheets or blankets to sell, because I likewise use them until they are worn out.

I agree with the others who said to mark everything CHEAP -- but I think you should visit as many sales as possible FIRST, to find out what is the general market price of items in your area, and also, I'd go visit ALL the consignment shops, because if you have any antiques or any art pieces or knick knacks, you may earn ALOT more with a good consignment shop than with any garage sale.

If you've never had a sale, you have no idea how tiring they are - so be sure you have a dinner in the crockpot, be certain you've got a way to keep the coffee pot going in the garage or in the backyard -- and MARK THE PRICE ON ALL ITEMS -- most people do NOT want to ask what the prices are, and people who know about garage sales and go to them already know this -- so if you have not labeled your items with the sales price, around here it means that you are new to selling and are probably a hoarder who thinks that "THEIR items" are superior to the items in other garage sales.

I'll never forget a woman answering someone else who'd asked that, "Oh, that pair of jeans is only five dollars."

FIVE BUCKS?????

She said she only wore them twice.

But they were so old and out of style, it was at least ten years since they'd previously seen the light of day.

Garage sales are alot of work, when you have yours BE SURE to put in the newspaper ad, FIRST TIME EVER SALE; Absolutely NO pre-sales also, don't forget to put an announcement in the garage sale section at Craig's List at least a week in advance.

Nowadays in my neighborhood the best day for having a sale is Saturday, but in the 80s the BIG DAY was always on Thursday.

After you go to enough sales to see what the "competition" is doing, seriously take a sober look at what you have that you want to get rid of, and honestly decide if it's even worth the label to mark it a 25-cent item.