ON THE CHEAP/ Whether you're visiting a garage sale or holding one of

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 10, 2003 by DEB ACORD

Having a garage sale is a great way to earn money and clean out your closets and garage.

Consider your location. If you're too far off the beaten path, you might not have as many customers. Think of a friend's house that's convenient to reach and has adequate space for displaying your merchandise.

Check your town's regulations about sales and signs.

Choose the best dates and times for your sale. Summer is best; early in the day is good, and a Friday-Saturday sale seems to be more popular than a Saturday-Sunday sale. Be realistic - if you advertise your sale starting at 7 a.m., be ready for people at 6. And don't be too ambitious - most sales that linger into the afternoon see few people after lunch. Decide how much your time is worth.

Advertise. Most newspapers offer garage sale packages, complete with ad, signs and even pens and stickers for your items. Also think of free spots - bulletin boards at public locations such as supermarkets and churches. Don't list everything you're selling, but do mention desirable things (lawn mowers), collectibles (Beanie Babies) and unusual items (a new computer).

Mark every item.

If you have a bunch of one thing -books, for example - you can display them in a box with one sign designating the universal price.

Make your merchandise marketable and desirable - clean and neat. Display sheets and towels in bunches tied with twine. Display books and CDs on tables where they can be browsed.

Have plenty of change available and bags and/or boxes for customers.

Be flexible when you price. If there are some things - collectibles, antiques, rare items - that you must sell for a certain price, mark them differently.

Keep them around. Set out coffee and cookies - people will stay longer.

Make your sale THE ONE. Invite neighbors, friends and co-workers to contribute. Not only will it be more fun to work, it will look more impressive.

Try to arrange items so they are easy to browse. Instead of boxes, set up tables; set boards on sawhorses, or even set a ladder on two chairs, then cover it with boards or flattened cardboard boxes.

Don't overprice. Remember, you have two goals: to make money and to clean out the house and garage. Before your sale, check neighboring sales to see what they're getting for clothes, books and household items. As the sale winds down, put up a "everything half- price" sign. After the sale, go through what's left. Donate it all to a local charity, or pull out items to save for your next sale.

WHEN SHOPPING AT GARAGE SALES

Shop good neighborhoods for garage sales. They'll have the best bargains, percentage wise. If you have to, explore the neighborhood in advance to become familiar with its streets.

Have a plan. Check addresses of sales and plan a route. Stick to neighborhoods you know or you might spend all morning trying to locate them. Check for ads in the Thrifty Nickel on Thursdays and The Gazette on Fridays and Saturdays.

Carry small bills and change. Pack a lunch, so you don't have to break for a meal. Also take drinks in a cooler.

Educate yourself. If you're looking for an Oriental rug, check out retail stores to find out what you should look for and what a quality rug looks like.

Make a list. Know what you're looking for -say, a 24-inch lamp or fabric to recover some dining room chair seats.

If you take your kids, give them spending money so they can shop too.

A can of spray paint will fix almost anything. Spray paint these days looks like leather, iron and other finishes.

Don't overlook used appliances. Sometimes they're in excellent condition.

Don't buy furniture that needs a whole reupholstery job - it can cost more than a new piece of furniture. Don't buy blonde Formica pieces - they can't be painted or refinished well. Don't buy a lamp with a hideous shade unless you are sure you can replace the shade at a reasonable cost. And don't buy something that will take more time than you have to fix it up.

Know the difference between garage sales, estate sales and divorce sales.

Always carry a measuring tape (and the measurements you need), a magnifying glass (for examining china marks, for example) and an extension cord, in case you need to plug in an electrical item to test it before you buy. Pack a few old blankets to cushion your precious finds.

Sources: Karen Jones, Shelley Kincaid

PROFILE: BARGAINS BY THE BOOK

Name: Shelley Kincaid

Cheap background: When her family moved to Colorado in 1989, nearly all their household goods were destroyed by water damage in a Denver warehouse. The insurance company gave her $3,000 to completely refurnish her home - and kept all the damaged goods, so she couldn't refinish or salvage any of them.

Garage-sale finds: A nearly new Thomasville bedroom set for $100, three bottles of Mot & Chandon champagne for a buck, Waterford crystal at $1 a stem (worth $60 apiece).

Catch Kincaid: "The Garage Sale Decorator's Bible" (Feline Books, $23.95). Kincaid also has appeared on such home-decorating television shows as "Home Matters," "Kitty Bartholomew - at Home," "The Carol Duvall Show" and "The Bargain Hunter."