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Who Buys Out Garage Sale Leftovers?

When it comes to garage sales, many people think of huge piles of clothes, toys, and other items that are being sold for a fraction of the price. However, there are often leftovers after the sale is over. These leftovers can be anything from shelves to lamps to furniture. So what happens to them? Who buys them? We’ll tell you everything you need to know. 

How Do I Get Rid of Leftover Garage Sale Items? 

How Do I Get Rid of Leftover Garage Sale Items

The garage sale is over and done, and the dust has cleared from the last shopper’s footsteps. But you still have piles of “unsold stuff” that you probably don’t want to return to the closets and corners of your home. So what should you do?

There are a few ways you can offload your leftover garage sale items. Here are some of your best options.

1. Arrange a Thrift Store Pickup

If you have a thrift store nearby, give them a call. Often, they’ll come by and pick up everything, with no need to sort through it first.

You may have to call ahead of time – so check with your thrift store to see if that’s the policy. Usually, you’ll need to call a few days to a week before your sale and schedule the pick-up for the afternoon your sale ends. 

They’ll not only take care of all of your leftovers for free, but they’ll also give you a receipt so you can use the donation as a tax write-off, too. 

2. Bring Clothes to a Consignment Shop

Consignment shops will take the vast majority of clothing, provided that it’s in good condition. It’s even better if the clothing is high quality or from a high-end fashion designer! Most shops will buy the clothes from you outright or perhaps take them in on consignment. 

3. Donate to the Church

Many local churches hold rummage sales, with the profits usually going back to the church or neighborhood schools. There’s a good chance that the church will accept a donation – even if you aren’t a parishioner or member.

Donate your items to the church and they’ll take care of selling and pricing them at their sale. Although you won’t walk away with any money in your pocket like you would if you sold the items at your yard sale, you can feel good knowing that you helped the local community.

Plus, this is another option that may allow you to get a receipt so you can use the donation as a tax write-off

4. Sell on Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace has really revolutionized the way we buy and sell our used items – and it’s a great way to get rid of the rest of your yard sale items!

The downside, of course, is that you’re still going to have to pack all the items up and bring them inside for a while. You’ll also need to take some well-lit, high-quality photos of the items you have for sale.

That said, the extra effort will likely be worth it, since you can usually get more money for your items on Facebook Marketplace than you could at a yard sale, particularly high-value items like furniture. 

5. Donate to a School 

Many local schools and daycares take children’s items, like clothing, books, and toys. They’ll either use them there or distribute them to families in need. Again, you may be able to get a receipt for tax purposes. 

6. Call a Yard Sale Removal Service

Depending on where you live, you may even be able to hire a yard sale removal service to come to haul away your unwanted items for you. 

These services come to your house as soon as the yard sale is over and take everything away with you. They’ll take items in good, used condition and donate them to local organizations and people in need so that you don’t have to do the transportation. 

You do have to pay for this service, but the beauty of it is that you won’t have to deal with running all over town with your yard sale leftovers to drop off the donations.

7. Give to a Women’s Shelter

Women’s shelters are almost always in need of clothing, accessories, toiletries, and other items for women and children. Donate these products and they’ll be thrilled to have them – and don’t forget that receipt!

8. Sell on eBay

Selling on eBay is another good option. Since your market will be so much larger, you’ll have a much better chance of offloading all of your unwanted items. 

As is the case with selling on Facebook Marketplace, you will need to put in more of an effort when it comes to photographing the items and writing captivating descriptions. However, there’s a better chance of seeing increased profits when you do this, too.

9. Try Freecycle

Freecycle isn’t quite as useful if you live in a rural area, but in urban or suburban areas, it can be a great way to get rid of yard sale leftovers. Although you won’t make any money by offloading things on Freecycle, you can still get rid of the items so they aren’t taking up space in your home.

10. Save Them and Try Again

When all else fails, you may just have to give in and box back up your items to try to sell them next year. Save everything you don’t sell and try to sell the products again in a few weeks or months. However, when you try to resell, you may want to mark the prices down. 

You could also try getting together with your neighbors to host a larger yard sale – larger yard sales mean more customers, and more customers mean more potential sales. 

How Do I Get People to Buy My Garage Sale Items?

Although there are plenty of ways to offload your unwanted garage sale items, it’s probably going to be easiest for you to avoid finding yourself in this situation in the first place. Therefore, you may want to follow these quick tips for getting rid of your garage sale items – fast.

1. Be As Organized As Possible

The best way to make sure you aren’t left with tons of unwanted products is to be as organized as possible. Group similar items together and consider offering promotions like “buy 2, get 1 free.” This will encourage people to buy more so you’re left with less.

Here’s a video with some helpful tips on how to set up your garage sale to make the most money:

2. Avoid Putting Price Tags on Things

This can be a bit of a hassle in that shoppers have to ask you for the price – but it can also make things more open-ended and increase the likelihood that you’ll make a sale. If you have a certain number in mind, you can always dictate it – but if you don’t, this opens the door to haggling and negotiation where it might not otherwise be possible.

3. Clean Things Up

Don’t put out items that are dirty, damaged, or in poor condition. Only sell the nicest, highest-quality items and you’ll be much more likely to make that sale.

4. Advertise Well

Advertise your garage sale well in advance of the big day. Post pictures on Facebook, make videos advertising the sale on YouTube, and post flyers for your garage sale all over town. The more people who know about your garage sale, the better!

Finding People Who Buy Garage Sale Leftovers

One last tip for getting rid of your garage sale leftovers? Rather than being stuck with a pile of unwanted items after the garage sale has ended for the day, set a timer for the last hour that the sale is open and designate that as a “free hour” in which all of the items you have left for sale are free.

Sure, you won’t make any money  – but you’ll also have zero clean-up. And that’s a win-win for everyone!

15 thoughts on “Who Buys Out Garage Sale Leftovers?”

  1. I have about nine or so boxes of garage sale items. I’m I’m desperate need of money now. Is there someone that will buy all of the stuff for a good price? I need to get rid of it now. Please someone help me. It’s in my granddaughters garage.

    Reply
  2. Who buys left over yard sale stuff my friends mother past and she has alot of stuff my phone 859-433-4403 I’m trying to help sale it Thanks

    Reply
  3. Great ideas. ! Thank you !
    I born and lived in Ohio mist of my years but now in a “ not so good” neighborhood in SoCal because of a spiritual group obligation. But I won’t describe that any further !
    Anyway garage sales back home were super easy and very $$$ rewarding but this is a very diff. Ballgame!
    I have many things I’m “trying” to organize trying to sell but need an alternative AFTER my efforts possibly don’t produce sales. So THINKING AHEAD I was doing search for who buys garage sale leftovers. your site looked neatski just to check out so here I am. Thank you for any and all the great ideas you present on your website. PS. I might add that at my dear YOUNG “senior” age as they now call it, it seems my energy is rather sporadic and I don’t always and timely get done all I intend to! 😌

    Reply
  4. i Need to sell the contents of my garage. Will someone buy the whole contents ?
    SOME NICE STUFF ! Call : 609 496 3672 ! MARIAN
    Soutjampton, NJ

    Reply
  5. All of these are pretty good ideas….. but my husband had ALOT of antique tools and so forth that was great at first but then it was just alot of junk that all the repeat customers were sick of.

    Reply
  6. Anyone needing items for swapmeets or garage sales? I have a lot of items and will sell in bulk. Or any ideas to sell it fast cause i need the space. Holly, clovis calif.
    559 355 6670

    Reply

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