I held my first garage sale last weekend. That was a tiring two days! Mostly because of the draining heat. It was a lot of fun seeing people's personalities peek through what they were buying. My favorites are the ones who bought non-med books and references because you can talk to them about the genres.

I learned quite a bit about holding garage sales. Here are a few tips I need to keep in mind:

Use social media. A lot of the non-residents came because of posts on medical (mine) and writing (my sister's) Facebook groups. And of course previews on the tumblr account generated a lot of reservations -- readysetsale.tumblr.com. In hindsight I should have made a Facebook fan page as well, because Facebook is more accessible to people. Edit: here it is! Because we actually extended the sale -- facebook.com/readysetsale.

Contact the homeowners association. I called the HA to ask if we needed a permit to hold a garage sale. They ended up asking me for the final date and venue, because they wanted to come.

Fliers and signage. We had a lot of kasambahay drop by -- they'd been at the gate since before sunrise! Word travels fast with them and those guys know how to hunt for bargains. I also got a lot of medical and nursing students, from my posts on Facebook. And of course my lovely friends. ;) But when we handed out fliers after mass, we got more of the people who buy the more niche stuff, the books and fancier clothes.

Price items higher than you expect them to sell. Besides the obvious everyone loves a bargain and most can't resist haggling argument: I priced some items so low because I didn't expect anyone to buy them. Case in point, an almost full bottle of Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser for PhP 100. One woman's junk is another woman's treasure!

Organize items by category. I had guys come in and immediately ask, "Nasan ang mga bag?" Clear signs give a sense of professionalism, help customers find what they need (without having to bother asking you), and give them ideas on what to purchase. I had a lot of fun using up my craft materials for the signs. I knew that box of chalk I bought three years ago would come in handy!

Due to demand, we're extending the sale one last weekend, May 31 and June 1. Same time, same place. We'll be having a lot of BOGO deals so feel free to drop by!