Garage Sales: Worth the Work?

The time has come: You've sorted, organized and cleaned. And now the garage sale signs are starting to pop up around town. Deciding whether or not to have a sale yourself? Consider the pros and cons.

Professional organizer and home stager Sarah F. Gordon's opinion of the spring and summer neighborhood pastime lies on one end of the spectrum.

"I avoid them like the plague," she said, laughing. "The reason is, we place more value on our items than somebody else does." 

The amount of time spent planning, preparing, and organizing isn't equal to what you get out of it, Gordon said.

"You get minimal dollars for the amount of effort," she said.

She suggests calculating how much you earn per hour at your job, then consider the potential take-in from a garage sale against how much time you'd put into organizing the sale.

Instead of a sale, Gordon suggests selling higher value items on eBay or Craigslist. That way, you can add a photo of the item, the buyer is responsible for coming to pick it up and you'll often get more money for an item than you would for the entire sale.

"It's a no-fail way of getting rid of items," she said.

If you do decide to go ahead with a sale, Apple Valley Associate City Planner Margaret Dykes encourages Apple Valley residents to be aware of  the following:

• Apple Valley city code limits the number of days signs can be posted for a garage sale—your sign can't be up for more than three days.
• Signs can't be any larger than three square feet.
• Each household is limited to three sales per year.

Dykes also added that signs can be posted on the property where the sale will be held, or on another private property with the approval of that property owner.

"In no case can signs be posted in the public right of way," she said.

Keeping these tips in mind, the decision to sale or not to sale is up to the individual based on needs, and of course, what kinds of items are up for grabs.