Now that everything is posted on your lawn or driveway, you are ready for business. All of the stuff you found in your home that you don't want is sitting on display. There are even some people who have stopped to see the merchandise that's for sale. However, this is where the "real" selling begins...

The ads you place, the bulletin board announcement you post, and the signs you put up will bring many people to your garage sale location. A lot of people will drive by slowly and just look, but most will stop to browse around. But you still have to contend with the huge number of people who just drive by without stopping. So, let's talk about the "inside secrets" of drawing people into your sale, and the merchandising gimmicks that will result in the maximum number of sales for you.

You must call attention to your sale. Don't be shy, bashful or self-conscious about letting everybody for miles around know that you are having a garage sale. You have to give your sale some flair. Put some posts up across the front of your property and run some twisted crepe paper between them - or better than crepe paper, run brightly colored ribbons. Invest in some colorful pennants and fly them form temporary flagpoles. And don't forget putting up colorful balloons!

Make your garage sale a fund kind of event, with clusters of balloons anchored to your display tables and racks. Be sure to "float" them well above the heads of your customers as they are browsing through your merchandise displays. Cover your display tables with colorful cloths. Don't hesitate to use bright colors and busy patterns. Regardless of what you sell, effective display (packaging the event) is still absolutely essential to your success.

The secret to outstanding garage sale profits is in having the widest or largest selection of merchandise. Part of the process is taking great care in displaying and labeling your merchandise. You cannot simply dump items haphazardly on a table, sit down, and expect to realize great profits. The people doing the most business and holding the most sales are the one with interesting displays, action and color.

Have as wide a selection of colors as possible in your clothing racks, and mix them for "rainbow" effect. Make sure that your jewelry items shine and sparkle. Arrange them in and on jewelry boxes, jewelry ladders and other items sold for the purpose of showing off jewelry while keeping it neatly organized.

Think about it, and then study the methods of display used by the "rack jobbers" in the stores in your area. These are wire racks that usually hold card packages items. Such a rack or kind of display would lend itself beautifully for anchoring a cluster of balloons. Keep these things in mind, and build your individual displays as part of the whole. Make it pleasing to the eye as well as convenient for your customer to browse through and select the items that appeal to them or catch their fancy.

At many garage sales, some of the merchandise (particularly the clothing) is dirty. Notice this when you visit other people's garage sales, and then take it upon yourself to make sure that every item - positively everything you show - is clean and sparkling bright. A bar of soap, a bucket of water, and a few old rags will do wonders for shop tools, garden equipment and bicycles. The same goes for furniture polish on old furniture, and a run through the washing machine for all washable clothing.

It is advisable to determine a price for each item before you set it out for display. Then mark that price tag, and attach a price tag to each item. Your prices should also always be rounded off to more or less even numbers such as: 25¢, 50¢, $1, $1.50, $2 and so on. In other words, don't ask for 35¢, 95¢, or $1.98, or any of that sort of pricing.

Almost needless to say, you should always mark particular item for $1, set a price of $2 or more on it. It's also a good idea to mark up your asking price from the bottom-line price you are willing to accept. Basically, the price marked on the price tag at most garage sales is taken as the starting price from which the buyer and seller negotiate. Most garage sale promoters price their cheaper items at the bottom line price they will accept, and don't deviate from those $2 and over - they mark up their asking prices by 20 to 40 percent and use that margin for negotiating with the customer.

If you are a little bit shy relative to personal selling, here are a few "inside" secrets that will give you an edge: Always radiate an attitude of friendless, regardless of the circumstances or your first impression of the potential buyer. Always smile and say hello in a voice loud enough to be heard. Speak to everyone stopping or dropping by your sale location. Be helpful, but allow the people to browse on their own until they specifically ask you for help. When you are "keeping an eye on your merchandise," be as unobtrusive as possible; no one likes to feel he is being watched too closely. Whenever a customer appears to have made a selection and asks you what you'll take for it, or what kind of a deal you will make for it, be ready to enter into "friendly negotiations."

Before you open, of course, you will have done your homework and know the value of each item of merchandise you have for sale. Don't ever take a customer's "claimed" value of an item. By the same token, don't listen to a seller, when you're buying items for your sale, when he claims that he's offering you an antique or priceless treasure. Sometimes (rarely enough) you'll be able to pick up fantastic treasures for virtually nothing; so by knowing your merchandise, you'll not let "the flag that Betsy Ross made" slip through your fingers for a song. Be sure to have all possibly really valuable items appraised by authentic dealers. These people are listed in the yellow pages of your telephone directory.

Some of the "extras" that contribute to the success of a garage sale include: Plenty of change, because without proper change, you'll lose a great many sales. A tape measure, because you'll find people often want to know the exact dimensions of something (especially furniture) in order to fit it into a certain space they have in mind. Long extension cord and electrical outlet, because your customers will want to "plug in" and try out the mixers, vacuum cleaners, hand tools, or other electrical appliances.

Back for a moment to drawing in those "cruisers" who aren't quite sure they want to park their cars and come browse: Look for some kind of interesting or unusual item to call attention to your sale. Some of the displays we have seen along these lines include a horse-drawn surrey, a restored Model T, or an old farm plow. Anything of an unusual or interesting nature will do the trick for you. One couple we know put up a display using a mannequin dressed in an old-time farm bonnet, long dress and apron. This display depicted a farmwoman of old, washing clothes with a scrub board and two steel washtubs. It's now hard to believe, this display really drew the crowds, and crowds always mean sales!

Go wherever your imagination takes you; you have to be different and distinctive. You'll get lost in the hundreds of garage sales going on all around you if your sales look like the next half dozen. If you'll take the time to employ a bit of imagination, and set your sales up with the kind of flair we have been talking about, you will not only draw the crowds; you'll be the one reaping the most profits.

As you think of beginning this garage sale business, remember this: It's almost a compulsion with some women to go shopping - to search for interesting, and sometimes rare and valuable items. This fact alone will keep you as busy as you ever want to be staging and promoting garage sales. The market is so vast, and the appetite so varied, that anything from a brass bedstead to a used diary of someone's long-forgotten grandmother will sell, and sell fast, at garage sales. Put it all together, use a little imagination, and you'll succeed in a very interesting, challenging endeavor!