Garage sale safety

Having a garage sale can be a great experience for everyone involved. To help ensure it is, prioritizing your and others' safety during the planning process is essential. Before your next garage sale, consider the following safety tips.

General garage sale safety tips

Create a checklist of the following yard sale safety tips to help ensure everyone involved has a good time.

Recruit helpers. While you may be able to run a garage sale alone, the more people you have helping you, the better. At a minimum, try to have at least one other person managing the cash box while you help customers.

Map your displays. Plan your garage sale layout with safety in mind. Keep valuables closer to the cash box. Place heavy, hard-to-move items on stable, flat surfaces near the perimeter.

Bring a well-stocked cooler. To help avoid leaving your yard sale unattended, pack a cooler with more than enough water, drinks and food for the day.

Lock all doors. Prevent customers from wandering into your home by locking your doors. Secure all entry points into your house, cars and cash box for optimal safety. Ensure all parties involved are on the same page.

Minimize distractions. While your pets may be well-behaved, they are also a liability. To avoid issues, ensure they stay inside during your sale. Keeping them indoors may also help protect your home while you're outside.

Scan the area regularly. Make a habit of scanning the area while you help customers. Don't just focus on your cash box and valuables; look for customers roaming or lurking around your yard and home's entry points.

Mitigate home-entry requests. If your garage sale includes clothing, customers might ask to try items on. However, letting people into your home could put your safety at risk. It's also a liability. Consider bringing a mirror outside for people to try items on over their clothes. It's also helpful to note the location of local public restrooms to manage bathroom requests.

Safely managing garage sale transactions

Money management is an important part of garage sale safety. The following tips may help secure your hard-earned cash.

Buy a money belt. Instead of getting a garage sale cash box, consider using a small fanny pack. You can easily place it around your waist and transfer it to a helper when needed. However, devising a fanny-pack pass-off plan is important to ensure you always know where it is.

Use caution if accepting checks. Accepting checks at your garage sale can be very risky. If you accept them, write the customer's driver's license number and expiration date on the check.

It would also be helpful to search your banking app for a mobile check deposit feature. The feature typically lets you deposit the money instantly in front of the customer. However, hold the physical check for at least 30 days before voiding it.

Go digital. Consider using popular apps like Venmo to accept instant digital payments. However, before giving your username to customers, set your transaction history to private to avoid security issues.

Get personal umbrella liability coverage

Accidents happen, even after minimizing risks. For example, you may be liable for costly damages if a visitor trips and falls in your yard.

The final garage sale safety tip is to contact your American Family Insurance agent for a personal umbrella coverage review before your garage sale.

This article is for informational purposes only and includes information widely available through different sources. This article does not afford, offer, or guarantee any coverage.

*Customers who bundle home and auto insurance policies may save up to 23% on both policies together (as of December 2023). Discounts may vary by state, property, policy form and company underwriting the home and/or auto policy. Discounts may not apply to all coverages on a home or auto policy.