When my family moved to a smaller house in a new city, my parents knew they would have to relinquish some possessions they either didn’t need any longer or ones that took up too much space. They decided to sell some of their old belongings so that we’d have a lighter load when we made the move. To do this, they had a garage sale, and, lo and behold, I was introduced to the world of the re-use economy.

Our loss was someone else’s gain on the day of the garage sale. Parents, neighbors, and bargain seekers alike lined their cars up on the street to see what we had available. We sold everything from our old family room couch to books to exercise equipment my parents no longer used. Our first garage sale later inspired me to insist on selling our lightly used household items whenever the family car couldn’t fit in the garage because we it had reached its storage capacity. Needless to say, my parents worked full-time jobs, and they didn’t have the time to have a garage sale as often they would have liked. On a similar note, check out this video if you’d like to figure out how to set up your own garage sale at home!

Garage sales are a great fundraising opportunity that cost nothing but your time. When I was raising money for a Student Ambassador trip to Australia at the age of 12, my mom helped me pen a letter to family friends and relatives in the area asking if they had any lightly used or unused household items they were willing to donate for a garage sale. The night before the big sale, I was tasked with helping my mom price these items. This was great because I learned the value of how some things lose their worth over time (such as old lamps and used clothing), while other items gain value over time (like old coins and vintage items). I also learned how the condition of used items also impacted pricing. Afterwards, I helped my mom pack up whatever wasn’t sold, and we donated the rest to the local Goodwill store in our city.

If you have the means, hosting a garage sale is a great way to not only dip your toe into the ocean that is the re-use economy, but also to develop an understanding of how the value of items can either appreciate or depreciate over time. For those of you who’d like to venture off into the world of entrepreneurship, this is a good opportunity to get started! Garage sales are another means of making money that don’t require too much effort on your part—e.g. purchasing items to sell at the garage sale—and they’re a great way to fundraise money for upcoming events or trips!

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If you liked this article, check out our resource on Entrepreneurship–CREATE: A Business Idea! If you want to learn more about putting that extra cash you earned from your garage sale to use, check out our activity, READ: Investing Basics.

picture credit: http://www.vanburencity.org/201/Garage-Sale-Permits

About the Author

Danielle Bautista

Danielle is a native of Southern California and a recent graduate from the University of Maine, where she braved the frigid winters—a feat in and of itself—and earned her Bachelor's degree in International Affairs. She has a passion for working with non-profit organizations and serving populations in underprivileged communities. When Danielle isn't writing NGPF blog posts, spearheading various outreach projects, or managing contests and flash surveys, you can find her doing some sort of outdoor activity, learning a new hobby, or cracking what she thinks are witty puns!

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