Yard Sale pricing help

[Jomrog]

I am having a yard sale in a few weeks. This is my first one ever. I have read the tips (thanks). I'm still not sure how to price things. We don't have a lot of "big" stuff or Little Tykes (my kids are still using them).

I have a lot of childrens clothing. Should I use the fill a bag for $5 method? Should really sort through & try to price them? If I do price them individually, how much? For example, what would sleeper pajamas (blanket) be priced at, say they are gently used? What about small stains, do you still try to sell it?

Also, home deco items. I have some framed pics that I bought from those home interior parties years ago that are just not my style anymore. How much? I want to make some money back. I don't want to price so high that people walk away but I want to make as much as I can (like most people would).

Stuffed animals? .25-.50 cents? I would give anything to get rid of those things. I think I will let my DD have a table & sell them for herself.

TIA for advice.

 

[ceecee]

I would price seperately. Use tables for different prices if you have a lot of stuff. Sleepers that are in good condition $2.00. No stains!!!!!! It makes everything look bad. Some Home Interior stuff could bring good $$ depending on what you have. .50 is a good point for stuff toys unless they are new with tags. I've not had a lot of luck with those unless they were popular characters.

 

[viluvsdisney]

Hi Jomrog - I wouldn't price any kids clothes over $3.00 - and that's for stuff in really good shape. It helps to hang the stuff when selling it (on a rope tied tree to tree, or around the edge of a folding table). You can make a bin/box of clothes that says "Stained but in Good Shape" and sell them at .50 each. The household items are tricky - the lower the price the more likely the sale - but it depends on how badly you want to get rid of it. One year I priced a framed and matted folk art print for $25.00 - a lot of people looked at it but no sale. The next year I priced it for $10.00 and it was gone first thing in the morning. I just had to make sure I wanted to let it go So if you want to make the most $ for the day - price things lower then you may consider at first. It's a yard sale - not a second hand shop - people want a real deal and cheaper stuff sells faster. And you'll have less to put away at the end of the day if sells!! Oh yeah - have a quick plan for rain showers!! It happens and it's not fun - just buy some cheap painting tarps/plastic to cover everything if you need to. Good Luck and Have Fun!!

 

[marie32]

At my last garage sale I got alot of good advice from this
site as well.

The ones that worked best for me:

Hang clothes - I would put outfits together and put one price on them. Usually I sold a kids outfit for $3.00. I sold alot that way and didn't come down on price.

I used zip lock bags and put small toys with one theme together in one bag and sold them between 1.50 and 3.00 and darn if they didn't sell too. Alot of them were just happy meal toys.

I kept the kids stuff separate from household things.

My daughter sold coke.

I didn't put out anything with stains.

I also arranged in size.

My neighbor overpriced her stuff and you could tell the people didn't really want to look any more. So I would try and do the garage sell by yourself and not include anyone else.

The kids also loved going through the boxes where each item was a $1.00 or $2.00. The parents would generally give in if it was cheap enough.

Good Luck. Every little bit adds up.

P.S. Open Early

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

I think I will let my DD have a table & sell them for herself.

My niece is six now, and last summer when her parents were having yard sales, she helped them make a ton of money just by being cute and precocious. She sat at the table, and did her best to help, but kept telling shoppers that all the little cheap things were "$5.00". Well, lots of people negotiated with her just for fun, and she ended up collecting $2 or $3 each for many items that would have gone for 50 cents or $1. They did very well.

 

[Danemom]

I really recommend the special box for slightly stained clothes (mine were 25 cents each). People were buying them like crazy!

 

[Jomrog]

Thanks so much for the great ideas. Your replies were very helpful. Especially with the home deco stuff. I was figuring about $8-$10 for it. I read about the possibility of selling it on Ebay but personally, it seemed intimidating & way too much work IMO.

I have tossed most of the stained clothing & bleached the ones that I could & they look pretty good. I was thinking about $2-$3 for the nicer stuff so I think I'm right on target.

That's a cute story about the little girl negotiating price. My DD is a bit shy so I don't know how she will be. I am probably going to sell some bottled water & soda & let her take care of that. My DH laughed when I brought up the idea of having a popcorn machine (as a joke). I really don't want to create more work for myself.

Okay, now. How long did it take you to prepare? I am running out of places to put my stuff & am having a hard time figuring out how to organize it prior to the sale. Mainly it's the clothing. Did you sort by size or price? Right now I have it sorted in size ranges in garbage bags. The problem is that now I feel like I have to sort through it again to price it. Sorry, I'm such a newbie at this.

 

[Bildmouse]

You can sort until you're blue in the face and when people start going through it, it will be a mess. We usually sort according to sizes because I think it makes it easier for customers to find what they're looking for and they can always negotiate the price if they are really interested. When there is a lull in business try to straighten up the tables. If someone is looking for a specific size you will know where to send them.

 

[soccerchick]

I'd sort your clothes by size first. I usually have the nicer clothes separated, priced higher, and hanging from our garage door. I usually start everything else at 50 cents and have it sorted by size. If you run out of room to display everything the day of your sale, I've seen people put down blankets in the grass and then put the clothes on top of that. (Use an old shower curtain if it is dewy or wet).

Another thing I do is make signs on the computer. Example: I'll have a sign for "all clothes on table 50 cents". Then I'll make another that says "all clothes on table 25 cents" (or whatever) so that if things aren't selling or if I'm getting close to the time I want to end, I can try to move a few more things so I have less to pack up and carry to Salvation Army. I think this looks better than crossing out prices and writing in new, lower ones.

Make sure you have good signs out in your neighborhood-- bright/neon with arrows and YARD SALE prominent. Put these at the busiest streets. Don't do details about what you're selling on these signs. People won't be able to read them from their cars anyway.

My last bit of advice is one of my big pet peeves. Try to put the items in your driveway where people can see them. I hate it as a buyer when people leave all their stuff in their garage in nice weather and I can't see what they have. I usually am looking for a specific item and if I can't see what you've got, I won't stop. I understand if the weather is questionable, but not when the weather cooperates.

Good luck!

 

[DianeV]

One thing also..many cities require a permit for a yard sale and you are only allowed a certain amount. You may want to check with your city on that.

I find with kids clothes that if its a good brand in good shape you can get a few dollars but non branded clothes tend to go for under $1. For some reason our adult clothing doesnt go as well. We usually have something about most adult clothing being $2 or something unless its something special.

Also the number one thing we hear at our yard sales is how ours is the most organized and CLEAN people have been to and they appreciate that. I dont like going to one myself and seeing stuff that hasnt been washed down or cleaned. Yuck

 

[Jomrog]

Thanks my DIS friends. Great advice. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[seaotter]

Ten years ago, when I was getting ready to make a major move from the midwest to the northwest, we had three sales. We got rid of a lot of stuff for the first two, but there was still a lot of junkie stuff left. We didn't want to through it all away, but it was the kind of stuff that was hard to sell. So what we did was we advertised that it was a make-your-own price sale. OMG, I was shocked at how much people paid for things! Human nature is one strange thing...if you price stuff, people will try to talk you down. If you let them make their own prices, the'll pay twice what you would have asked!

I tried this a second time after I moved to the Northwest, only it was a charity sale. Same thing happened. People payed far more for stuff than what I would have asked for it. I probably wouldn't want to risk a sale like that if there was a lot of expensive things, but if your goal is to clear out a lot of household knick knacks, the make-your-own-price sale can go over very well. When I did the charity sale, there were a few items that I wanted to price (TV, computer...) so I created a single table of items that had prices and everything else I let people decide their prices. Really, it worked very well! I'd highly recommend it.

 

[welovedis]

Don't know if this is helpful regarding the clothing sorting, but I used some small boxes (Actually they are Priority Mail boxes that I was re-using from eBay purchases). I made sure they were not too big and not too small and sorted items by size. Then I used one flap of the box & taped it upright with the size written clearly in large, black lettering (2T Tops, 2T Bottoms, etc..) I used masking tape on each item with the price written on it and it worked well. If an item was a 2-piece, I used a safety pin to keep the pieces together. I also made sure there was plenty of room on the table around the clothing so people could easily look thru things. I also have tried separating by size on a table but that never seems to stay that way for long. I also have tried to do a price list and just refer people to that but that didn't work as well for me.

Once you decide how you are going to display the items (table, boxes, hanging) then you can figure how to price the items (whether individually or just 75 cents for shirts, 1.00 for pants or whatever). I would definitely price items individually that are a brand name like OshKosh, Old Navy, Gap or Gymboree, etc... as they will sell for more than a KMart shirt.

I agree about the stained items, keep them in a 25 or 50 cent box. I also like to collect the McDonald's type of toys that my son no longer wants or any odds and ends kind of toys and put them in a box marked '1 free toy with purchase" or something like that. It helps the parents if the kids can look for something that will occupy them while the parents looks around at your stuff to buy.

It usually takes me about a month to get everything ready for our garage sale and I am fortunate enough to have a great finished basement to store the things until the day of the sale. If you still feel frazzled just get up really early the day of the sale to make sure you are ready before the early birds.

I think the idea of selling cold bottled water and soda is a great way for your daughter to keep busy and have fun during the sale. We also sold the little bags of chips, fritos, etc.. that I bought at a warehouse club and we made ALOT on those and the sodas. During our last sale this spring we made enough to pay for our plan tixs and DS's PAP, so it was a great sale!

GOOD LUCK!

 

[MamaKate]

How do you all advertise for a Yard Sale.

I'm planning on having a yard sale next month & I got the whole orginizing thing put together, but I live in a very low traffic area & I'm worried no one will show up if I just post sign on a street.

How do you get people to know your having a yard sale. I called a local newspaper, but the price seemed a bit high. I'm trying to make profit not spend all the money on advertising.

Any Tips!!
,
Katherine

 

[Local_Girl]

Hi Katherine,

When we did our last garage sale, we posted neon poster board signs at busy intersections surrounding our neighborhood. We put our address on them and arrows to point the way. I made flyers that we took around to local grocery stores and even laundromats to post on their bulletin boards. We also put an ad in the paper, but we had a few higher ticket items and felt that the cost of the ad was justified in that we expected people to come to look specifically at those items we listed (crib, computer, etc.). I thought we had a steady stream of customers that day, and all in all it was a pretty good sale!

Anyway, hope some of these ideas work for you and good luck with your own sale!

 

[Jomrog]

seaotter--that's a great idea about making your own price. Maybe we can just have a table dedicated to those items.

These tips are super, everyone. Thanks, again.

 

[sweetheart2576]

I plan on selling a few little tikes things the whirly ride thing, a basketball set, sand box(crab or lobster)? They are all in good condition, any idea on what i should price them?

 

[ceecee]

I sold my Fisher Price sand box (similar to the lobster) for $20.00. I had the little lady bug sandbox (like new) and I sold it for $15.00. My little tikes vanity (the older small desk like one w/chair) I sold for $7.00. My ride on trike I sold for $10.00 (like new). The FP outside trike I also got $10.00 for. I had the large outside LT playset I sold for $75.00, the lady got there at 7:30 and waited (it was in the front yard). About 3 people were standing there wanting it...some lady hands me cash as soon as I opened the garage door! Guess I could have gotten more for that! It was a feeding frenzy!!!