How I Made $1,000 in a Weekend (And It’s Even Easier in 2026)

We had sufficient to cowl nearly every thing, however we have been $600 quick on the mortgage cost.

We needed to determine one thing out.

So my girlfriend and I threw a storage sale.

We had completely no expertise and solely two days to make it work. However by Sunday night, we walked away with precisely $985.65 in chilly, laborious money. (Want it even sooner? Right here’s methods to make $1,000 in 24 hours.)

We didn’t want any fancy apps or particular expertise to do it.

All it took was the stuff we already had sitting round the home.

(And in 2026, it’s really simpler to tug off than it was again in 2008.)

Why a Storage Sale Is the Quickest Method to Make $1,000 in a Weekend

Whenever you’re quick on money and the clock is ticking, most “generate income quick” concepts crumble rapidly.

Freelancing takes time to search out shoppers.

Promoting on eBay means ready for bids and delivery stuff out.

Gig apps like DoorDash can take per week or extra to pay you.

A storage sale (particularly while you mix it with Fb Market) is totally different.

Right here’s why it really works so nicely while you want cash in a rush:

• There’s zero startup value: You’re promoting belongings you already personal. No stock to purchase, no charges to pay upfront, nothing to enroll in.
• You receives a commission on the spot: No ready for PayPal to clear or a direct deposit to land.
• You don’t want any particular expertise: Should you can put a worth sticker on a lamp, you are able to do this.
• The barrier to entry is mainly zero: Anybody with a driveway, a yard, or perhaps a parking spot can run a sale. And in case you don’t have any of these, Fb Market and OfferUp allow you to promote completely out of your cellphone.

That’s precisely why this was our go-to after we have been $600 quick on the mortgage.

We wanted actual cash quick, not a facet hustle that may repay in three months.

Should you need money right now and might’t wait weeks for one thing to repay, that is the strategy that really delivers.

And one of the best half?

Most individuals are already sitting on every thing they should make it work.

They simply haven’t gone via their stuff but.

What We Really Bought (And What Shocked Us)

Once I went down to alter the AC filter that day, I wasn’t anticipating a enterprise concept.

However standing in that basement, I out of the blue noticed it otherwise.

It wasn’t a basement stuffed with junk.

It was a basement full of money.

Through the years I’d been working as a ground installer, I’d picked up quite a lot of furnishings from home flippers.

They’d purchase a property, discover it stuffed with previous stuff, and somewhat than pay somebody to haul it away, they’d let me take no matter I needed without cost.

I’d deliver it dwelling, intending to scrub it up and promote it on Craigslist…

However I by no means really acquired round to it.

My girlfriend had an analogous state of affairs. She’d been working her personal eBay retailer, promoting wholesale sneakers she’d purchased in bulk.

However rising charges had killed her revenue margins, and she or he’d shut the entire thing down, selling on eBay wasn’t worth it anymore.

That left her with a giant pile of unsold shoe stock sitting within the basement accumulating mud.

Between the 2 of us, we had a LOT to work with.

The furnishings moved quick. Strong wooden items particularly. Individuals confirmed up early particularly searching for furnishings, and people have been our largest particular person gross sales of the weekend.

The sneakers bought nicely too, principally in bundles. As an alternative of pricing them individually, we grouped them by dimension and let consumers seize a bag for a flat worth.

It moved stock quick and felt like a deal to the customer.

Truthfully, the factor that shocked us most was how rapidly all of it added up.

Smaller gadgets we nearly didn’t hassle placing out, issues like previous kitchenware, image frames, and random dwelling decor, ended up producing a gentle stream of small gross sales that crammed within the gaps between the massive ticket gadgets.

Nothing sat there lengthy.

Whenever you worth issues to promote somewhat than to maximise each greenback, stuff strikes.

And by Sunday night, we had $985.65 in a shoebox on the kitchen counter.

The way to Discover $1,000 Price of Stuff in Your Personal House

Right here’s what I’ve discovered after working a number of storage gross sales since that first one in 2008.

Virtually everyone has extra sellable stuff than they assume they do.

The issue isn’t that you just don’t have sufficient.

The issue is that you just cease seeing it.

When one thing has been sitting in the identical nook of your basement for 2 years, your mind simply… stops registering it as something.

So let’s repair that.

Use this room-by-room audit guidelines to determine high-value gadgets in your house that may be rapidly transformed into money.

Room or Space	What to Look For (The “Money” in Your Muddle)
Basement & Storage	Instruments, previous furnishings, bikes, energy tools, sporting gear, and unopened shifting packing containers.
Bedrooms & Closets	Garments (not worn in a 12 months), sneakers, baggage, books, and children’ toys/video games they’ve outgrown.
Kitchen	Unused home equipment, additional dishes, duplicate utensils, and people “new-in-box” presents you by no means returned.
Dwelling Room	TV models, lamps, DVDs/CDs, image frames, decor, and any furnishings you’ve been wanting to switch.
House Workplace	Previous computer systems, displays, printers, cables, cameras, and workplace chairs or desks.

What Sells Finest and For How A lot

Not every thing sells equally.

After years of doing this, right here’s what I’ve discovered strikes quickest and makes essentially the most cash.

Furnishings

Furnishings is your largest ticket.

In response to information from storage sale analysis, furniture drives roughly 25% of total garage sale earnings, making it the one highest worth class you’ll be able to have at your sale.

A stable wooden dresser can simply go for $40 to $100.

A sofa in first rate form? $50 to $150.

Individuals present as much as storage gross sales particularly trying to find furnishings, particularly younger individuals furnishing their first condominium.

Instruments

Instruments promote quick to the proper purchaser.

Hand instruments, energy instruments, garden tools.

Males particularly will cease at a sale the second they spot instruments laid out on a desk.

Children’ stuff

Children’ stuff is a goldmine. Garments, toys, strollers, automobile seats, video games.

Mother and father of younger children are at all times searching for offers and so they purchase in quantity.

Electronics

Devices transfer nicely in the event that they’re not too previous and so they really work.

Check every thing earlier than the sale and be upfront about situation.

Patrons admire honesty and it prevents disputes.

Garments and sneakers

For some motive garments and sneakers at all times promote finest in bundles.

Particular person pricing on clothes slows every thing down.

A bag of girls’s dimension 8 sneakers for $15 strikes sooner than 5 pairs priced at $5 every.

Do a trustworthy stroll via your house this weekend. I’d be prepared to guess you discover far more than you count on.

Ought to You Do a Storage Sale, Fb Market, or Each?

Again in 2008, your solely actual choices have been Craigslist and a handwritten signal on a phone pole.

Issues have modified quite a bit since then.

In the present day you’ve acquired Fb Market, OfferUp, Nextdoor, and a dozen different platforms that put your gadgets in entrance of native consumers immediately. So the query lots of people ask is: why even hassle with a storage sale in any respect?

Right here’s my trustworthy take after doing each.

Why a Hybrid Method Beats Both One Alone

Promoting purely on-line is nice for high-ticket gadgets. You possibly can attain extra consumers, negotiate higher costs, and transfer massive furnishings with out lugging it to a driveway at 7am.

However on-line promoting has actual limitations too. Each itemizing takes time to jot down. Patrons message you, then ghost you. You schedule a pickup and no one exhibits. It will probably drag on for weeks.

A storage sale solves all of that. You arrange as soon as, consumers come to you, and every thing sells in a single weekend. The draw back is that foot visitors alone received’t at all times get you to $1,000, particularly in case your neighborhood isn’t closely trafficked.

That’s why combining each is the neatest transfer in 2026.

Use on-line platforms to pre-sell your massive ticket gadgets earlier than the sale weekend. Then use the storage sale itself to maneuver every thing else quick.

It’s one of the best of each worlds. Greater costs on the stuff that deserves it, and quick money on every thing else.

The way to Pre-Promote Huge Gadgets On-line Earlier than the Storage Sale Weekend

That is the half most individuals skip.

Don’t skip it.

About 48 hours earlier than your sale, record your largest gadgets on Fb Market and OfferUp.

Furnishings, home equipment, electronics, something over $30.

Take first rate photographs in pure mild and write a easy, trustworthy description.

Set pickup on the market weekend and inform consumers they will come throughout your storage sale hours.

This does two issues.

1. It locks in your largest gross sales earlier than the weekend even begins.
2. And it brings additional foot visitors to your sale, because the purchaser who comes to choose up the dresser will nearly at all times browse every thing else whereas they’re there.

Once we did our first sale, we had no Fb Market.

It didn’t exist but.

Wanting again, there was simply one other $200 to $300 sitting in that basement that may have bought on-line at higher costs than what we acquired on the storage sale.

Don’t go away that cash on the desk.

Yet another factor: ensure you have Venmo, Money App, and Zelle arrange earlier than the sale. Put a small signal in your desk along with your QR codes.

It takes 5 minutes to arrange and it’ll prevent from dropping gross sales all weekend.

The way to Value All the pieces to Promote Quick (Not Sit There)

Pricing is the place most first-time storage sellers mess up.

They worth issues primarily based on what they paid for them, or what they assume one thing is “price.” After which they marvel why half their stuff remains to be sitting on the desk at 3pm on Sunday.

Right here’s the mindset shift that modified every thing for us.

You’re not attempting to get full worth. You’re attempting to transform stuff into money as quick as doable. These are two very totally different objectives.

The Psychology of Storage Sale Pricing

Storage sale customers are discount hunters.

They present up anticipating offers, and so they’ll stroll proper previous something that feels overpriced with out saying a phrase.

The candy spot is pricing issues low sufficient that purchasing seems like an apparent resolution, however not so low that you just go away a ton of cash on the desk.

A superb rule of thumb: most storage sale gadgets promote for 7 to fifteen% of their unique retail worth.

So one thing that value $40 new needs to be priced round $3 to $6.

Greater finish or like-new gadgets can go as much as 25 to 35% of retail.

Storage Sale Pricing Strategies

Should you’re undecided, right here’s a fast reference for frequent gadgets:

Merchandise	Typical Storage Sale Value
Grownup clothes	$1 to $3 per piece
Footwear	$2 to $10 per pair
Children’ garments	$0.50 to $2 per piece
Books	$0.25 to $1
DVDs / CDs	$0.50 to $2
Small home equipment	$5 to $20
Electronics	$10 to $50
Instruments	$5 to $30
Furnishings	$20 to $150
Children’ toys	$1 to $5

For a deeper breakdown by class, try my full garage sale pricing guide.

The $5 Desk Trick and Bundle Offers

Top-of-the-line issues we did at our first sale was create a devoted “every thing for $1” field proper on the entrance.

It feels like small cash. However that field attracts individuals in off the road who might need simply pushed previous.

As soon as they’re in, they browse.

And browsers purchase, child!

The identical precept works with a $5 desk for barely higher gadgets.

Clear signage, simple pricing, no negotiating wanted.

Patrons like it as a result of there’s no awkward haggling. You like it as a result of stuff strikes quick.

Bundle offers work particularly nicely for clothes and children’ gadgets.

As an alternative of pricing each single piece individually, attempt “fill a bag for $10” or “3 children’ shirts for $5.”

Busy mother and father particularly will seize a bundle with out considering twice, and also you clear stock in massive chunks as an alternative of 1 merchandise at a time.

By Sunday afternoon, drop your costs throughout the board.

Something you haven’t bought by 2pm needs to be half off.

Your purpose at that time isn’t to maximise worth. It’s to not load all of it again into the home.

Belief me on that one, lol!

The way to Set Up Your Storage Sale to Make $1,000 (Not $300)

Making $1,000 isn’t nearly what you promote. It’s about the way you present it off.

Right here’s methods to arrange your sale like a professional.

Setup: Make Your Driveway Look Like a Retailer

The most important mistake individuals make is treating their setup like an afterthought. In case your driveway appears to be like like a pile of junk, individuals will drive proper previous you.

• Use a “Hook”: Put your largest, most eye-catching gadgets proper on the fringe of the driveway. Bikes, furnishings, instruments. That’s what will get individuals to cease.
• Group Your Gear: Hold kitchen stuff with kitchen stuff and instruments with instruments. It makes it simpler for individuals to browse and purchase extra.
• Hold it Clear: No one needs to dig via soiled packing containers. Get every thing up on tables the place individuals can see it clearly.

Indicators and Timing: Getting Individuals By the Gate

You possibly can have one of the best stuff on the earth, however it received’t matter if no one is aware of you’re open.

• Begin Early: The intense customers are out by 7:00 AM. Should you aren’t prepared by then, you’re leaving cash on the desk.
• Huge, Daring Indicators: Use vivid poster board and a thick black marker. If a driver can’t learn your signal at 35 mph, it’s ineffective.
• The Intersection Rule: Put an indication at each main flip resulting in your home. The extra indicators you’ve gotten out, the extra foot visitors you’ll get.

The way to Promote Your Storage Sale On-line to Get Extra Patrons

Don’t simply depend on foot visitors.

You possibly can really double your gross sales by posting on-line the evening earlier than.

• Fb and Nextdoor: Publish a fast photograph of your finest gadgets on Facebook Marketplace and Nextdoor the night earlier than your sale. A superb photograph of a chunk of furnishings or a instrument set can deliver critical consumers straight to your driveway Saturday morning.
• The Money App Benefit: Make a small signal along with your Venmo or Money App QR code. In response to a examine by the Pew Research Center, extra People are going cashless yearly, and also you don’t wish to lose a $50 sale as a result of somebody left their pockets at dwelling.

In order for you individuals to cease scrolling and truly click on your itemizing, learn this information on writing a garage sale ad that actually gets clicks.

The place to Donate Unsold Storage Sale Gadgets

I’ve one rule I stick to each single time.

Nothing goes again in the home.

The purpose of the weekend is to stroll away with a clear home AND money in your pocket. Don’t accept solely a kind of.

Schedule a Pickup in Advance: Name a donation service just like the Salvation Army, MERS Goodwill, or St. Vincent de Paul earlier than the weekend and schedule a Monday morning pickup. That means you’re not tempted to pull stuff again inside “only for now,” which is strictly how your basement fills again up once more.

The Area of interest On-line Technique: If one thing didn’t promote however nonetheless has actual worth, record it on Fb Market or OfferUp that Sunday night. Gadgets that have been too particular for a storage sale crowd usually discover the proper purchaser on-line quick.

The Professional Transfer: Take contemporary photographs with good lighting and set a agency, truthful worth. This helps these ultimate gadgets promote rapidly whereas the momentum out of your weekend remains to be going.

I’ve a full put up on what to do with garage sale leftovers, together with one of the best donation providers that supply free pickup.

Practical Earnings: Can You Really Hit $1,000?

Let’s be straight with one another right here.

Not each storage sale hits $1,000.

Most don’t, really.

The average garage sale earns between $500 and $700 over a weekend.

That’s nonetheless actual cash for 2 days of labor, however it’s not $1,000.

So what separates the $300 gross sales from the $1,000 ones?

In my expertise, it comes right down to 4 issues.

The 4 Components That Decide How A lot You Make

1. Quantity of stuff: That is the largest one. We made almost $1,000 in 2008 as a result of we had a basement full of furnishings, wholesale sneakers, and years of amassed gadgets. Somebody promoting a few packing containers of previous garments goes to land quite a bit nearer to $100 than $1,000. The extra you’ve gotten, the extra you make.

2. High quality of things: One stable wooden dresser at $75 does extra to your complete than 75 particular person $1 gadgets. Excessive-ticket gadgets like furnishings, instruments, and dealing electronics are what push you from $400 to $1,000.

3. How nicely you promote: A sale with no on-line itemizing and two handwritten indicators will get a fraction of the visitors of 1 that’s posted on Fb Market, Nextdoor, and Craigslist the evening earlier than. 78% of garage sale buyers now use digital platforms to find sales earlier than they ever go away the home.

4. Your pricing technique: Value to promote, to not maintain. The purpose is shifting stock quick, not squeezing each greenback out of each merchandise.

Trustworthy Earnings Breakdown by State of affairs

Your State of affairs	Practical Earnings
Small sale, principally garments and knick-knacks	$100 to $300
Medium sale, combine of garments, small gadgets, a couple of furnishings items	$300 to $600
Massive sale, furnishings, instruments, electronics, plenty of stock	$600 to $1,000+
Massive sale + pre-selling massive gadgets on Fb Market	$1,000 to $1,500+

We fell into that final class in 2008, which is how we acquired to $985.65. We had furnishings, sneakers in bulk, and years of amassed stuff that had by no means been bought.

Should you don’t have quite a lot of high-value gadgets, that’s okay. You possibly can nonetheless have an ideal sale. Simply go in with practical expectations, worth aggressively, and use the hybrid strategy of mixing your storage sale with on-line listings to squeeze each greenback out of what you do have.

And in case you’re working this sale since you genuinely want the cash quick, like we did in 2008, let that urgency give you the results you want. Value issues to maneuver. Don’t get sentimental. Money in hand beats “nearly bought” each time.

Ceaselessly Requested Questions

Your Step-by-Step $1,000 Weekend Motion Plan

All the pieces above is nice in idea. However right here’s precisely what to do and when to do it.

Observe this plan beginning the Monday earlier than your sale weekend.

Day	Your Mission	Key Actions
Mon	House Audit	Kind unused gadgets into three piles: Promote, Record On-line (gadgets >$30), and Donate.
Tue	Value	Value every thing now to keep away from Saturday stress. {Photograph} “Record On-line” gadgets in pure mild.
Wed	Record On-line	Publish massive gadgets (furnishings/instruments) on Fb and OfferUp. Set pickup on the market weekend.
Thu	Promote	Publish to Nextdoor and native FB teams. Make 6-8 daring indicators for main intersections.
Fri	Set Up	Organize “retailer” tonight. Prep $100 in change and your Venmo/Money App QR codes.
Sat	Promote	Open at 7 AM sharp. Drop costs 25% at midday and 50% at 2 PM. Give attention to quantity.
Solar	End	Open at 8 AM. Consolidate tables to maintain them wanting full. Field donations by night.

The Golden Rule: Nothing goes again in the home. You began this to generate income and get free. End it that means.

You Can Make $1,000 in a Weekend

I began that first storage sale as a result of we had no different alternative.

We have been $600 quick on the mortgage with no backup plan and no time to determine one thing else out.

So we dragged every thing out of the basement, put worth stickers on it, and hoped for one of the best.

By Sunday night, we had $985.65 in money on the kitchen counter.

That weekend taught me one thing I’ve by no means forgotten.

Most individuals are sitting on extra money than they understand. It’s simply buried in closets and basements and garages, ready to be transformed into money.

The strategy hasn’t modified.

What’s modified is that in 2026, you’ve gotten instruments we didn’t have in 2008.

Fb Market, OfferUp, Nextdoor, digital funds.

Used the proper means, these instruments can push a very good storage sale into four-figure territory with out a lot additional effort.

So in case you’re in a good spot proper now, otherwise you simply wish to clear the litter and pocket some actual cash this weekend, you’ve gotten every thing you have to make it occur.

Go do the house audit. Pull every thing out. Value it to promote. And let me know within the feedback how a lot you make.

I’d love to listen to your quantity.