How Can Teachers Make Extra Money During The Summer?!

I was faced with this problem a couple of months ago when I realized I needed some income this summer.  What do I do?!  Who is hiring?!  Are they going to pay me enough to make it through the summer and be worth my time?

Applying to various temp and summer jobs became disheartening because most college students had filled them already OR they weren’t just paying enough because the job expects college level summer pay.

Then I realized I could make my own business by doing some summer cleaning, pile all the stuff I don’t use and can get rid of, and sell it at one or multiple yard sales!  When I did that I was amazed at how much stuff I had I could sell, and mentally calculated close to $1,000 dollars of value!  This weekend I am going to take this stuff and do a multi-family yard sale in South Miami, Florida with my friends and re-claim some stationary funds that have been sitting around in my house.
**EMAIL me before June 18th, 2011 to find out where my yard sale will be and I’ll give you a special deal when you pass by =).**

Now the question is, how do I continue making money for the next couple of weeks because what I made at the yard sale was not close to enough to hold me over the rest of the summer?
ANSWER:  Ask friends, family, and even neighbors if they have stuff they would like to sell.  Tell them how much you made at your yard sale and you are willing to help them out sell their stuff for a small fee [usually called consignment... equal to about %30].  It might take you several days to spread the word and get their stuff together, but once you do this a couple of times or ALL at once at a BIG yard sale; you can find yourself making quite a nice sum of cash!

Here are some handy tips in setting up this enterprise…

1. Advertise your yard sale on a place such as Craig’sList or in the classified section of your local paper.
2. Make some large, colorful, easy to read yard sale signs with arrows giving directions.  Put these signs on or close to the major intersections around where you are going to have the sale to attract more people.
3. Serve some refreshments to your shoppers.  This is a nice gesture and it may keep them looking or talking long enough to make the sale.
4. Price your items fairly.  Check ebay, Google shopping, Amazon, etc. to see what price your items are fetching currently.  Don’t expect to get those same prices, as your shoppers are looking for a deal.
5. Be ready to negotiate (for me this is most of the fun!).  But make sure not to be offended by the shopper’s offer.  Expect them to offer low and be flexible with your price.  Many times, money in the hand is worth more than the item still sitting there at the end of the day for you to haul back to that dusty corner in your house.  On the other hand, this is business… don’t undercut yourself by negotiating so low you get pennies on the dollar, but your customer is happy.  We are not here to make friends… if you make friends and network then GREAT!  Remember this is your money to make it through summer.
6. Lastly, the week before the yard sale start collecting plastic/paper bags, newspaper for wrapping fragile items, and maybe even some bubble wrap.  When yard sale customers come to buy (especially many items) they would like to have something to carry away their finds.

I sure hope this helps you enjoy you this long, hot summer alot more!

Be sure to check out TeachPower and  TeachPower ebay, where I have taken this a step further and mostly sell items that come from other teachers.

Also read my other blog post titled Your Guide to Effective Garage Sales to get more tips that might help.