Please Give me Your Best Tips for Yard Sales

[Micday]

We are having our annual block yard sale in 4 weeks. I want to make as much $$ as possible, of course.

Help me, what tips can you share with me??

I would love to hang up the clothes but how?

What else ??

Thank you so much!

Michelle

 

[bas71873]

I hang my clothes on a broomstick between two ladders or hang them on the edge of the open garage door

Price reasonably and be willing to come down. I pretty much will come down on EVERYTHING. Heck, I'd give it away if you asked because what does not sell, goes to Goodwill. I just finished pricing everything for our neighborhood yard sale at the end of April.

We had one last fall and everything someone asked my MIL to come down on a price, she wouldn't. Needless to say, she didn't sell much and then had to pack it all up and take it home. Insanity I tell ya .

Good luck with your sale!

 

[luckyfin]

Price to sell or people won't stick around to buy. Group like items together. Keep batteries on hand for electronics so people can make sure that items are not broken. Place some of your better items towards the entrance to draw people in. Hang a clothesline for your clothes.
Good luck! One man's trash is another man's treasure!

 

[Donnask8pro]

Be willing to take any reasonable offer to get it the heck of out you house.. LOL

 

[mollybug2]

Definitely keep it well organized. I have only had a few sales but keep like things together and as things sell I continue to straighten and regroup. Definitely price to sell and be willing to come down a bit. If you have hot weather and a kid who wants to help, consider selling water and soda. A neighbor of mine went to Sam's Club and bought water and Coke and her son sold it for 50 cents a can/bottle... he made a ton of money!

 

[iheartdisney]

Get some sandwich sized ziploc bags to group up small like toys and happy meal toys. Sold those for $1 a piece, and everyone left with at least one. Funny thing is, no one ever bought any small toys when I put them in a bin.

Put your "big" itmes on craigslist, with photos in their particular category. (furniture, baby, etc.) Its free advertising for your sale!

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Great tips here:

http://www.yardsalequeen.com/

A few others I've heard or used:
- hang a chain between two posts, two trees, on a fence, across the garage door, etc. and use that to hang clothes. One hanger per link and they don't clump together that way. Put a size on everything or group them by size to make it easier to browse.
- get things off the ground. Even a box on a chair is better than a box on the ground as people don't like to bend over a lot.
- sell food and drinks! Packs of chips, Twinkies, whatever - buy them cheap at a warehouse place and you'll be surprised at how much you can make on the side.
- sell books at 25cents each or 5/$1 and they go pretty quickly in groups of 5 that way

Good luck and have fun!

 

[MomofSixinSC]

Have good signs! This is a pet peeve of mine. Use a bright colored poster board and have all the signs the same color. Do not put your address on the sign - most people just want to follow signs, not look for an address. Write big - letters at least 6 inches high and each line over an inch thick. They have to be able to read it quickly while driving by.

If you can convince some neighbors to have a sale at the same time, do it. People are more likely to turn off the main road for 3 sales than for one. If possible, have them each put out signs as well. They should use a different color than you. Drivers can follow the pink signs, the yellow signs and the ornage signs, kwim?

Try to set things up so people are enticed to get out of the car, not just drive by seeing what you have. Set it back a bit from the road so they have to get out. They are more likely to buy once they are there.

Don't be afraid to "sell" things. You;ll likely never see these people again. Be out-going! Be very friendly! People respond to that.

Don't sell real jewelry or antiques at a yard sale. make sure your stuff isn't worth a lot before you sell it. Check e-bay for items you are not sure about.

Have fun!

 

[3boymthr]

I had a yard sale where I made $600. I did not ticket one item, instead I ticketed tables - all items this table $1 or $2. Saved me a ton of time.

Don't be afraid to put up a sign that says "make me an offer".

 

[MissAndrea]

100% agree with Momofsix. The address is pointless on signs! Just put Yard Sale with arrows DIRECTING them to the house! I've had TONS of compliments on my signs in the past. I just got into going to sales this past summer and you wouldn't believe how many I never went to because the sign sucked and I couldn't find the house.

Ditto on the big good stuff at the end of the drive. Entice them in!

 

[brymolmom]

People always comment on how good my signs are. Buy the NEON poster board - all one color. Use large black writing to write GARAGE SALE FRIDAY - SATURDAY 9-4 (or whatever day/time). THEN, here's the biggie - bring a sharpie with you and when you're actually hanging them - put ARROWS on them with the proper direction (tough to do, IMO, while at home until right there hanging it up).

 

[Catira]

I had a yard sale where I made $600. I did not ticket one item, instead I ticketed tables - all items this table $1 or $2. Saved me a ton of time.

Don't be afraid to put up a sign that says "make me an offer".

This seems like a great idea.. one question though. Since it is already set up on the $1 table, I assume you also tag the item for $1?

 

[dispor]

You are already doing what I consider the most important thing by having it during a neighborhood sale!

Price everything. (If you decide on a sign saying the same price for everything on the table, be prepared for people saying they found the items on a different table...).

Everything should be CLEAN.

Do not accept checks.

If it's a nice day, try to move some enticing items onto the driveway. Especially furniture or other large items. Even a box marked "FREE" will entice people in.

Have lots of change/small bills ready. Especially in the morning, people will be breaking $20 bills.

Couldn't agree more with the comments about brightly colored, easy to read signs!!

Balloons or streamers on your mailbox.

A box marked 10 cents or 3 for .25, with McDonald's toys, etc. is nice. Kids can look through the box while mom/dad shop.

 

[MrsPete]

Anything that you sell at a yard sale should be PRICED TO MOVE. If you have things that're really valuable, the yard sale isn't the right venue to sell them. If you have, perhaps a crib or stroller that'll bring some money, consider putting them on Craigslist or in a consignment sale. With a yard sale, you're hoping that the right buyer will come by on the one day that you're selling -- it's a long shot.

Adult clothes really don't sell well. Anything over $2 you're likely to take back into the house.

Kids' clothes sell better. Hang your best things. Have a table (or tarp) with things that're less-than-perfect. Sell them as "playclothes" and make them $1-2 per grocery bag.

Don't allow anyone into your house. Everyone's not honest, and some people want to shop INSIDE YOUR HOUSE as well as outside. If you let someone inside to use the bathroom or try on an item, you can bet that they're trying to divide your attention for some reason. People don't need to try things on at a yard sale; it's a quarter. Take a chance.

Another thing some people'll do is pretend that they don't speak English. I remember one particular family who tried this. They were pretending that they didn't understand me, and they kept saying lower numbers. They were SO RUDE that I just wanted them to leave, so I started saying HIGHER numbers. Suddenly they understood English. They also tried to steal some shelves that I was using to display things at the sale.

Have plenty of one-dollar bills for change, and consider a fanny-pack to keep the money on your body.

Consider where you're going to park your own cars. You want to keep your yard "open looking", but you also want to avoid people driving into your driveway -- they'll take up your space, and they'll block your merchandise.

People will drive by and decide whether to stop. Put your best, most attractive stuff out front to make them decide that you're worth the stop.

Run an electrical cord out your door so people can plug in electronics (without going into your house).

And my pet peeve: Take your signs down! I don't know how many times I've drive around searching for a sale, only to realize that it was last week.

 

[puffkin]

I usually do really, really well at my yardsales ($600-$1000). I always do them during the neighborhood sales....more traffic = more money

-Have everything off the ground. Tables, boxes flipped over, ect.
-Display clothes on chains. 1 hanger per link. That way the clothes don't bunch together.
-Price everything in .25 increments if possible.
-Have a junk box marked FREE or .05. This is great to draw the kids in.
-For things like books or stuffed animals do a .25 each or 3 for .50 type promotion
-Sell drinks. We always have water and soda in our garage fridge so we sell that at .50 a bottle. It really adds up. I am not out any extra money since we always keep it on hand anyway.
-Keep your money on you at all times. Keep all change inside the house and take all large bills in at regular intervals. Helps to have a partner to run in and out of the house for you.
-Make sure all doors to your house are locked except for the door you are closest too. Be aware if someone is trying to distract you.
-Do not hold items unless they are already paid for and are coming back to pick up. If you do decide to hold an item, give a set time (say 1 hour) and then put it back out to sell.
-If the sale starts at 7 am have your stuff ready to go at 6am. Buyers will be out early, especially if there are multiple sales that weekend.

 

[LisaInNc]

I always rent tables for big yard sales. They are 5.00 for a banquet table for one day.

I start saving grocery store bags and give them out to people that buy more than on item.

I go to the bank the day before and get $100 worth of 1.00 bills.

Lots of signs.

 

[ceecee]

Make sure everything is CLEAN and smells good. Throw out old clothes that are holey and stained. Present in nice piles on tables not on the ground. Price everything. Put smaller like items together in ziploc bags. I have had many positive comments on my garage sales about things being clean and smelling good! I have always had great luck in my sales as well.

 

[sksjasams]

I always rent tables for big yard sales. They are 5.00 for a banquet table for one day.

I start saving grocery store bags and give them out to people that buy more than on item.

I go to the bank the day before and get $100 worth of 1.00 bills.

Lots of signs.

Can I ask, where do you rent the tables for $5? That would be great for us - we don't have enough table space for our upcoming sale. Thanks!!

 

[LisaInNc]

We go to a rental place and as long as we have them back within 24 hours they are 5.00. I would also ask your church or VFW they have tables that they rend depending on the place. We load up the tables, put them in the garage, cover them with sheets and then move them into the yard the morning of the sale.

Lisa

 

[PrincessDreams2]

As an avid garage sale attender, the cleaner, neater and more organized your things are, the better! And PLEASE price everything. Nothing turns me off more than a garage sale where nothing is priced or there is a sign that says "make an offer". I will usually leave quickly. It is really hard to know what something is worth to someone else.

I have had several garage sales in the past, and I have always done "surprise" bags for kids. I use brown paper bags and fill them with random toys, like 5 small toys in each bag and staple them shut. I make girl bags and boy bags. Things like beanie babies, mcdonalds toys, stickers, etc. I sell them for $1 each, and they always seem to go!

Good luck!!