How To Hang Clothes For A Garage Sale [12 Ideas]

Are you planning on having a garage sale this summer? If so, you’ll need to know how to hang clothes for garage sale shoppers to be able to see them. By using the proper techniques, you can make your clothes look their best – and increase your chances of making a sale. Here’s what you should know!

How to Hang Clothes at a Garage Sale: 12 Yard Sale Display Ideas

Here are a few tips for displaying your clothes at a garage sale – easy!

1. Wash and Dry Each Item First

They might be used, but that doesn’t mean they need to look at it! Wash and dry each and every item of clothing you want to sell – and if time permits, do any mending or ironing that needs to be done, too.

If you just don’t have time to do this, consider putting any particularly dingy or damaged items in a “free box”.

2. Put Hangers Through the Bottoms of the Shirts

Here’s a life hack you should probably know about anyway – when you hang up your shirts, don’t do so through the opening at the top. Instead, come up from the bottom to avoid stretching out the neck hole.

The reason? People are far less likely to buy a shirt if the neck is all warped. 

3. Button Up Shirts

Don’t just drape shirts over the hangers, leaving them to slouch around as customers peruse what you have to offer. Dress shirts, polos, and Oxfords should be buttoned to avoid them falling off the hanger.

Not only that, but buttoning up the shirts will give your customers a better idea of what the shirt actually looks like – meaning they’ll be far more likely to buy it. 

4. Use Items You’re Already Selling

Most people assume that they need separate storage areas for all the items they’re planning on selling, but you really don’t need to pull out all of the stops. Instead, just make the most of what you already have.

Selling an armoire? Hang the clothes inside! A bookshelf can house clothes, too, as can open chest and desk drawers with the drawers pulled out. 

5. Clip Pants at the Waist

For pants, shorts, and skirts that need to be displayed, consider using hangers with clips. Sure you can always fold the garment over the center bar of the hanger. 

Try to avoid just folding garments like these and putting them in a stack. This can make it hard for customers to see what you have to offer.

If you’re worried about delicate items that have beading or embroidery, you can protect them by placing a piece of tissue paper or even a napkin between the clips. 

And for pants that have a waistband that’s larger than the length of the hanger just fold them in half and then clip.

6. How to Make a Clothing Rack for a Garage Sale 

Another easy way to hang clothes at your garage sale is to make a DIY clothing rack that will allow you to put your clothes front and center. 

You can always go out and rent or buy clothing racks – more on this below – but that can be cost-prohibitive and time-consuming. Why bother when you can whip up your own in a flash?

You’ll need a pole and two bases to do this. For the pole, use some scrap wood, a broom, a shovel, a PVC pipe, or even some string – anything that can be draped horizontally to support the weight of the hanging clothes.

For the bases, just make sure they’re stable. If they’re too wobbly, you use bricks, rocks, or bags of sand to ground them. Use items like ladders, barstools, lamps, cabinets, or even a ladder to get this job done for you.

Here’s a video that will walk you through how to make an easy DIY clothing rack for your garage sale:

7. Rent Clothing Racks for a Yard Sale 

A clothing rack makes it much easier for people to sort through clothes. It also keeps them from landing on the ground. You won’t have to keep refolding them because they’re on a hanger.

You can rent clothing racks online as well as from local suppliers. They’ll typically run only a few dollars a day and are certainly worth the investment! 

When you use clothing racks, make sure these are positioned at the front of the sale. They should be in the front so people can easily flip through them and without items in front of them that will make it hard for shoppers to browse. 

8. Separate By Gender

Separate clothing out by gender and, if possible by size. You can create actions for women’s clothes, men’s clothes, girl’s clothes, boy’s clothes, and baby clothes, for example. 

9. Keep Like Items Together

Unless you’re planning on selling complete outfits, keep similar types of clothing together. Shorts should be with shorts and shirts with shirts. This will allow people who want to search through specific types of clothing to do their business without having to go through items they don’t want.

If you can, arrange these similar types by alternating colors (not all blue clothes right next to each other) so it’s easier for people to visually distinguish between different garments.

10. Makeshift Tables for Garage Sale 

If you have to display your clothing in piles, just make sure it’s neatly folded – and on a table. Don’t lay a blanket on the ground and put your clothing there, as clothing and other debris is liable to make a mess of your display.

You can use makeshift tables out of things like sawhorses or pallets, if you’re running low on card tables! Plastic bins or totes always work well for yard sales, too.

11. Make Signs

To help organize your garage sale even further, make signs that add flair and organization to your sale. Put a sign up for each section, ideally with the price range of the clothes in that section, so it’s easy for shoppers to find what they’re looking for.

12. How to Display Baby Clothes at a Yard Sale

Many people make the mistake of throwing baby clothes in a pile at a yard sale. Not only does this lead to a jumbled mess, making it hard for customers to see what you’re trying to sell, but it won’t do much for curb appeal and overall sales, either!

Instead, use clothespins. You don’t have to use the special baby-sized hangers meant to hold outfits together – those can be cumbersome.

Just use clothespins to attach the teeny tiny garments. This works well if you’re trying to sell entire outfits together, like shirts and onesies with pants or skirts.

How Do I Price Clothes for a Garage Sale?

Pricing is one of the trickiest aspects of holding a yard sale. It needs to be priced well enough for people to want to buy them but not so low that you’re giving them away.

Label each item with a price or price sections of clothes. The first technique works well for clothes that are made by a well-known, high-quality brand while the latter works well for selling clothes in bulk.

You can also offer “buy one, get one” or bundle deals that encourage people to take more items off your hands. For example, “fill a bag for $5” is a good strategy that will entice people to shop.

If clothes are heavily worn, showing damage, or are outdated, price these much lower to help get them off your hands.

How to Organize a Garage Sale Help You Sell All Your Unwanted Threads!

A garage sale is a great way to offload some of your least favorite (and least worn) clothes, but if you don’t organize things properly, your sales aren’t going to be what you’d like. These tips should help. 

Before your next garage sale, take a few minutes to hang everything properly rather than leaving all the clothes piled in a heap. It’s worth the effort – and can help you make a little extra cash.