For ease of reading, "sale" is used throughout the text of this booklet to describe a garage sale, yard sale, driveway sale, estate sale, block sale or any other kind of sale an individual or group may choose to produce. Except where specifically indicated, "sale" refers to all forms.

Before planning a sale, it is important to consider why and how the project can be profitable. To do so, you must understand the motivation of your customers, their reasons for shopping at a sale, what they expect to find when they visit one...and what they do not expect.

Customers who visit sales come from all levels of society. They are individuals who are undeniably searching for bargains. They can be poor, without the resources to purchase new items; they may be senior citizens who are surviving on fixed incomes; they might be students on limited budgets but living on their own while attending school; they can be shrewd antique shoppers on the lookout for sellers who are selling what they think is junk, but in reality may be valued antiques or other collectibles; or shoppers can be of the same ilk as the author: They simply enjoy shopping at sales, meeting others and "passing the time of day," as the saying goes.

Above all, no matter the social status of the customers, they are customers and expect—rightly so—to be treated cheerfully and with kindness and respect. Whether it's a young student about to move out on his own to attend college, looking for ways to inexpensively furnish a room or apartment, or an elderly couple in need of essential kitchenware, customers are customers. With rare exception, visitors to sales are bargain shoppers. They're looking for deals and they'll bargain to get one.

Once you understand that you are going into the retail business, if only for one or two days, planning and organizing the sale becomes a business proposition. Understanding that the sale is a business proposition makes the steps to be taken during actual preparation and conduct of the project more easily understood.

First and foremost, recognize that your customers expect to be treated the same as when they shop at the local department store, discount store or major retailer of any kind. Major stores take pride in the attitude of their employees, clerks included. Virtually every customer gets a personal welcome at major retail stores when he or she walks in the door. It is important to make customers feel welcome...especially at your sale.

Aside from enjoying the activity of a sale, ridding one's home of unneeded "stuff" and meeting new people, profit is also to be planned. It is a part of any business arrangement, and it makes the effort all worthwhile. Profit is the net, all that's left over after expenses have been met. It is therefore of the utmost importance to put together and observe a basic budget. In this text, you'll be guided through the budgeting procedure, but for the most part, your own circumstances (such as local advertising costs in the newspaper) will dictate the budget within which you'll have to operate your own sale.