An interesting question popped up recently. What is better an online auction or yard sales/garage sales? That is a good question. Believe it or not, each one has its place. There are days when it will be more practical to have a yard or garage sale, while there are times when having an auction makes more sense.
One day, you may have your family or friends around and think that having a yard or garage sale would be a lot of fun. Everyone can have a part in it. However, if there is no one available, and it is a rainy time, or you are just too busy working, maybe having an online auction would do you better.
What you do is look through your items and see what you have available. Some items may not be proper to sell on online auction sites, simply because they may be too bulky or large to ship. Or, they may be better suited to a local auction. If this is the case, you may want to set up a garage or yard sale to sell these items. If your items are small, having an online auction may be more practical.
There are ways to tell what will sell on an online auction site and what would be better to sell at a yard or garage sell. First thing to look at is the name brand of the product. If you have something that is in great condition and all of one unit, you may want to sell it on an online auction site, because you can get more money for it.
Think about smaller items. These are usually better sold on eBay or other auction sites. One guy claimed to have tried to sell a race car set. He offered it at a yard sale and no one bought it. The price he was asking was $75, which was the going price for the brand he had. He went online and set up an auction. He sold it within a day. This kind of situation can happen. You may have a product that can do very well at a yard sale, especially if you advertise it thoroughly, and you can have a product that will only sell when you offer it on an online auction site.
Before you decide what to sell at a yard or garage sale, and what to sell online, it is best to do some research. Find out what is being sold on eBay and Amazon and see if your item, or something similar is being auctioned. If it is, you are more likely to sell the item on an online auction site than at your yard or garage sell.
If you do have items that can only be sold at a yard or garage sale, make sure you have plenty of tables set up. If you put everyone on one table, people won’t be able to see the item. Scatter them around so people can see them easily. When people can see them at a glance, more likely they will purchase the item from you. It is good to place items in a category so they are easy to find, and make sure you price every single item. When people see the price tag, they will buy faster.
As for whether to sell your items at auction or by yard/garage sell, you should research the item to see if it is being sold on eBay or other auction sites, and then start your auction. But understand this, with online auction sites you are not marketing locally, you are marketing globally. The power of online auction sites is that you have the ability to market your products to literally hundreds of millions of people around the world. You’re no longer just dealing with your local city or town residents that may happen to drive by during the yard sale. Just food for thought!
By Chris Bowser
An interesting question popped up recently. What is better an online auction or yard sales/garage sales? That is a good question. Believe it or not, each one has its place. There are days when it will be more practical to have a yard or garage sale, while there are times when having an auction makes more sense. One day, you may have your family or friends around and think that having a yard or garage sale would be a lot of fun. Everyone can have a part in it. However, if there is no one available, and it is a rainy time, or you are just too busy working, maybe having an online auction would do you better.
