After last week's wildly-successful yard sale, a number of you wrote and asked for tips on having a successful yard
sale. Here are just a few things which have worked well for me over the years:
1. Always be collecting stuff. Now before you think I'm advocating a Pack Rat mentality, let me explain: I've found that the easiest way to pull off a successful yard sale is to always be collecting stuff for your next sale. Don't wait until three days before you're planning your sale to start
going through your house. Instead, start a box in your basement or
garage or some place out of the way and when you discover an item you
no longer need or use or like, give it away immediately or stick
it into a Yard Sale Box.
Keeping our home paired down and clutter-free not only saves time and effort (since I'm not having to pick up, put away, and clean things we no longer need or use), it also makes me much more efficient. There's something about working in an organized and decluttered space which just breeds productivity!
Instead of having to walk by an item I don't need, use, or love repeatedly
for months thinking "I'll sell that in our next yard sale", I already have a place to stash it. Plus, having a Yard Sale Box gives me an incentive to constantly be on the lookout for items which
we are no longer using or loving and to free myself from this clutter!
So designate a Yard Sale Box and start filling it up! When one box is full, begin another. And, if you're like me, you'll find that with very little effort, you'll soon have a nice collection of stuff waiting to sell.
A few weeks before we're planning to have our yard sale, I pull out all the yard sale boxes and organize and price these items. And then I go through my entire home from top to bottom–a few rooms per day–and come up with every possible additional item which we no longer need, love, or use on a regular basis and add these to the yard sale boxes as well. By breaking it up into bite-sized pieces like this, I'm able to come up with many items to sell, but it's not such a daunting task.
2. Plan ahead. I learned the hard way with a garage sale I did a few years ago that you can never plan ahead too much. At the last minute, I had
so many loose ends left to tie up and ended up running myself ragged. So, at least a few weeks before you have your sale, start
pulling things out of boxes and organizing them, start pricing things,
and start thinking about how you will set everything up.
This
is especially good to do if you are in a new location or have never
done a yard sale by yourself before. At least a week before the sale, make
sure you have everything priced and organized in tubs and bins and
boxes. A few days before the sale, set up as much stuff in your garage as
you can. Figure out what you will be using for signs, where you will
put them, make sure you have plenty of cash on hand to make chance, figure out how you will market your sale, make sure you have enough help, designate someone to put out the signs early in the morning the day your sale begins, have snacks and drinks on hand for your own sustenance, and purchase a license if your locality requires it.
The
more organized you are, the easier it will be when you actually have
your sale, and the less scrambling around the morning of your sale you'll do. It will make it much easier for your
customers to buy things if you are organized and ready to go when you
open your sale.
3. Pair up with a friend or two or three. One of the best ways
to ensure a successful yard sale is to join ranks
with a friend or two or three! Not only will you have more stuff to sell and
more
variety in what you're selling, but you'll also have lots of fun and fellowship in the
process. Plus, you'll have more help in pulling it off.
4. Pick a good location. Location is one of the biggest keys to
a successful yard sale. Hold your sale somewhere where there sizable
amount of traffic throughout
the day–preferably close to some busy intersections. If your home is
pretty off the beaten path, consider holding your sale at a friend or
relative's home. There's no point in having everything organized and
lots of great stuff to sell if you don't have any traffic!
5. Pick a good time. I don't advise planning a sale in the freezing cold Winter or the blazing hot Summer. Choose a time of the year when the weather will be very pleasant and try to check the weather forecast ahead of time to make sure rain is not expected when you're planning your sale. In addition, find out what days of the week are best for yard sales to run in your area. When we lived in Kansas City, I found people usually only held sales on Friday and Saturday. However, where we live now, Thursdays are a big yard sale day and seem to garner the most traffic.
6. Price
everything. I know it's easy to want to just stick a big sign on a table saying that everything on that table is a quarter, but I promise that it is much easier and much more efficient to go ahead and put price stickers on everything. Pricing everything will not only make things much simpler for you in the long run, but it will
likely increase sales because people will know how much (or little) something
costs!
I invest in the pre-priced stickers for most of my items as this makes things much easier for me when it comes to pricing and it's also very easy for customers to read. I try to have variety in pricing with plenty of $0.25 or less
items. I've found that when people pick up one thing to buy, they are more likely to pick up other things as well, so have lots of $0.25 items and it might help you sell some of your larger-ticketed items, too!
7. Price things to sell. When I
go to a yard sale, I expect to pay yard sale prices. That means that
unless something is brand-new with the tags on, I am not going to pay
more than a few quarters for it. When I am pricing my own items to
sell, I always try
to price things at what I feel would be a good bargain if I were buying
the item at someone else's yard sale. I'd rather price something on the
low end and have someone actually buy my item, then to have 25 people
pick up the item and put it
back down on the table because it is too expensive.
8. Advertise well.
The marketing of your sale is going to be the number-one factor in how well your sale does. So put some time and effort into making a number of quality, clearly-readable signs in conspicuous places which
easily lead to your home. Put as many signs in well-trafficked areas as possible.
Also, consider advertising in your paper or a
free local newspaper. In different areas, advertising in the paper is
very helpful. Other times, it is not necessary if you have good traffic
and good signage. Experiment and see what works best. Above all, have
very presentable and attractive signs–a sloppily-thrown together sign
is not very inviting!
I have also found advertising on Craigslist to be very effective. I usually advertise the day before the sale and then re-post a revised ad each day of the sale. Again, make sure your ad is well-written, clearly-understandable, and inviting.
9. Don't forget the cookies and lemonade!
What better way to teach your children entrepreneurial skills and let
them earn a little money in the process than to have them set up their
own little cookie and lemonade stands at the sale? Or, if it's cold
outside, try selling hot chocolate, coffee, and fresh cinnamon rolls.
One yard sale, we even set up a pancake griddle and sold pancakes hot
off the griddle on Saturday morning.
Those are just a few things which I've found to be a great help in hosting a successful yard sale. What are your best tips for having a great yard sale? I'd love to hear!
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{ 46 comments }
What great timing for this post. I have my first every garage sale planned for the 18th & 19th!! I am super excited and hope it goes really well.
The number one item on your list should be: Check your city website for permit information! My city has a $27.50 permit fee for garage sales and fines people for not having one. A woman was in the local paper protesting her $100 fine, so they do check. I heard it usually gets dropped down to the price of the permit, but that is at the city’s option.
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_12549534?IADID=Search-www.dailybreeze.com-www.dailybreeze.com
Another good tip that sort of goes with having it with a friend…is to host a BLOCK Yard Sale. I started this in my neihborhood 2 years ago and it was such a success…that I now have neighbors asking me if I will be organizing another one. About a month before the yard sale..I make up flyers that set the date and time on the flyer. I hand this out to all of my neighbors (my kids love helping me with this!) The flyer says Annual Morningisde Circle Yard sale…I put the date time on it and ask them to join in by putting their goods out. I take care of putting up all the signs and the paper advertising. When people see in the paper that it is a block yard sale party..you attract droves and droves of people.
last spring over 20 neighbors participated and the traffic was huge! I made nearly $1000. My neighbors all loved it. Four neighbors even phoned me to thank me for taking care of setting this up. One neighbor had a sign in her yard saying that all the profits were going to an abused woman shelter. It was so neat to see such good coming out of this sale..plus I have really gotten to know my neighbors. This was year two for us, but I truly forsee this being an annual thing for my neighborhood!
In terms of advertising, I have found it helpful to put my signs out the afternoon before the sale. For instance for a Sat. sale, I would make sure I had them hung Friday afternoon. Then people coming home from work and thinking about their Sat. morning plans would see them and say to themselves, “I will check out that garage sale.” To keep signs from curling in the dew, being flimsy and blowing away, or worse -getting rained on (had that happen before) I buy a roll of clear contact paper and cover at least the front of the sign with it. It costs a few dollars, but advertising is really the most important thing, so it’s worth it.
And don’t forget to take DOWN your signs when you are done! Also a date on the sign helps. Then you know it’s for that day incase they haven’t taken down their old signs.
I actually have to comment on the pricing. I absolutely agree that it is important to price right, but I price slightly higher than I want to receive for the item. Inevitably, no matter how low you price things, you will get someone who wants to haggle. With the slightly higher prices, you have that room to wiggle and the hagglers often buy more when they see you will haggle because they feel they are getting a great deal. It is true, some people will put something down that they feel is overpriced and will not ask you to lower the price. Keep an eye out at the sale and if someone looks hesitant, tell them you will take $”x” (the price you really want for the item) for it. Again, they feel special and like they are getting a special deal. Towards the end of the sale, if you still have a lot of items to sell, mark everything 1/2 off and the items will start moving.
I understand what you are saying about pricing items, but I never have. I always just wing it the day of the sale. First, it saves me the time it takes to price everything. Second, it allows me to adjust prices easily without having to re-price something. Third, it allows me to give a falsely high price when dealing with people who are known hagglers. We had a community sale every y ear and many people were repeat customers, and repeat hagglers!
That said, I always have a $1 bin, a 50 cent bin, and a free-with-purchase bin. Giving a trinket to a kid is also a good way to get parents to buy something.
Finally, presentation means a lot. Group things together (kitchen items, crafting items, etc) and keep it neat. No one wants to paw through a mess!
I did a similar post last year (or was it the year before), and it’s one of my most popular.
Good luck!
I made a file for the 8160 size labels where each label has 6 prices on it – either 6 “$0.25″, 6 “$0.50″, or 6 “$1″. Then I cut them into strips and keep them in the junk drawer in the kitchen. When I find something I know is going in the yard sale box, I price it before placing it in the box. I made the mistake at our first yard sale to wait until the last minute to price stuff and spent well into the night pricing. Then I was so tired during the sale. Never again! I can’t wait to have another sale this fall!
I have 2 tips for signs:
First, make sure your lettering if big enough and dark enough to read for people who are driving by quickly or sitting in their car at a stop light many feet away. There have been many times where I see a sign but the lettering is so small I can’t read it quick enough to figure out where to go!
Also, it helps if all the signs are on the same colored paper. It makes it much easier for people to follow, especially if they are in an unfamiliar neighborhood or don’t have a map to look up your address.
We are planning to let the kids sell fresh veggies from the garden and home made salsa at our upcoming yard sale. Also, this is sort of a no-brainer, but be sure to smile and say thanks for stopping by even if they don’t buy anything. I hate going to yard sales where the owner sits there with a big frown and is unfriendly.
I cannot believe there are cities that charge $27.50 just to have a garage sale. That significantly cuts into your profits and seems to send a message that the city does not want people to have garage sales. You have to get a permit where I live, but thankfully it’s free.
As for garage sale signs, please make the letters large and bold (what may seem large to you may still be illegible to a driver who is much farther away), and keep the signs simple. The photo at the beginning of this entry is perfect … and it doesn’t even have an address. A few large, well-placed signs with arrows can be more helpful than one small sign that tries to cram everything on (date, time, address, list of items being sold, etc.). I also once heard someone say that if your sign is up, they assume your sale is open. Makes sense to me.
Great tips! We host a sale almost every year and I couldn’t fit all my tips in one article so I’ll be posting a series starting next week. You covered almost everything very succinctly. I think the second most important thing to do (other than advertising well) is to have a well-organized sale where things are neatly displayed.
I keep price stickers near my yard sale box, then the item gets priced before going in the box. One less thing to do later.
Wow almost $30 for a yardsale permit? That’s crazy! Luckily our town lets us have up to 2 per year without having to get a permit. You need to look though because even if you don’t need a permit (or do have to get one) for the yardsale, some places require an extra one if you are going to be selling food.
1. Clothes seem to sell better if you are able to hang them on a ladder, tree, or drying rack. 2. We organize items according to categories on different tables. 3. Collect all those plastic grocery bags and use them for items people purchase. People really seem to appreciate this. 4. We used waist nail aprons to hold our money. This way your profits can’t be stolen and change can be given easily. A fanny pack would probably work well too.
My tips: Park your vehicle(s) in your driveway to block it if you’d rather have people park in the street. Or, park your vehicles along the street, so it looks like you have a crowd. Have you ever noticed that the more cars at a sale, the more people stop, because they’re afraid they’ll miss “a good one”?
I like the veggies & salsa idea too. We sold tomatoes one year at one of ours when we had 80 plants (my hubby is nuts!). I think we sold them for 50 cents a pound, and I just weighed them up on a weight watcher scale. They went like hotcakes!
Regarding clothes, hang them on a pole and don’t crowd them to where it’s a pain to look thru them. Throw anything stained in a “free” box or just use it for rags. People that see a few stained items will assume the rest of the items are the same way, and quit looking.
Smile and greet everyone, whether they buy or not. You never know, they might be the person that comes back later with more cash to buy that big ticket item that you really hope sells!
Good Signs! Keep them simple and remember you are usually in a moving vehicle at a distance when you are making them. Your arrow might look use on the kitchen table when you draw it but not when you put them up.
A few weeks ago we had a yard sale that went very well. My tips: PAINT your signs in black and just use arrows to point the way-put up signs at busy intersections. Sell a beverage. We bought cans of soda and priced them at .75 each. Since it was a hot day they sold better than anything, even those who didn’t buy a yard sale item bought a soda! Advertise on a local website-ours happens to be a TV station with free classified ads. I had several big items for sell that I put on the website and that brought in more of a crowd.
Have fun! Smile and say Hi and thanks!
Crystal, I still can’t figure out what you find to sell around your house besides outgrown children’s clothing. It seems that you hardly ever shop, so how can you come up with new things each year for a sale? Are they things people have given you?
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Money Saving Mom here: I can’t seem to figure it out either because we don’t buy much but I always come up with a lot of stuff to sell! I think it’s because I’m pretty ruthless with clutter.
We do seem to be the recipients of a lot of children’s clothes and often people tell me to just go through the bag and keep what I want and put the rest in my garage sale. So some of the children’s clothes I sold this time were from that. In addition, this year my grandpa and his wife went through their home and got rid of a bunch of stuff and asked if we wanted it to sell in our garage sale. Of course I said “yes”!
This year, I also teamed up with some other people so we had a lot of stuff between all of us.
I make my own price stickers on the computer, using cheap return address labels that I’ve picked up at rummage sales or thirft shops. I print one or more pages of each price, fitting the price about four or five times on each label. I use a paper cutter to slice them into strips.
When there are multiple people involved in the sale, I add a small initial under the price, to help identify who owns the item. It works well for me.
Price things as singular or by lot. For example, “Baby Boy Clothes 0-3 Months- 0.10 ea. or $5.00 for the box”. Folks who regularly shop garage sales every Saturday will not bat an eyelash at picking up a box of clothes for $5 if it means they can go through it later and then have extra time to hit more sales. This also rids you of the lot of clothes more quickly!
Great tips! I keep price stickers near my yard sale box because I think the second most important thing to do is to have a well-organized sale where things are neatly displayed.
This is probably a no-brainer, but from experience, I most definitely recommend pricing things in quarters, such as .25, .50, .75, 1.00. I made the mistake of pricing my items a few years ago such as .45, .70, and ohhhh my gosh…what a hugh mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking!
I had tons of clothes to get rid from my kids (born opposite seasons and different genders) I priced them all at 25 cents each and got rid of them all!
Dh made a shelf in the garage for garage sale stuff and when we decide to sell something it goes on that shelf until the sale (that way there are no kids taking it back to their rooms!)
I am off to garage sale this weekend for some baby items for the one we are expecting the end of Feb (things just wore out after the first two like the bouncy seat and stroller wish they wouldn’t make the catches on them out of plastic!)
Around here adult clothes (unless they are maternity clothes) do not sell at all so we do Goodwill for them. I also always have snacks and drinks on hand to sell esp if it turns out to be hot that day!
I have also had success with selling extra plants that I separated out from my garden. I also do a free bin for kids a good use for those McDonald’s toys!
I think the most important things is signage. There is nothing more frustrating then seeing a sign on a busy corner and then having to circle your way through a neighborhood and there are no more signs and you leave out of frustration. Please put signs up at every corner or turn. It will not be a good sale if people can’t find you! I always make my signs a little funky. This year they were on neon pink with yellow and black polka dot arrows. I had more business this year than any other. I guess they thought if the signs were cool, the stuff I’m sellind had to be too. If you have baby or kids items I always list that on my signs or ads too. People are always looking for those items.
One new thing I did this year was have a Friends and Family event the night before. They got top pick of the great stuff and didn’t haggle with the prices at all. It was a great event that I will always do from now on!
We haven’t had a garage sale yet but as a potential customer I have to agree with items 6 (price everything) and 7 (price to sell). I almost never ask how much sellers want for something because I feel cheap turning them down after that if they’re asking too much. Instead I’ll usually decide I don’t need the item that badly and walk away empty handed. And if I’m not saving at least 50% off of retail I generally won’t buy something used (be that from Craigslist, a garage sale, or a thrift store). It’s just not worth it to me when I could just wait for a good sale and have a return policy, warranty and manuals.
Also I would say that it’s important to set things up so that they’re easy to see. Hang up clothes, stack books so you can see all the titles, spread housewares out on tables, etc. The items are more likely to draw attention if people don’t have to paw through a box to see them, plus your sale will look more impressive from the street. My husband and I always drive by first to decide if it’s worth getting out. If all we see are a few cardboard boxes sitting on the ground we’re likely to keep driving.
Mary,
I agree 100% and your signs sound ideal! Having them at every turn is great and it sounds like you used bright, easy to see colors. Plus mismatched signs make me wonder whether I’m still following the same sale and there would be no question with yours.
Sometimes holding your sale in the “off season” can work great! Several years ago my sister-in-law and I held a sale in her unfinished utility room in November fully expecting to not have a huge amount of traffic. Turns out having a sale when nobody else is brings everyone to you! That was one of the busiest sales we ever had with a fairly steady line of people waiting to pay.
I want to have a moving sale in my apartment complex. I will make sure to follow these tips.
One thing I do, is on garbage days I go around the neighborhood and pick up any furniture and gently used items that would be good at a garage sale. This saves the item from going to the landfill plus I make a few extra dollars. I got this really nice tv armoire that was missing a handle so I bought 2 handles and will probably be able to sell it for at least $30. I also do not do the garage sale in my neighborhood so I don’t run that chance of my neighbor seeing that item and getting upset.
Those are great tips!
As far as the permit, many of our towns in Southwest Missouri are waiving the permit requirements as a sort of ‘stimulus benefit’ to residents.
Make sure that you know the restrictions for your city/town regarding signs. In several cities, you can be fined for having too many signs or for putting them at a major intersections/right of ways.
Don’t forget to save your plastic grocery bags for people to take their treasures home in!
As a retail visual merchandiser before the children were born, I have to say that presentation is everything no matter what you are trying to sell! You could sell rocks off the ground if they were displayed well. At our yard sales, we definitely always hang up all clothes and make sure that anything we are selling looks clean and as nice as possible. And organizing by “department” also keeps customers focused.
And even though it takes more time up front, we always price every item. From my own personal experience, I am a little to shy to approach someone to ask a price and then decide not to get it. So if you don’t have price, you are probably losing at least a few sales!
I love getting rid of stuff to be more clutter free!
I mostly sell the kids old clothes at garage sales. Here are some helpful hints…(1) Put all the same size clothes on one pile and label them well. This makes it easier for people to narrow their search. (2) Clean and press the clothes. I’ve found if they looks nice, it will sell. It might take some time but it will be worth it.
Signs, signs, signs and more signs! I think spring is the best garage sale season- and Wed or Thur is the best day of the week- also holding your sale around the 1st or the 15th when many people get paychecks!
The comments are great. Thanks everyone for taking the time to write and share
My friend wanted to get rid of stuff, so I came and got it, priced it and sold it at my garage sale and we split what I made off it. Easy way for me a stay at home mom to make money and my friend made some too. Use foam core boards at the dollar store for signs. Use red or black paint only and a mininmum of words. Ex: Big Sale (arrow) 730 to 3pm. Use the metal from political signs for a sturdy eyecathing sign. Its dangerouse and sometimes illegal to use power poles. Be the first one open and have it on weekdays, wed. thurs and fri. are best. People have stuff to do on Sat and it is a waste of time for me. Newspaper advertising is critical, it always pays off for me. My neighbors never advertise and their quantity of customers if 1/5 of what mine is. Make your ad longer than most and also give ending times. Who is going to drive to your house if they have to wonder, Gee it’s 2 in the afternoon, is she open or did she close? They will find somewhere else to go. Don’t haggle on the first day, say “it’s a 2 day sale so I don’t bargain on day one”, If they really want it they will pay or be back. This pertains to more high dollar things, not 10 cents off a book. Always play background music, greet everyone and have fun.
I love to go to yard sales! I haven’t had too much luck with my own though. I know when I attend yard sales, it is always on a Saturday. My son likes to take his money with him too so he can spend it on games, toys, etc. Since my son is in school and I work during the week, Saturday is usually best for us.
We like to price items as we are putting them in the “garage sale box” so it saves some time going through it when you are ready for the garage sale.
We also do a $1/grocery bag of clothing especially if we really want to get rid of it.
Dollar Tree or the 99 Cent Only store often have garage sale labels. You can buy them pre-printed or not. I like the pre-printed ones, except I run out of the 25 cent, 50 cent and $1 ones and don’t use the rest. You can also color code: Orange = 25 cents, Green = 50 cents, etc. or orange tags = X Family , Green tags = Y Family.
My family has a yard sale about twice a year. We write each family members name on the clipboard and write down the amount they earn. Its fun to add up the columns at the end of the day. If you are selling shoes have a chair for people to sit on and place the shoes on a plastic tarp (an old shower curtain will do). Having enough tables is key (we borrow from a club I belong to but sometimes a church will loan you folding tables for a small fee.) Make sure your items are clean. Plastic tablecloths are a nice touch on the tables. For jwelry and other small items we use snack size bags to keep them in. To keep the money safer we use waitress aprons instead of a cash box. You can walk the sale and greet people. I always joke with customers and tell them to send their friends over. one more hint for signs try and use the same color poster board. People get lazy and will start to follow the color of the sign . My community is fairly rural and countless customers have told me it was so easy to find your sale but I couldnt find some of them. If you yard sale annually package items back up that you wish to sell again into categories so the next sale is easier (lines, housewares, kids toys, etc.) If you don’t plan to yard sale again when you donate clothing items please keep in mind the season because some smaller thrift shops have limited storage. If you have never done a yard sale go to a few compare prices and your own reactions to the way things are set up (junky, clean, tidy on tables or dig in boxes).
I see a lot of you suggest hanging up clothing that you are trying to sell. My problem is that I have tons of baby clothes that I need to sell and don’t have anything to hang them up with…….any suggestions?
Great article! Love the comments about signs, too. As a big time garage sale shopper, good, readable signs are important (especially to middle-aged eyes!).
Another way to promote your sale is through FREE internet advertising. In addition to craigslist, there are garage sale listing sites; the most popular of these put your sale on a map with others in your area. One of these sites is http://garagesalefinder.com/. It’s the only one of the mapping sites that will let you export the sale data into a file that can then be imported into your GPS device, making a paperless trip possible. If you don’t have a GPS, don’t fear, you can also print out maps with turn-by-turn directions from each sale to the next. The site also features tips on pricing, making signs, and other general information on both how to have a garage sale and how to shop at them.
@Tracy–
I buy a lot of children’s clothing at yard sales (for the purpose of reselling them) so in my opinion, they don’t need to be hung up for me to buy if they’re in good condition and of good quality. Instead of hanging them up, you can just fold them neatly and lay them on a tarp on the ground or on a table. As long as they are displayed separately (and not thrown in a bin you have to dig through), they are visible.
You can always put up a clothesline or something simillar to hand the children’s clothes from. Put it from railing to railing, or something like that