Best Cleaning & Repairing Tips

Take the B out of your garage sale. Don't forget that you're having a Garage Sale and not a Garbage Sale.

First give each item a dust and spot clean

Don't spend hours polishing something though that is only going to be sold for $1 or $2 but people are more likely to not only buy but pay more for something that looks good and is not covered in dust or dirt.

Basic cleaning tips

Cleaning Wipes to give a quick clean and sanitize.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to get stubborn marks off.
Q-tip soaked in soapy warm water to get in the crevices.
Furniture polish to make ceramics, plastics and wood look like new but don't use on glass though as it will leave a film on the surface.
If you need any more specific cleaning tips - 'Google it'.

Check the value of each piece of jewelry

Get out a magnifying glass and look for a karat or sterling mark. If you are unsure what the marks mean - get two or three separate experts' appraisals.

Sort and clean each piece of jewelry

Get each piece ready to be displayed individually rather than being thrown altogether in a box. Refer to the Best garage sale layout tips section for more information on how to best display jewelry.

Sort out what needs repairing

Put anything that needs repairing in a separate pile to look at later. If something cannot be repaired, then still include it in your garage sale but put it under a "Need repairs – Make an offer" sign. Who knows, someone might want it for spares or think they can fix it. If it doesn't sell then you can throw it out.

Get some cheap batteries

If something needs batteries to run, it's easier to just put in some new cheap batteries to help sell it rather than fiddling around on the day putting in some borrowed batteries to prove that it works and trying to remember to get the batteries out after.

Clean and check clothing

If you are selling clothes, go though the pockets checking for anything of value or old receipts or papers with private information on them then wash them with a scented fabric softener to give them a fresh smell.

Check your books and magazines

Go through every one checking for money, old receipts or papers with private information on them too.

I have heard of some buyers who just buy all the books at a garage sale for a few dollars and go through each one hoping to (and now and then do) find money that has been tucked away and forgotten or a vintage train or plane ticket used as a bookmark that is now worth a fortune to collectors.

Check your old computer or laptop

Ensure the hard drive doesn't contain private and confidential information such as tax records, medical records and banking accounts with passwords!! Just deleting the files isn't enough because deleted files can easily be recovered. Formatting the hard drive properly is the best way making sure to specify unconditional format. Depending on the version of Windows or MS-DOS you have, that's typically a FORMAT /U at the command line, or making sure that Quick Format is not checked when using a disk management tool (eg. In My Computer, select the Local Disk C: then select File, Format...).

Did I say to check everything?

Source: http://newsflavor.com/alternative/could-you-have-a-fortune-hidden-in-your-home

Do you spend your summer Saturdays scouring garage sales, flea markets, and estate sales looking for bargains? If no, then you may want to change your mind. It has long been said that one man's junk is another man's treasure, and for these people, that could not be more true.

When Michigan machinist Jim Sands set out on a bike ride with his children a few years ago it was just an ordinary day. That is until he came across someone in the neighborhood cleaning out the contents of an old house. Jim asked permission to look through the stuff and started poking around. A very large piece of pottery caught his eye. He bought it for $4.00 and returned later with his car to pick it up.

When Jim arrived home, his wife Melissa did some on-line research and found that her husband's junkyard find was indeed a treasure. She determined that the piece was Roseville, a make of pottery that had been highly collectible in the Ohio area during the first half of the twentieth century. The couple later sold the piece on eBay for $4700.00

In 2006, Michael Sparks of Nashville Tenn. Purchased an 1820 copy of the Declaration of Independence from a local Thrift shop for $2.48. The piece has an estimated auction value of between $250,000 and $350,000.

In 1993 Gail and Jay Harley went to a garage sale in Orlando where they purchased a box of old sheet music. They found out later that the yellowed sheets were from the Civil War, and were worth thousands.

In 2005 a Nebraska woman bought an old chair at a garage sale. When she got it home she found $3500.00 stuffed in the cushion.

A Philadelphia man bought a print in an old picture frame for $4.00 and discovered a copy of the Declaration of Independence behind the print. In 1991 the copy was sold at auction for 2.42 million dollars at Sotheby's. This same copy was later auctioned off again. It was purchased for a staggering 8.14 million by television producer Norman Lear.

In 1998 country store owner Sumner Richards found a cigar box full of old photos at his grandmother's house while visiting one day. Because he liked one particular photo of a mining scene so much, she gave him the entire box.

The box sat untouched in his home until 2001, when Richards cleaned up the mining scene photo and put it an a shelf in his store with some other knick-knacks .

Shortly after displaying the photo an antiques dealer came in and told him that it was a daguerrotype (the product of an early form of photography) After receiving several offers for the photo ranging from $ 500-$5000 dollars, he figured that he had better do some research.

After speaking with someone from a prominent auction house the piece was put up for action in 2002, bringing in $42,200.00