Question re. yard sale pricing

[Nina1]

So...we are planning to have a yard sale in the near future. This is our first one ever. Due to a weight loss over the past year (I was diagnosed with Celiac disease last March), I have alot of clothing to sell. Some of the items have never been worn. They are very nice items I bought at Ann Taylor Loft, Macy's, Land's End and Black House White Market (all bought on sale, of course . Anyway, I'm at a loss as to how to price these. I tried taking the items to a local consignment store that pays cash outright where I sold some items this winter, but they aren't currently accepting clothing. I also tried taking some of the items to a tailor, but they either couldn't be altered properly because of the material or would have cost too much to alter due to the amount of work required.

To give you an example, I have three silk Ann Taylor Loft blouses to sell. One was worn once, the other two never worn. How would you price these? Both are current styles and can be worn with capris or jeans, or dressed up with a skirt. I'm just trying to get an idea of a price range people would be comfortable with. I'd be happy if I could make $10 - $15 per shirt, for example, but I don't know if this is too much for a yard sale.

I've never really looked at clothing at yard sales, so I don't really have a point of reference. I won't be selling any children's clothes at our yard sale because I sell the clothes DS outgrows at a twice yearly children's consingment sale and have been very successful with this. Anyway, any help/advice would be most appreciated. Thanks for your help.

 

[deezeealum]

I tihnk $10-$15 for blouses are high for a yard sale. Start them at $5-$7. You can always reduce the price or tell someone to make an offer. WE have always sold clothes at our yard sales and the people who shop at yard sales are definitily looking for cheaper prices then a consignment shop. We have always had very little left over, gthat we always donated to either a local women's shelter or the red cross. Good luck with the sale! OUr motto was always the more we sold, the less we had to find homes for later!

 

[beansmom]

before i sold them at a yard sale, i would look for a consignment shop. People don't want to pay ANYTHING for yard sale items. It's just ridiculous.

 

[cluvsdisney]

Have you considered selling them on ebay? I think you'll get more money back then at a yard sale.

 

[ceecee]

Ebay or a consignment shop. Women's clothes bring nothing on Ebay. I have done really well with kid's things. Same with the garage sales, I had tons on designer clothes very few sold, while all of the kid's clothes go.

 

[jls886]

I'm sure I'll be in the minority when I say you can set higher prices at garage sales. However, I think yours are too high.

We just had a garage sale, and I had an entire rack of clothes with the tags still attached. The highest I made anything was $10 - on 2 $80 Limited dresses and 1 $60 Limited sweater. The sweater did sell. On the brand new long sleeve tops I put $6-7, and on the brand new short sleeve tops I put $4-5. A LOT of the brand new clothes sold! Some people did try to get us to go down, but I often didn't as other people were coming by who were more than happy to pay the prices marked. I advertised on craigslist and put the prices - one lady came and bought $97 worth of clothes and said she specifically wanted to come to our sale because of the clothes.

On our previously worn clothes - still in awesome condition, some probably not worn more than once - we did $3 for dresses, pants, sweaters, jackets and then $2 for basically everything else.

 

[brymolmom]

If you are looking to make much of anything - consignment is the way to go. Try a different town to see if they're taking anything. You could try putting a large lot of clothes together and putting it on Craigslist - you might be lucky and catch someone who is that size who needs a bunch of nicer clothes for a new job or similar.

For a yard sale/garage sale - people are only looking for one thing - CHEAP things. My neighbor just had a sale and was saying that even tho he had his stuff (his wife always buys name brands and NICE things) priced very, very low - people still offered a buck or two for it. A brand new golf shirt with tags on it was marked $3 and they didn't even get a bite on it. It likely would have cost $50 in the pro shop.

So, rule of thumb I give to people is this - if you're having a yard sale and truly want to get RID OF ALL or at least most of it - mark it cheap, cheap cheap - like not even 25% of original price, more like 10% maybe. There are exceptions - the kids red wagon that neighbor had in very good condition went for about $15 very quickly as these are in high demand. But you are very unlikely to get a lot of demand for a very specific sized clothing coming through your sale in one day - so it will be very low demand and people will likely only get it (since they can't try it on - they will be guessing on size, and will be willing to take a chance for $2, but likely not for $10) - if it is cheap.

Clothing in general, around here, will go if priced for $1 or maybe $2 each piece. For brand new things with tags, winter coats in excellent condition or full suits/outfits - you can go a bit higher (maybe $5 - $8). Adult clothes around me very rarely move much at all...kids clothes can go easily.

If you are not looking to move it, but to make money on it - price it higher but then be prepared to have a lot of stock left at the end of the sale. You might want to arrange a few weekends in a row to remain open and advertise in the paper with 'NAME BRAND WOMENS CLOTHING' and you might get some people looking specifically for that.

 

[daisyduck123]

I made just over $900 last weekend at mine.

My advice:
If you want to GET RID of the stuff, price the nice blouses at $4.00 each.

If your plan is to get back some of what you actually paid for them...then you need to try ebay.

No one will pay $10.00 for a blouse (even a new one) at a yard sale.

Good luck to you!

 

[eliza61]

Op, thanks for posting this. I just brought a table at my local h.s. giant flea market and was wondering what to price items.

How about Crystal? does that stuff sell? what should I price it? I have complete sets of really nice crystal and glasses. don't know what to price it. I was thinking some thing like $4.00 each or a set of 4 for $13.00 bucks.

 

[prncess674]

If the Ann Taylor stuff is current and you can figure out the specific style and name of the item then list it on ebay, otherwise you won't get much, especially for the tagless item.

As others have stated, you can also try selling on craigslist, but even on CL I doubt you would get $10-15 for an AT blouse. I shop the sales, clearance section and outlet stores and $10is perfectly reasonable (and possible) for AT clearance, but the benefit of buying direct from AT is I have a receipt and if I decide I don't like it or it really doesn't fit the way I wanted then I can return it for cash. When buying from a garage sale, I am buying off a table or chain strung between two trees and there are no guarantees there, so I wouldn't pay that much for something.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

Our community garage sale is this Saturday. I have TONS of clothes from me and 2 DD's that I am pricing from 25 cents to $1. I just want to get rid of it!

 

[Nina1]

I appreciate all the advice. I'm going to try some of the other options people mentioned and if I can't sell the clothing, I'll price it lower. Thanks again!

 

[DisneyBeagle]

It's been my experience that adult clothes don't sell too well at yard sales. Kids' clothing goes like hot cakes though.

 

[rubato]

I just had a sale and had some very nice stuff for sale, some with tags. I think $3 was the most I got for anything. And, people were giving me faces about that.

 

[shellcruiser]

I made just over $900 last weekend at mine.

My advice:
If you want to GET RID of the stuff, price the nice blouses at $4.00 each.

If your plan is to get back some of what you actually paid for them...then you need to try ebay.

No one will pay $10.00 for a blouse (even a new one) at a yard sale.

Good luck to you!

Agree completely

 

[aprilgail2]

I just had a sale and had some very nice stuff for sale, some with tags. I think $3 was the most I got for anything. And, people were giving me faces about that.

LOL- yea people are not looking to spend a lot of money at garage sales and I find adult clothes don't sell-kids clothes do though! I also realized that I am not the kind of person that can have a garage sale because it frustrates me to much. At the last one I forget what the item was but it was new and I have it marked for like 5.00 which was cheap-some lady says "I will give you a quarter for it" I said "Lady I will throw it on the ground and smash it into pieces before I will sell it for a quarter"....I just can't deal with garage sale people!

 

[Purseval]

I work in a shop with a lot of dirt so I buy all of my work clothes at yard sales, jeans and short or long-sleeved button shirts with pockets. Bought 5 shirts last saturday for 10 cents each, not a button missing, no tears, no wear. I will wear them until they get nasty then throw them away and buy more.

On the flip side we had a Hugo Boss sweater and a Ralph Lauren dress stay out all day and they never sold. Both in perfect condition. Both at a dollar each. Clothing is far too common to fetch any money at yard sales.

 

[rockiesfan]

Op, thanks for posting this. I just brought a table at my local h.s. giant flea market and was wondering what to price items.

How about Crystal? does that stuff sell? what should I price it? I have complete sets of really nice crystal and glasses. don't know what to price it. I was thinking some thing like $4.00 each or a set of 4 for $13.00 bucks.

Last summer we had a 50th anniversary party for my parents. I picked up tons of nice crystal champagne glasses at garage sales beforehand, paying 50 cents/glass. Some were in complete sets of 12. I know, not what you wanted to hear

 

[Handbag Lady]

Does anyone know if Designer handbags sell well at yard sales? Or are those expected to go for $1 as well? I was hoping to put $50 on them.

I have a few that I don't use any longer and our complex is having a community sale. I was hoping to put in a few things to be neighborly, but we have something to do mid-day so I can't stay long.

And how early do they start? Could I put 5-10 things out at 7 am and be gone by 9 am?

 

[jls886]

Does anyone know if Designer handbags sell well at yard sales? Or are those expected to go for $1 as well? I was hoping to put $50 on them.

I have a few that I don't use any longer and our complex is having a community sale. I was hoping to put in a few things to be neighborly, but we have something to do mid-day so I can't stay long.

And how early do they start? Could I put 5-10 things out at 7 am and be gone by 9 am?

In our garage sale last weekend, I sold a Coach purse and the matching wallet. They were outlet styles, and were VERY well worn, not in new-looking condition at all, so I didn't really know what to put on them. I ended up selling the purse for $8 and the wallet for $6. Considering I had gotten almost 2 years' use out of them, I felt like anything I got back was a bonus.