When many people think of garage sales, they often think of that one time a year that they go through all of their things, set them out for a weekend and collect a little bit of money.
Sometimes the money collected is enough to buy some much needed furniture for the house and sometimes it's just enough to go out to eat completely paid for.
The thing is, if you are smart about it, you could actually make your garage sale into a small business venture.
This will take some planning though.
The first thing you will need to do is to think about how you can come up with enough items to sell.
After all, once your first garage sale of the year is finished, you might not be left with enough big ticket items to bring in the crowds.
One thing you can do is to watch for people giving some things away for free.
As long as they are not specifically requesting that they go to someone "needy," you are free to accept the free things and sell them at your garage sales.
Generally, people will advertise things for free simply because they wanted a fast way to get rid of everything without having to put it all out in the garbage.
You also want to make sure that you are not going overboard with how often you have your garage sale.
A garage sale that is run all week is not likely to make a lot of money.
Most people are working during the week and in the evenings they are at home relaxing with their family.
Also, you do not want people to get tired of your garage sale.
Have it every weekend or preferably, every other weekend.
As with any business venture, if you are doing this as a steady source of income, even if it is just fifty or eighty dollars a day, it is important to make sure that you are keeping track of every penny you make.
This will be needed for your taxes.
In order to offset how much you will have to pay in taxes, make sure that you are keeping track of expenses that can later be used as deductions.
This would include anything you purchase to make signs, make tables, chairs you buy to sit on, a cooler you purchase to keep cold drinks nearby and anything else that you can think of.
If you are careful with your planning you can make a decent amount of money, all from your very own garage.
Just make use of what you already have and what is free out there and you will be surprised at the money that can be made.
Sometimes the money collected is enough to buy some much needed furniture for the house and sometimes it's just enough to go out to eat completely paid for.
The thing is, if you are smart about it, you could actually make your garage sale into a small business venture.
This will take some planning though.
The first thing you will need to do is to think about how you can come up with enough items to sell.
After all, once your first garage sale of the year is finished, you might not be left with enough big ticket items to bring in the crowds.
One thing you can do is to watch for people giving some things away for free.
As long as they are not specifically requesting that they go to someone "needy," you are free to accept the free things and sell them at your garage sales.
Generally, people will advertise things for free simply because they wanted a fast way to get rid of everything without having to put it all out in the garbage.
You also want to make sure that you are not going overboard with how often you have your garage sale.
A garage sale that is run all week is not likely to make a lot of money.
Most people are working during the week and in the evenings they are at home relaxing with their family.
Also, you do not want people to get tired of your garage sale.
Have it every weekend or preferably, every other weekend.
As with any business venture, if you are doing this as a steady source of income, even if it is just fifty or eighty dollars a day, it is important to make sure that you are keeping track of every penny you make.
This will be needed for your taxes.
In order to offset how much you will have to pay in taxes, make sure that you are keeping track of expenses that can later be used as deductions.
This would include anything you purchase to make signs, make tables, chairs you buy to sit on, a cooler you purchase to keep cold drinks nearby and anything else that you can think of.
If you are careful with your planning you can make a decent amount of money, all from your very own garage.
Just make use of what you already have and what is free out there and you will be surprised at the money that can be made.