Garage Sale Clean-Up Tips

Once your rummage sale is over and your hard work has paid off, you still face the final task of the garage clear-out. You may be exhausted from a busy sale, but don't delay boxing up your leftover items that didn't sell. The longer you wait, the harder it can be to motivate yourself with completing this important last step. Maybe you need to take a day off for rest, but try to take care of this clean-up job as soon as possible.

Here are some of our suggestions for things you can do with leftover rummage items:

Keep things of value to include in your next garage sale. There may be some items that you'd like to separate because you know they will probably sell to the right person. Find a place in your garage, basement, or attic where you can store a box or two of things that you'd hope to sell in the future. Unless you have a ton of extra space available for storage, you probably shouldn't save bulky items or things that were priced less than $1. After an item has been through multiple sales, consider another option below.
List certain items for sale in an online marketplace for local pickup. Decide on a reasonable amount of time to keep your listings active. If an item doesn't sell within a week or two, choose another option for getting rid of it.
Offer things for free! You can do this during the last hour of your sale, or put boxes of free items at the curb after your sale (if allowed in your region). Generally it helps to put a "curb alert" listing on an online free-advertising platform so people know that you have free stuff available.
Donate leftover items to your favorite charity or resale shop. Many charity organizations can offer a receipt you may use for tax purposes that acknowledges the donation. Not all resale shops can give donation-receipts, but it is a good way to support a local business!
Try listing some more expensive items for sale online (that you can ship to buyers) if you have a seller's account with a known online reseller platform.
If you have office supplies or children's items, check with local day care centers and teacher friends to see if they could use something you have available. Perhaps you could give them some things that are useful to them.
Find a "free store" or a clothing distribution charity to donate things to. Our town has an organization that gives away free things to people who need them, so check if your community has some place similar that would accept donations.
If you had a multi-family sale, ask the other participants to box up their own leftover items and take them to their chosen destinations. It should not be your responsibility to make decisions on everyone else's stuff, unless of course you have agreed to donate it all and have made that clear to them.
If your local library has an annual book sale, find out if they accept book donations.
Donate things to a local church organization that is planning their own rummage sale.
Give things to family members or friends. If you have craft supplies and know a crafter, offer them a box of your leftover crafty things. Or if you know someone who just got their first apartment, see if they need any furniture or household items.
Consider putting some quality items on consignment at a local business.
Call a local clean-up service that will haul your items away for you. There are "junk" companies who charge a fee for this, or perhaps you can find a local resale charity that offers a free pick-up. Often they will ask you to box things up prior to them arriving. Sort through everything first! You do not want to regret losing something you didn't intend to have hauled away. Remember that it may not be retrievable after this service is completed.