Here are some tips and information on accepting cash or electronic payment methods on Garage Sale day.
How much cash should you have for a garage sale?
It’s always a good idea to have a reasonable amount of cash on hand at a garage sale, in case customers want to make small purchases. Although many experienced garage sales hunters bring small dollar bills and plenty of cash with them, it would still be good to have enough money on hand. The exact amount will depend on the size of your sale and your expected sales volume, but having at least $100 to $200 in small denominations (e.g. $1, $5, and $10 bills) is a good starting point. It’s also a good idea to have some change, such as quarters, for making change for purchases. This of course depends on the price of your items and how many things you plan on selling. you may want to have a little more in reserves if you’ve got lots to sell.
How do I know how much change to give at my garage sale?
When dealing with cash, you’re likely going to be giving change. I highly doubt that every single person will have the exact amount. The best tool would be having a calculator, even the one on your phone will do the trick. To make things easy for you, plan out your garage sale pricing strategy. Price items to the nearest dollar or $0.50. Who knows, you may not even need a calculator if your brain can handle the round numbers and doing subtraction in your head.
How do you keep money safe at a garage sale?
Having a secure place to store the cash, such as a locked cash box or a fanny pack, is also important for security reasons. Never leave it unattended! We can’t stress this enough. You have strangers wandering around your property with lots of clutter and distractions. It’s easy for somebody to sneak a hand over and grab your cash if you aren’t watching it.
Using Venmo, Zelle, CashApp, or good ol’ cash at your garage sale
Remember, if you are comfortable using Venmo, Zelle, or CashApp, you can also use those at your garage sale.
How to accept Venmo at your garage sale
The easiest way to take Venmo at your garage sale would be:
- Both people open up their Venmo app
- Seller (you) clicks the middle button for Pay/Request
- Seller clicks “Venmo me”
- Your personal QR code appears for the Buyer to scan
- Buyer opens camera app and clicks link that appears when hovering over the QR code box)
- Buyer pays the seller the agreed upon amount
- Make sure you get confirmation that you were paid
Your transaction is now complete!
How to accept Zelle at your garage sale
The key thing to know with Zelle is that it is tied to either your phone number or email address. So what you’ll need to do is:
- Know what phone number or email address is tied to your Zelle account
- Tell the buyer what that phone number or email address is
- The buyer will then add a new Zelle recipient in their account
- The buyer can now click your name and pay you
- The seller (you) can confirm the transaction went through on their end and the transaction is complete
How to accept CashApp at your garage sale
It seems CashApp is used more heavily by a younger demographic, so it may be a good idea, as a seller, to have it downloaded on your phone before your garage sale. Make sure that you get it all set up in time so you don’t miss out on any potential sales from somebody who ONLY has CashApp.
Here’s how CashApp says you should tell your garage sale buyer to send you money through the app:
- Open Cash App on your phones
- Enter the amount you would like to send for the garage sale item(s)
- Click on Pay
- Enter an email address, phone number, or £Cashtag
- Click Pay again
Good ol’ CASH is of course the classic! We suggest going cash only, and knowing where the nearest ATM is in case you need to tell somebody who asks. But there is certainly a convenience in using electronic payment options, such as Venmo, Zelle and CashApp.