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How to Organize a Successful“Make Me an Offer” Sale
The Make Me an Offer Sale is different then a yard sale. Your items are not tagged and areset up in an auction style format. There is also quite a bit more items such as you wouldsee at an estate auction. This type of sale allows you the option to offer your items toauction houses and/or to the public.
The key to having a successful sale is planning your work and working your plan
.Everyone involved needs to understand all the steps and what their responsibilities are.Working your plan involves:1.Cleaning and organizing your items in one building or place.2.Creating, advertising and distributing your flyer.
3.
Having directional signs to get to the sale from several well traveled roads.4.Maintaining control of people and traffic during the sale and item pickup.
5.
Security measures for your property and animals.6.Security measures for handling cash during and after the sale.7.Disposing of unsold items after the sale.
If all the above suits your needs the additional information below will help you getstarted.
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Decide what items you want to sell and move it to the garage or other area.
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Items should be clean or at least dusted off.
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Take photos of your best items as you clean them off. Keep the background simplebehind your photographed items. Your photos will be used on your flyer.
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All items should be set up in groups such as Kitchen, Dining Room, Bed Room,Electronics, Appliances, Kids Toys, Bath, etcNote: Setting up items in groups lets you easily see which items you have the most of. Italso helps you see the groups that are getting the most attention. You have morebartering power over items where buyer(s) can see their competition.
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Take a couple of photos of each item group. Choose the best one of each group togo on your flyer.
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Items should be in working order. Items that are broken or missing pieces should belabeled as such.
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Put grouped items together and arrange so items that buyers can sit on or openthem.
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Leave aisle space between groups so items purchased can be easily removed andloaded. 
 
At this stage you now have two options:
1.
Call auction houses and have auctioneers come out and offer to buy your items(they buy, they load). You may want to print a few flyers or email them your picturesso they can see what you have available.NOTE:
Set
 
a time for all the auction house buyers to be there at one time.If they have to compete, they will usually pay more.
 The plus side of selling to an auction house is you don't have a lot of people on your property to keep an eye on. The minus side is the auction house purchase price will mostlikely be considerably lower then the proceeds from your own private sale.If you sell your items to auction houses then all you have to do is collect their check(s),possibly dispose of unwanted items and you are done!OR…..
2.
You have your 
Make Me an Offer Sale
as planned. Have friends and family help outand make more money for the work. Once all items are placed you are ready to produce your flyer.You flyer should include ALL the following information:
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Short auction type listings and pictures of your items.
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The day, date, time of your sale and complete street address.
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Good directions to the sale site (include ref. to yellow directional signs)
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Terms and Conditions of Sale
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**Terms and Conditions of Sale should include such conditions as:
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NO *EARLY BIRDS PRIOR TO SALE! DOOR OPENS AT XX.XX AM
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ALL ITEMS SOLD AS IS WHERE IS, NO WARRANTY, NO REFUND
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NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCIDENTS OR DAMAGE TO PERSONS ORVEHICLES (you must include this or face possible lawsuit later)
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NO PETS ALLOWED
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ITEMS MUST BE PICKED UP THE DAY OF SALE. ITEMS NOT PICKED UP BYXX:XX PM WILL BE CONSIDERED ABANDONED AND DISCARDED WITH NOREFUND GIVEN.
*NO EARLY BIRDS!
People will show up at 6 am for a 9 am auction! They will bug youand try to get a quick sale before everyone else shows up. DO NOT DEAL WITHTHESE PEOPLE. Be polite, tell them to go back to their car or come back at sale time.
 
**Terms of Sale is your CYA policy for what you will and won’t do. Take a tip from theAuction Pros and
 
Post this information in your ad and also around the buildingwhere your sale items are.
If you have the paper, have this information available as ahand out for adults entering the building.The above terms are flexible and most of them can be adjusted to the buyers needs. For example: People driving along who decide to follow your signs may not always be able totake their purchase that day. The couple who just bought your old queen size bed won’t beable to haul it on top of their VW bug. It is up to you to decide how much time you allow for buyers to pick up their items.
Now you are ready to set up your flyer and print it out.
Your sale flyer should have pictures of single items and several pictures of your groupings.
 Your text should take up at least half of your flyer 
. It needs to be read from a distanceso don't load up on pics. Three or four pictures are all you need to generate interest.List your best items (auction style) by name and offer boxed lot items for small things likekid’s toys or mixed glassware.
Include in your flyer directions to follow the yellow BARTER SALE TODAY signs onsale day.Print your flyer on yellow paper. Yellow is the universal color to pay attention.
Post your flyer (including simple directions) on every public bulletin board you can find atleast a week or two in advance.Publish your sale in all local newspapers and penny saver magazines. Post on localwebsites and don’t forget posting on Craigslist! Make it easy for anyone within 50 miles tofind you so don't scrimp on ads.
The more people you have, the better pricing you get.
 
Crowds pay.
DO NOT POST YOUR NAME OR PHONE NUMBER ON THE FLYER. You will get tons of tire kickers and cheapskates. The majority of these people either want a complete list of what you have or want to come at a different time.
They will try to shmooze you to gettheir way.
You will hear every excuse in the world! Your time is precious, especially withlast minute prep for the sale. If you do get callers, tell them you are sorry for their circumstances, they can send a friend to look for them at the sale. Their friend can callthem on their cell phone for more info. on the items they are interested in. Be business like,polite and promptly end the call.If you feel you must have prior contact, post an email address in your ad. Create a separateemail address just for the sale. Use a free email account like Yahoo or Gmail and use your 
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