Tips for Selling YOUR Stuff at Lawton’s Largest Garage, Antiques and Collectables Sale

It's almost here.  Lawton's Largest Garage, Antiques and Collectibles Sale!  We have less than a month to go and you've been on the fence about whether to rent booth space or not, do it.  I'll help you with this great timeline I have lovingly called:  GET IT ALL DONE AND OUT OF MY HOUSE AND I HOPE SOMEONE ELSE LOVES IT. . .

• TODAY:  Call our business office and reserve your booth space.  581-3600
• TOMORROW:  Let your kids, husband, wife know you did that and they are required to help, but if they do, it will be really easy because YOU HAVE A PLAN!
• THIS WEEKEND:  Make a list and tape it to a door or other space at eye level. You can assign chores from the list and make sure no one is too overloaded or has to do too much in one day.  Break it into small chunks.  Assign tasks every other day and keep them reasonable.  If you have larger tasks, save those for the weekend.  Here's an example for a four-person home for one day:
  • Mom:  Reorganize downstairs closet
  • Dad:  Clean out pots and pan drawer
  • Daughter:  Go through stuffed animals
  • Son:  Go through board games
• CLEAN AS YOU GO:  Especially if you are doing it in small pieces and parts, it's so much easier to clean as you go.  If you're doing the hall closet, dust off all the shelves, sweep and vacuum and get all the trash out.
• ASSIGN ONE PLACE TO GATHER THE STUFF YOU WANT TO SELL:  Make sure that place is easy to get to and easy to and close to the door to your vehicle.  Any extra steps saved can be a good thing.  It might look a little messy for a while, but it's all going to be awesome in the end!
• THROW AWAY ANYTHING BROKEN OR PERSONAL AND CLEAN EVERYTHING:  No one wants to see dirty stuff at a sale.  A bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels can get just about anything clean.  If it doesn't for you, you don't need to sell it.  If you're gathering clothes, make sure they are freshly washed.  Clean and fresh-smelling clothes always sell better.
• PRICE YOUR STUFF IN ADVANCE:  My family always had a system of colored dots.  My brother and I were assigned one color each and when an item was sold, the dot would go on a piece of paper.  In the end, my parents would tally how much of each of our stuff was sold and we would get to keep that money (usually for vacation spending money).
• GROUP EVERYTHING BY SIZE:  I'm not going through your giant pile of clothes to find a size that might or might not fit.  If you have a lot of clothes in a size range, make a small sign an put all things of similar size together.
• YOU DON'T WANT IT, SO BE WILLING TO PART WITH IT:  Your items, while sentimental to you, are really just practical of useful to someone else.  They can't carry your memories with them.  If you have things you feel are just too important to let go, consider keeping one item that represents the whole.  Keep a baby blanket and a favorite outfit, but sell the other 400 outfits you have no use for and just take up space!  Be willing to negotiate and always be kind.