Garage Sale Start Time

Even experienced garage sale hosts struggle with theses questions. This is probably because there is no absolute right answer for a garage sale start time. If you click on the prior link, you will see some suggestions for maximizing your sales by being open at the right time on Funtime.com.

After holding and shopping at hundreds of garage sales, yard sales, rummage sales, and estate sales, I will throw in my two cents on what your garage sale hours should be. We will discuss what time is best to start your garage sale, and when to end your garage sale.

If you live in hotter climates, you will want to take advantage of thecooler weather in the morning and start earlier. For the same reason, if you hold your sale in August when it is usually sweltering hot, start earlier.

Here are some general guidelines for when to start your sale:

1. Never start your sale after 9AM. Never! Most veteran garage sale pickers start garage saling at 7AM, and are stopping for brunch by 10AM. Starting your yard sale after 9AM tells customers that you don’t care much about your sale. I never go to sales that start after 9.
2. The earlier you can start your sale, the more sales you will get! The early bird gets the worm, and many senior citizen shoppers are up and out of the house by 6AM. Start your sale at 7AM and you WILL get some early sales, plus if you are the first sale open in your area, the majority of the veteran pickers will be at your sale first! This is especially true if you took my advice about Garage Sale Advertisingand listed a bunch of enticing items in your classified ad or Craigslist garage sale ad that collectors would be interested in buying from you.
3. Make sure you address EARLY BIRD shoppers. These are the people that show up at your house an hour before your listed garage sale start time. While annoying, these people often buy multiple items from garage sales. You can jump start your sales, and still address these people by putting up a large sign that says “ALL SALES BEFORE 7AM (or your start time) ARE DOUBLE STICKER PRICE. Make sure you stick to that policy, Even ten minutes before your start time.
4. Make sure that you have prices on all of your items BEFORE your yard sale starts, preferably the night before, so that you are not running around like a chicken with your head cut off when your garage sale starts
5. What about selling coffee and donuts at your sale? Everybody loves coffee and donuts, and a lot of people don’t bother getting breakfast before they leave.