"Catchy" newspaper adds for Garage Sale

[twinscandc]

Was does your garage sale newspaper add usually say? I've been toying with the idea of saying:

"Mom of spoiled kids clean out their closets"

I know you usually try to say as much in the add in the least amount of words. What type of adds catch your attention?

 

[jacksonsmom]

I love it!!!
I think it is very catchy. I would also list some big items, Little Tikes, Step 2, Fisher Price stuff sells like hot cakes here!
We just had a sale over the weekend & I made sure to put a few of my bigger toys in there, like Little Tikes Toolbench (this went RIGHT when we opened), Step 2 kitchen, Step 2 wagon (again a lady came just for that item because of the ad).

But I do love that catchy title, now just add some of the items & I think you will be ready to go.

We did awesome at our garage sale. We made $1033! By the time we closed we had a total of 12 items that did not sell, just 12 little items!

 

[pjlla]

When I thought we were going to be moving out of state, I had planned our yard sale ad in my head...."Mr. and Mrs. Packrat clean out after 10 years! We move, you don't lose!!" Or something like that! But I like yours!.......P

 

[pediatric-rnp]

The ads can get pricey, so I try to keep my words limited, but I do include my target items, and I always write that items are clean, intact and priced to sell! I always also include that early birds are welcome - we have a lot of yard sales in our town, and most start at 8 AM - you want them to be at yours first, before they spend their $$ elsewhere. They get here as early as 6 AM usually, so it makes for an early morning, but we also clear a fair amount of $$ when we hold one (usually every other year). I always am wiling to dicker, but if someone comes that early and wants to essentially "steal" something with a ridiculously low offer, I tell them to come back later in the morning and if it's still there I'll accept that offer. I've never had one leave without buying the item they wanted for close to my price - they usually really want the item, and are just testing the waters to see how low you will go. If people buy a lot of stuff, I usually give an extra discount, too. A lot of times they will go home and then return with a friend.

I also always have everything "half-price" after 12:00 noon - my whole idea is not to lug the stuff back into the garage!

Make sure you have bags for people to put their purchases in -I save all my grocery bags for this. The older ladies especially appreciate them.

Good luck & have fun!! (And have someone around to watch the merchandise - when your yard is crowded, things have a tendency to "walk"! )

 

[welovedis]

I agree, but one of my daycare parents was reading this over my shoulder and said the "spoiled kids" part would turn her off to the sale--didn't really say why???

I think putting some of the name brands/items really draws people who are looking for that type of thing. If you have specific sized clothing, I like ads that say "Boy clothing 2T-4" so I know that the have/don't have what I'm looking for.

Also--last year I went out of my comfort zone and put a flyer in the door of every person on my street (a little over 70 houses) to see if we could organize a neighborhood sale. Each house paid me $3 to advertise and could list 2-3 larger items in addition to basic "household, clothing, books, etc.." and for the signs. My next-door neighbor & I did the signs and I put the ad in the paper. We sold over $900 worth (my biggest ticket item was a dryer for $50), most everyone else sold at least $500 or more. If you have a smaller neighborhood or can participate in a bigger street sale that will draw lots of people.

GL!

 

[CajunDixie]

When I go to sales with my parents we look for addition sales and multi-family sales. There are a few small towns around here that have town-wide garage sales during their town's festival. One lake community even prints out a map with all the sale locations. This way they get more sales because some of the lake streets/roads can be a bit confusing for people.

Don't forget to have a cooler of pop or water on hand for the afternoon crowd.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Once my son wanted to earn some money and clean out his room, especially the little kid stuff that he had hung onto for some reason. I also had stuff to sell so we had a garage sale. I put in the ordinary ad, but he made the signs to put in front of the house and on the corner. He put "KIDS GARAGE SALE" and it drew all sorts of buyers. He was about 8 or 9 when he did this.

 

[jenr812]

Great thread! We're gearing up for a sale too. I am trying to get my neighbors to get in on it too.

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

I would definitely put sizes and specific name brands! I can go out and buy WalMArt and Target brand clothing new for my family easily enough, but the more expensive brands and boutique items I love to get at garage sales!

 

[amwhitaker]

My good friend advertised her yard sale as "The Mother of all Yard Sales". She had a ton of people show up, many said they had to come and see just because of the advertising.

 

[pediatric-rnp]

My good friend advertised her yard sale as "The Mother of all Yard Sales". She had a ton of people show up, many said they had to come and see just because of the advertising.

This is the best one yet!! I'll have to remember this one.

 

[ceecee]

I love that one..the mother of all yard sales!!!
I always put namebrand clothes worn by one child, since my daughter's also "spoiled" she has more clothes than she can even wear in one season, so thye always look new. I wouldn't be put off by "spoiled" just means to me you have a lot of stuff!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Actually, the "spoiled" would put me off a little too (although I would probably assume you had alot to sell and would come anyway, lol). I think it makes it sound like if you spoiled YOUR children by buying that stuff, then I would be spoiling MY children if I bought it from you, KWIM?

But as a yard-sale shopper, I'm usually drawn to signs and ads that have big items and sizes listed and boy/girl like everyone else has said so I can shop for what I need, also "moving sale" and neighborhood sales because that way I don't have to drive all over. With signs I like the ones with arrows on them pointing which way to turn because I'm usually by myself so I can't stop and read the address on the sign and the bigger the sign the better, with bold black writing. Oh, and the date so I know if it's current (alot of people around here leave up old signs).

 

[Jenn]

A neighbor of ours has one every year and the signs say "FREAKIN HUGE YARD SALE". I don't know if it attracts more people, but the signs crack me up every time.

 

[jenr812]

A neighbor of ours has one every year and the signs say "FREAKIN HUGE YARD SALE". I don't know if it attracts more people, but the signs crack me up every time.