Yard Sale experts

[zurgswife]

I'm determined to try to get rid of some of my stuff my a yard sale. I don't have the time or patience right now to list and check, and mail stuff on ebay. I figure one shot deal might be a better way.

Ok....what is some good tips or advice you guys can give a yard sale beginner.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

You might try cross-posting this on the Budget Board.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Well it depends.

Are you looking for certain prices? If so, then a yard sale is not for you.

The object is to get rid of the stuff. Yard sale prices are low.

People want to buy a used car seat for 5.00 instead of a year old one that is very nice for 35.00...

However this does not apply to furniture and antiques....They gobble that stuff up. Never had problems selling anything with wood.

They are looking for the deal.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I agree that you shouldn't expect big bucks to come in from a yard sale - but you can usually get rid of things quickly and easily.

Advertising is key, but be aware that the die-hard rummage-sale-ers will show up an hour or two before the advertised start time. Decide ahead of time how you want to deal with those folks...

I've found that I make more money if I have better displays rather than just piling everything on a tarp on the ground. I borrow tables from friends and family and make sure like things are grouped together. I've also strung up a clothesline and hung up as much as we could to make a better display.

Rather than pricing everything individually, I print up signs with pricing by groups. Once I did it as "shirts - .50, pants $1.00, paperback books - .10/ea or 12/$1.00" etc. Another time I bought colored sticker dots and put a dot on each item, then had signs that said "blue dots - .10, green dots - .25, red dots - $1.00" etc. That was way more time consuming, but it did mean that I could price t-shirts at ten cents and dress shirts at $1 or $2.50 depending on the quality and name brand.

People will want to bargain with you, so expect folks to try and talk you down or give you $1 for 5 pairs of shoes and a jacket. I'll let someone talk me down a little bit, but not to the point of rediculous unless it's the end of the sale and I just want to get rid of stuff. Most people just like to feel like they got a deal.

I do "everything 50% off after 12:30" and put that on all my ads. Helps to get rid of stuff.

Oh, and we also sell coffee, tea, and doughnuts in the morning, and bottled water, lemonade, and cookies in the afternoon. Makes a little extra money - people seem to be willing to pay $2.00 for a cup of coffee that cost me .50 to make, but want to pay .25 for a pair of jeans I paid $45 for...

 

[Philagoofy]

Make sure you have PLENTY of change, coins & dollar bills.

If you set the start time for 9:00, be prepared for people showing up at 7:00.
In other words, while you are just starting to get stuff set up outside, they'll be driving up (sometimes even before). It can be distracting & take you that much longer to set up. Tell them to come back, if they want to look bad enough, they'll come back.

Although others may not agree, try not to put out dirty stuff, clean it up a little, doesn't have to sparkle but who would want to buy a food encrusted item?

If you're not sure whether to just toss it or try & sell it, put it out for sale. You'd be surprised what people buy.

Mark prices on items as much as you can. Makes it easier when someone keeps picking up stuff & asking how much it is.

You want to get rid of it, bargain.

Have someone around to relieve you when you need to relieve yourself.

Make sure people don't park in front of your neighbors' driveway.

Hope these are the kind of suggestions you are looking for.

Oh, and if you put up signs in the neighborhood to advertise it, don't forget to take them all down.

If you take a small ad in the local paper (good idea), suggest a rain date, make sure you include your address (hey, it can happen) and the time & date.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Make sure you have PLENTY of change, coins & dollar bills.

Although others may not agree, try not to put out dirty stuff, clean it up a little, doesn't have to sparkle but who would want to buy a food encrusted item?

I totally agree! I use a muffin tin to sort the change and set it in a rectangle backing pan to hold down the bills and checks.

And you'll get better prices for things that are cleaned up and look good than stuff that is dusty and grimy.

 

[denisem]

If you're not sure whether to just toss it or try & sell it, put it out for sale. You'd be surprised what people buy.

Amen! I always make up a *FREE* pile of stuff like empty Cool Whip containers, oddball glasses and misc. junk with a sign in its own area near the street. Draws people in and saves you from bagging the stuff and throwing it out.

At my late MIL's estate sale, the free pile was outside and I had people coming in the house saying "Is this stuff really free? Well, I can't take it without buying SOMETHING from you".

 

[DisInsider]

First, I would advertise your sale and even some items on craigslist.org
It's easy and free. It really works too. We used this last summer before we moved from Colorado to California and we sold all of our furniture and a great deal of other stuff. I used it for the sale and to sell individual pieces. It worked for both. Just last month my parents used the site for the same purpose and it worked very well.

Whenever you have a yard sale, and advertise the time it begins, be ready for early birds to show up about an hour earlier than your posted time. Don't put "no early birds" in your ad. This just turns away potential customers. You will get the best prices at the beginning of your sale. Don't let people haggle with you too much too early. You will be seeing plenty of other people that day, and the early hagglers know it.

Also put bright colored signs around your neighborhood announcing your sale, with arrows to direct people. Lots of people drive around just looking for sales. Your signs will generate a lot of traffic.

Depending on your area, you may try a sale on a Friday and Saturday. Sundays are OK, but people usually get out later on Sundays. I would avoid that day alltogether. Also only have your sale for a few hours, like 9am to 1pm or 8am to noon. There's no need to be out there all day.

Good luck and happy selling.

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

I had 3 sales last year. One for myself before I moved, one for my grandma's estate and the 3rd for after I moved and the stuff of my grandma's that didn't sell.

I've heard so many people complain about high prices at yard sales-I priced my stuff very low as I just wanted to clear it out. Especially the clothes-I marked everything for 25 cents. People kept commenting to me about how I really knew how to sell clothes at a garage sale.

I took a rope and threaded it through my garage doors, then hung the clothes up with hangers so people could see them instead of sorting through them on a table. As one lady said about my prices being great, "They're used clothes after all." No one wants to pay top dollar for stuff at a yard sale-they all want that great deal.

I used a fanny pack to hold my change and that worked pretty well-better than a box that someone could run off with if you're distracted. I was by myself some of the time. I also had my aunt with me part of the time and she worked in retail and really knew how to stack and set up things attractively-my driveway looked great and the stuff really moved.

I priced pretty much everything-that's one thing I found that turns people off-if it's not priced. At my 2nd sale (my grandma's estate) she had so much stuff and had died suddenly so there was no way we could price it all and people were really bugged by that. I heard tons of comments, "Lots of this stuff isn't even priced." Not our fault-we were short on time, but it didn't go over well.

At my 3rd sale, we put stuff on tables and marked it with a sign that said, "Everything this table-$1 each" or whatever. It helped, but people like it better when it's priced. You can buy those pre-priced stickers at Walmart-that saves tons of time. If I have lots of one type of item, like puzzles, I made a sign that said "All puzzles 25 cents." That worked pretty well.

I hope this helped and good luck. Also, as another person said, be ready for the early birds. I even put "NO EARLIES" in my newspaper ad, but they came at six o'clock anyway.

Oh, one more thing, if you know your neighbors, check with them and see if they are planning a sale and maybe you could get together on dates. People really like it when a neighborhood has multiple sales! They flock to them. We had 3 in my neighborhood for my first one and it was great!

 

[jemiaule]

All the advice you have gotten is great. Just a couple of things to add from my own experience.

If you have any decor kind of items in your front yard that you like move them in the house. My mom had a goose statue she really loved stolen from her yard during one sale as well as a hand spade she had left by some plants she was potting. I have had wind chimes and garden sign stolen. Once we caught a lady unscrewing a spray nozzle off our hose.


If you have your garage door open during your sale, but all the items for sale out in your driveway and yard, put up tables to block the front of your garage so people do not go in. We still have had people crawl around tables and start rooting through things that were not for sale and had to shoo them out of the garage. When my mom does a yard sale now she strings up old sheets across the portion of the garage to block stuff she is not selling.

Lock your front door. We once found someone inside my moms house looking around, loads of stuff in her arms that she had picked up around the house. She claimed she thought stuff inside was for sale too.


Believe it or not we live in a really nice neighborhood, but I am sure it does not sound like it!


I think my mom and I just attract the weirdos or something. Sometime I should start a thread about the brawl (yes, full out - fist to fist brawl) that started out in front of our house the last sale we had.

 

[zurgswife]

Thanks for all the great advice.

I'm just looking to unload a bunch of stuff that isn't quite ready for the trash yet and I'd like to make a few dollars on it. No lofty thoughts about big buck.

PS...I thought I had posted on the budget board. I must have been I little more distracted then I thought..

 

[SDFgirl]

I second the advice about asking neighbors if they want to have garage sales the same weekend as you. Then place an ad that says "3 Garage Sales on Maple Street near Smith Avenue." People love to park their cars and just stroll around.

Get hot pink or bright orange poster board to advertise your sale. Post your signs near major roads and use arrows to describe where your house is.

Bring a radio out for some music. Make sure you have tons of change - dollar bills and quarters.

Let go of all pride after 12:00pm. I usually let things go for free by then because I don't want to haul it all to the Goodwill.

Most of all have fun! I enjoy having garage sales, it feels so refreshing to get rid of all your old stuff!

 

[powellrj]

we have had good luck when we put little things in baggies. People don't want to take the time to go through a box of junk jewelry or happy meal toys, but they will pick up a couple of baggies marked .25.

I know one year my parents made more money at their neighborhood sale selling soda and bottled water than they did the actual yard sale. It was a really hot day and people didn't bat an eye paying .50 for a bottle of water or soda.

towards the end you may want to have a fill the bag sale. Anything left by a certain time, we just leave out grocery sacks and you fill a sack for a couple of dollars. You really clean things out then!

 

[Philagoofy]

What jemiaule wrote, so true, happens in any neighborhood & great advice from everyone else.

If you do put up signs, don't include too much info, make sure they can be read quickly & easily using big black, rain resistant lettering on eye catching colorboards.

You may be pleasantly surprised how much you bring in. We made over $300.00 one year selling mostly junk. Swore we wouldn't bring it back into the house after the sale but now our attic & garage are more full than ever.

 

[luvtogo12]

To keep the realy birds away, mention in your ads "early birds pay double".