Works for Me: Yard Sale Tips

I’m having a long-overdue yard sale this Saturday, and I found some great tips that I blogged about here. Those are the things that I haven’t done before. But here are some things that I routinely do to make my yard sales successful.

Set Up: I set out everything the night before and cover it with tarps. That means I get to sleep a little later in the AM and have an easy set up process when the sale starts — just move the tarps. The only exception is paper goods, which could get ruined by dew.

Another thing that I do is sort my items by type. I put children’s books in a box separate from adult books. I sort clothing by size & gender and clearly label boxes with what they contain. No one wants to go through an unlabeled box of boy’s clothing when they’re looking for girls’ clothes.

I make sure that I have a supply of plastic bags on hand for those who buy several items. I also keep some newspaper handy for wrapping up breakable items.

Signs: I make sure my signs are colored, and that they’re all the same color. If people know they have to look for a hot pink sign, all they really need to do is follow the arrow. I also put the date on there but try to keep it as minimalistic as possible (Yard Sale, 7/22, ### My Street with an arrow). There’s no need to list what you’re selling or what time you start. I make the arrow and the words “Yard Sale” as big as possible.

Pricing: With very few exceptions, I price everything the same. All books are 25 cents, for example. It is too hard on me (and my customers) to keep track ofwhich books are 25 cents, which books are 50 cents and which ones are a dollar.

I sell my stuff dirt cheap. If it has so much of an emotional attachment that I can’t bear to part with it for 25 or 50 cents, I keep it. My main goal in having a yard sale is to GET RID OF STUFF. Making money doing it is just a pleasant byproduct. And with super cheap prices, it’s nice to be able to look at someone like they’re insane for offering you less than you’re asking. 🙂

Clean Up: When the yard sale is over, I take anything that didn’t sell to the Salvation Army. Since I’ve already gotten it out of the house, there’s no sense in bringing it back in, and sending it to the Salvation Army provides me with a tax write off besides.