A yard sale can be pretty unpredictable. You can’t tell how many items a customer will buy or what amount of money the person will use for payment. You need to bring enough change for whatever your customer may throw at you.
You should have at least $100 in change for your garage sale. For bigger garage sales, you should have more. Choose your denominations based on your goods’ prices. If you’re selling many items $0.25-$5, carry a lot of change and small bills. For more expensive items, bring larger bills for change.
You might be thinking that opening up a garage sale with $100 worth of change is going overboard. Well, the truth is that it’s better to be safe than sorry. Handling money at a garage sale is a very important task; we’ll discuss more on this here.
How Much Change Should You Have at A Yard Sale?
Garage sales can be pretty surprising. Your first customer may bring a large bill but only buy goods worth a few dollars. This scenario can be frustrating and may leave you no other choice but to forgo the sales if you don’t have change.
Your best option is to begin your garage sales with a reasonable amount of change on hand, at least $100. If you decide to go with more or less change, that’s okay too. The final choice is up to you, but always consider the size of your yard sale.
If your yard sale is on a large scale, then you’ll need more cash. The value of your items should also tell you what amount of change you need. Goods of low value ($1 or less) may not require a large amount of change.
However, if the prices of your goods are on the high side, it’s best to set aside more cash.
Generally speaking, the recommended amount of change for any yard sale is $100. This amount should go up or down depending on the size of your yard sale and the price range of your goods.
Getting a large amount of change ready for your garage sale can be very tasking. This is why you should start saving up change for your yard sale long before it starts. Always remember that it’s better to start with too much cash than too little. After all, the money is still yours, sale or no sale.
What Denomination of Bills Do I Need for My Yard Sale?
The denomination of cash you carry for balancing customers during sales is another factor worth considering. It can be tricky, but it’s still very possible to split up your denomination just right. Knowing that customers will come with whatever cash they have on hand, you need a good mix of bills.
Here’s a typical example of a good mixing strategy:
- (3) $10 bills = $30
- (7) $5 bills = $35
- (20) $1 bills = $20
- One roll of quarters = $10
- One roll of dimes = $5
- Total = $100.
Again, the denomination you select should more or less depend on the price tags of your goods. The above selection could work well for goods priced between $0.75 and $20. If the price of your goods is on the high side, then you need more high-denomination bills.
Do I Need to Have Coins As Change For My Yard Sale?
When it comes to yard sales, there are no rules. You can sell almost anything, as long as you feel it’s marketable. The price tags on your goods are up to you as well.
Therefore, your need for coins as change will depend on the prices of your goods. If the cost of your items ranges from $1 and above, there’ll be no need for coins and vice versa.
However, if the prices of your goods vary greatly (say some below and some above $1), you need a good mix of dollar bills, coins, and all. If more of your items cost above $1, carry more dollar notes, and vice versa.
One simple thing you can do to ease this issue is to make your price tags fall within a specific range. Pricing your goods is totally up to you.
You can decide to make all your goods fall below the one-dollar mark or above it. This way, you can quickly tell if your change should be all coins or no coins at all.
How To Handle Money At A Yard Sale
As a seller, you must calculate how much change you had before sales commenced. This is one way to make sure you never go wrong in calculating your profits. If you start with $100 and end with $500, you can conclude that you’ve made $400 in profits.
Another critical issue is how to keep your money safe and organized so that you can make changes quickly. Making a change will be so much easier when you separate your coins from your dollar bills. So it’s essential to have a system or tool to separate the larger cash notes from the loose change.
Here are a few tools or money organizers that can help you organize your cash at a yard sale.
A cash box
A cash box has sections for storing coins and may also contain trays for dollar bills. What’s important is that you take advantage of the various sections to group your change.
A cash apron
It doesn’t have to be a customized cash apron. A simple tool apron with at least two sections will do – one for bills and one for coins. One good thing about cash aprons is that your cash is always literally on you.
Money Bags
In this case, you need at least two money bags. One bag can be for dollar bills only, while the other contains all your loose coins. These bags mustn’t necessarily be official bank nags; any bag with good zippers will do.
Fanny Pack
A fanny Pack may have two or more sections for storing cash bills and coins. This tool keeps your cash firmly attached to you at all times.
A better choice would be to get a transparent fanny pack. With this, you can see the exact location of a particular dollar bill denomination and reach in for it.
Whatever tool you choose, make sure it suits your needs, and you’re very comfortable using it. Remember that the ultimate goal is to store your cash and make changes for customers quickly.