Driveway Giveaway Bonanza
Do you have a lot of stuff to get rid of, perhaps before moving? Try a driveway giveaway! We did one this week before the final clean out of a client’s home, and it was fabulously successful.
Sure, you could do a traditional garage sale, but that’s a lot of work; pricing all your items is half the battle. If selling everything is important, then it may be worth your effort, although people often find that results of a garage sale don’t necessarily warrant all the work and time they put into it.
The point of a driveway giveaway is to get rid of stuff so you don’t have to remove so much. I told people that the event was a “minimize the junk haul” event, saving the client money because there was less stuff they needed to pay someone to take away.
Keys to a successful driveway giveaway:
Do it all outdoors. Determine if you will allow folks into the garage or yard.
Remove everything you don’t want to disappear.
Mark off No Entry areas (front door, side gate, etc.).
Have at least one person monitoring the area to keep things tidy and ensure everyone behaves.
Pre-load cardboard flats (such as from Costco) to take things out of the house on the morning of the sale, and give the flats to visitors to load up with treasures.
Use folding tables to display items, both on top and below.
Put larger items at the end of the driveway with large FREE signs to attract passers-by.
Explain to people what’s going on as they arrive.
If appropriate, include an area for “Make An Offer” items that warrant a little money. We were lenient with prices in negotiation with buyers, wanting to ensure that everything found a good home (and wanting to get rid of as much stuff as possible).
Notify the neighbors a few days ahead. A good number of people stopped by our event because they had received the flyer.
Post on social media a couple of days ahead. We posted on NextDoor, Facebook and Instagram, including in groups specifically for garage sales.
We had a great time at this event and got rid of a lot of stuff! People were happy with the treasures they found, including someone who was delighted to take the glass punch bowl and cups (which we thought surely was bound for Goodwill). The client saved significant money on the junk haul. All good!
