Two High School Seniors Are Running Garage Sales Business
Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 1:00 AM | 1 Comment
When students are in high school, either junior or senior, they mostly work as baby-sitters or mow lawns or work in fast-food joints over the weekend or part-time in the evening. But instead of the usual jobs, two high school seniors are running a business where they arrange and organize garage sales throughout Houston, Texas for a lump sum money of $200 plus 30% of the house take.
They call their business Grand Slam Garage Sales (GSGS). They have increased the number of sales they handle from 50 a year to more than 200 a year since the business was started three years ago. And that’s absolutely fantastic.
Grand Slam Garage Sales
Kegan Blumenthal, now 22, says that while most garage sales net about $850, some have raised as much as $2,200.
He and his business partner store their supplies in a garage.
The nice thing about these guys is that whatever they can’t sell and are left-over from the sales, they give them to the local Goodwill stores.
According to Blumenthal, one of the unusual aspects to his company is that sale workers are trained in how to negotiate to receive better prices.
Strategy for business
“We never put prices on anything beforehand,” Blumenthal said. “That’s one of the services we offer. We’ll individually negotiate on items and usually get a better price for them that way.”
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The company doesn’t advertise, except on Internet sites such as Craigslist. However, in addition to local media, the company has been featured on Dr. Phil with Phil McGraw and was featured in Entrepreneur magazine’s Smart Ideas Round-Up in 2008.
Search Engine Optimization – SEO
“It’s all about optimizing Web search engines so that our name comes in high when people look for garage sales,” Blumenthal said. “The computer is an important tool for us.”
Help from the economy
Fortunately for GSGS, a flagging economy has boosted their business.
In a Nutshell
Among some folks, the entrepreneurship spirit is alive and prospering. GSGS employs between 20 and 25 part-time workers – also high school students – and is looking to franchise as its youthful leaders head for college.
One Response to “Two High School Seniors Are Running Garage Sales Business”
By Kegan Blumenthal on May 19, 2013, 11:42 pm | Reply
How did you acquire this information?