Tips for a successful yard sale.

[aimeeg]

We are having a yard sale on Saturday. I have never done this before. We took an add out in the paper for Friday and Saturday. We were also going to do a little bake sale and soda sale.

We have baby stuff, clothes, toys, household stuff, and some furniture.

We are hoping to earn enough money to put the deposit down for our spring trip to WDW.

TIA!!

 

[tadamom]

We are having a yard sale on Saturday. I have never done this before. We took an add out in the paper for Friday and Saturday. We were also going to do a little bake sale and soda sale.

We have baby stuff, clothes, toys, household stuff, and some furniture.

We are hoping to earn enough money to put the deposit down for our spring trip to WDW.

TIA!!

I love having yard sales!! And, I usually do really well too! I had an unplanned yard sale in June (just stuck a sign in the yard for 2 days) and made almost $300 on just kids clothes & shoes.

Here are my tips.

1. I worked retail for 7 years, so we always have everything grouped together. All clothes together, furniture together, kids stuff together, kitchen stuff together -- you get the idea.
2. Don't price too high. The point is to get rid of it. If you believe something is worth a higher price, price it in the middle but take less if you want to part with it.
3. If you can, hang your clothes up. People can get a better feel of the quality stuff you have. Sometimes stores will give you hangers.
4. If you are able to hang the clothes -- sort them by sizes. People are more likely to buy more if things are all together in size ranges. That way when people say "do you have anything in a 3T", you can show them right where it is.
5. On kids stuff, clean it up and put batteries in things that need them. If it something relatively new, on your price tag put what the retail price is for something like that and your "sale" price. Nothing like knowing what kind of bargain someone is getting.
6. And, this may sound silly but be a salesperson. Be friendly and be willing to help someone if they are looking for stuff.

As far as the bake and soda sale -- go for it! I'm not as willing to buy homebaked things from a yard sale but popsicles & sodas will catch you some money. We always let the kids sell can drinks & water for .50 cents each (you can't buy them that cheap out of a vending machine) and also popsicles sell really well for kids .25 - .50 cents each.

I know this all probably sound like too much work just for a yard sale but I have never had a yard sale where I didn't make between $250 - $500! Good luck and let us know it goes!!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

I agree with everything the pp said.

I have a couple things to add,

I put pieces to toys together in baggies so they are easily found. No one wants a game without the pieces.

Hanging clothes up really helps people browse through and look for what they need.

Make colorful signs.

 

[aimeeg]

Thanks so much and please keep the tips coming! We need all the help we can get!

 

[tadamom]

Ditto to what Dreamer & Wisher said too!!

This has reminded me that I need to be asking about a yard sale next weekend!!

 

[emma'smom]

We lay out blankets and place all of our books on them so that they are easily seen...rather than having customers flip through a bin.

Put big ticket items closer to the street...especially kid's toys (like bicycles, mega-saucers, etc.) These are the kinds of things that even "non-garage sale shoppers" might stop to look at if it catches their eye.

Make sure that you have at least 50.00 in small bills/change.

Here's an interesting product we sold- I took all of my old birthday supplies left over from different kids parties and put them in gallon baggies. The stuff was usually just extra sealed packages of napkins/cups/plates/streamers that I stuck in a box in my basement after the parties were over (always thinking I would return them, but never do). I sold them for 3.00 at "Birthday in a Bag" and people loved them!

 

[swalke6]

Hi! We do a neighborhood-wide sale every year. I have made over $40 just in ice water sales alone. (Even the earlybirds get thirsty!)

You can also advertise your sale for free on Craigslist.com --I usually start there for selling big items (exersaucers, cribs, strollers, etc) because you'll get a better price than you would on ebay or through a consignment shop & certainly better than a yard sale. I even listed several things this year right up through the garage sale day - great because craigslist doesn't lock you into selling items like ebay would. I had several things that people wanted to talk me down on and I said I was firm because I already had several inquiries on the item from my posting on craigslist.... most of the time they bought it!

A few things to be careful about:
-do not let anyone in your home (they can try it on at home or give it away at these prices!) and keep the doors to your home locked so you cannot be distracted by one person while someone else slips in.

- have tons of change and plenty of 1's (50-100 is good) on hand, but not where you are pulling out your take constantly

-beware of people who will "slip" items into larger containers or will come up with an armfull and ask if you will take "$__" for all of this. there is almost always something worth more than they are offering for it hidden away in there

-don't allow super discounts early in the day. The pros will swoop in and try to talk you down fast. If they are looking for it it means it is a hot item they can resell.

-don't assume something is junk and no one will want it. I have been shocked at things I almost threw out instead of bothering with just to have people pay a good price for it! (this goes for checkers pieces,candy tins, coffee mugs with your work logo on it, coolers with no lids---you just never know

- early birds will start stalking your home as early as 5am and will walk right into your garage as you try to pull things out to set up. Firmly tell them they need to wait or you will not sell them anything....... many will start digging into your boxes anyway to see if it is worth their wait. You may feel that this is ok, but some are counting on you being too busy trying to get everything out to notice that something is missing.

-make sure your personal items are blocked off. I've had people try to grab stuff off our garage shelves and even almost lost a kitchen chair we were using to sit on when I ran inside to check on the baby and my friend's sister thought she was making a great deal. (she almost sold a $200 chair for $8!!) Put tape on your chairs or anything else and write NOT FOR SALE on it.

-let your kids see what toys are going out in advance or you will have meltdowns and showdowns! If you give them the money for their sold items it softens the blow and frees up space in your home much faster! (you can use the two-part tags that you can buy at Staples to identify who's item and the price onboth parts. You break off the detachable section and put it in a box/can and sort it all out later. these are especially great if you have more than one family selling stuff....my MIL joins our sale every year and always "forgot" that I gave her the money for "that lamp you sold with your stuff" or she would sell my things and forget to give us the money because soo many people had bought in-between. (the little things don't really matter, but when you are talking about several $20 items it can mean you wasted your day) The two-part tags also help make the pricing clear to everyone since my MIL sells everything for 10 cents or my husband might be covering things while I run inside & he has no idea of what things are really worth.

- keep even the friendliest of dogs secured inside. you don't need to worry about lawsuit scam artists this way.

- keep your cash box locked inside the house and add the excess to it as the day goes on....no one needs to see how much cash you are carrying until the bank reopens on Monday.

- if you are selling bikes, make sure you do not allow a test ride unless the person leaves their car in your driveway. If they walk up, they might have a friend waiting a block away. (always try Craigslist for bikes first anyway. I sold a training wheel bike for $10 to a guy with a truckfull of bikes. He admitted that he'll get $25 for it because he sells bikes & is known for it, so people coming to him are going to buy a bike --at a garage sale they most likely aren't all looking for bikes. He actually buys about 25-30 bikes a weekend at yard sales and sells them for a wonderful profit the next week. It did take him a while to get to be known as "the bike guy", but it could be a good business for someone out there who wants to make vacation money! He's the one who warned us about people "test riding". He also advised using Pledge to polish up the bike quickly.

-wear sunscreen! (very easy to forget when you start early in the am)

- price to get rid of things, but you can be higher for high-demand items or things that are new or like new These you can start at 1/3 or 1/4 the original price.

-If you aren't sure of the value, do a quick Ebay search to see what the same item in the same condition is currently selling for. (I usually sort by highest price first so I can see what bidding might get up to.) I had two advertising signs that were worth $50 each that I almost sold for $1!!! (You just don't know)

I don't mean to scare you off --I've never had any real problems (probably because we always have my friend, her sister, MIL & the 2 of us manning things), but some of my more timid looking neighbors have.

Good luck & happy selling!

 

[dyna]

I agree hang clothes up if you can't hang it don't stack more than 4 or 5 things on top of one another ppl don't like to dig.

Keep your stuff neat thru out the sale 2 reasons allows you to see what is still there and makes it much more pleasant for those shopping.

Don't think that stained shirt is not fit for yard sale I actually shopped for stained clothes for my DD when she was little so she would have something to eat spaghetti in an to go play in mud that I didn't have to worry about.

But when I sold the stained clothes very few did I ever put in my sales I put them in a seperate area from the nice clothes.

Yes keep your big ticket items close to street. If you have like a 3 piece living room suite tho put chair by street an leave other pieces further back that way the person who buys the living room suite has to walk past your other stuff maybe they will stop and buy more on the way.

The 2nd day drop your prices.

It helps if you know what stuff is going for at yard sales in your area too.

If someone makes you an offer that is lower than you want to take at the time get their phone number if it not sold at the end of the sale call them let them have it for the offering price. Write down that price tho so they can't lower the price again on you.

If someone offers you money for the stuff that is left over at the end of sale even 20.00 is profit to you and you don't got to store it for another sale or haul it off.

If someone buys a lot of kids clothing from you ask for their phone number so you can call them when you are done with the seasons clothing. I was lucky did that with my last DD's clothing I had 2 ppl I could call and they come bought it at my asking price I didn't have the work or the expense of a yard sale and I made just as much money as if I'd had the yard sale.

Always wished I had someone who called me when they had a seasons worth of clothing for my DD now that I have GS's wishing again I had that advantage.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH plenty of BiG SIGNS clearly readable from half block away and be nice take your signs down after your sale.

Sturdy signs too poster board doesn't do it they flop.

I got signs I've used for years some are wood some are metal.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

 

[aimeeg]

Does anyone have suggestions for pricing?

We live in the Baltimore DC Metro area. All of kids clothes are name brand. Ralph Lauren and Gymboree. We also have toys, books, shoes, household stuff.

 

[swalke6]

If you have Gymboree & RL kids clothing, you will get TOP TOP dollar by listing them on EBAY in lots by size & season. I would use a yard sale only as a last resort because most yard sale buyers are looking to spend .50- $2 per piece at the maximum. Even Craigs List would be a good option, once you have found the right pricing.

To check on pricing: Go to EbayCheck what other lots are going for by clicking on "clothing" and then narrowing it down in your child's age & gender. Then type in "huge lot" or "big lot" in that category. Then sort by highest price and see what lots of similar brand mixes are going for. It is common for lots of 10-15 items to sell for over $100 if they have good names & are in good shape & have clear pictures (this is key!). You also want to take note of how these higher priced lots are listed & what key words are in the title.

 

[luvtogo12]

Include in your advertisments that "early birds pay double". This will deter most early birds but the ones that show up anyway.....pay double.

 

[swalke6]

Include in your advertisments that "early birds pay double". This will deter most early birds but the ones that show up anyway.....pay double.

That's funny -- my neighbor posted a sign warning: early birds will be shot.

 

[enhanceyourgreen]

If you are having a yard sale then you must want everything to go. Price things to move. Like that show Clean House. Everything goes. If you have children have them sell the baked goods. Also sell ice cold refreshments.

 

[tadamom]

Just wondering aimeeg, how did your yard sale go?

 

[aimeeg]

It went pretty well. We made about $330. I am mostly pleased that the stuff is gone!!!

We did not have the sale at our house. We lugged all that crap to my Dad's. Whatever did not sell went to Goodwill.

We brought three truck loads of stuff and sold two. I was very pleased with that part. The thing that bothered me a little were some of the shoppers. We saw three kinds.

1. People just out on Satuarday at a yard sale.

2. The racoon scavengers. They brought handfulls of stuff and said I will give you a dollar.

3. The people who pulled up in luxury cars and bought stuff like used Old Navy flip flops! Over half of the people that came drove up in Mercedes, BMWs, Grand Cherokees, and even a Jag! I could not believe some of the crap they bought!! I felt guilty selling it. I do not think I would buy someone elses hand cream!

It was an interesting experience and we made the money we needed for our deposit. I am not sure we will do it again soon. The bake, water and soda sale was a flop! All the tips I received very valuable so thank you to all that posted!

 

[tadamom]

Glad you made some money and got rid of your stuff! I am always amazed at some of the people that show up to yard sales.

 

[swalke6]

I forgot about this until I received their notice for the fall sale. You are close enough that you might want to look into the Kids Clothing Exchange of Baltimore. They have two sales a year & it is a 40-60 split (you get 60%) and you get to set the price for each item. you can read more on the link on the pinevalleyswimclub's website. pinevalleyswimclub.com