Yard Sale Success Stories... Share yours!

[MeanLaureen]

Well no secret here I have been working on a huge yard sale and it's driving me nuts.

Lift my spirits, how about sharing your yard sale success stories with us?

What's the most you have made at a yard sale? What kind of stuff did you sell?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I had one a month ago and made $500! Most I ever made was $1200. It a huge sale I worked on for 3 weeks & I had alot of furniture that sold.

 

[MosMom]

The most I've made is $500. I sold a cream rug, an old suitcase set, clothes, knick knacks....hmmmm it has been about 5 years and now I can't remember everything I had. The bulk was household items.

Every other garage sale I have done between $200-$250 with exception of the one year we had one on May day that was 40 degrees and nobody came. I think I made $16. BUT, that was RARE.

 

[Big V]

We had one a few weeks ago on a Saturday and made a little over $400.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I was in charge of one at ds school and we made like over $1000. I only advertised it in the one paper that I knew everyone reads. You should put signs up everywhere with arrows, balloons etc. Hang one up in the local grocery store etc. People laugh at me. They know I will never start bargaining until after lunch. I have done it a few years now, but this year I might take a year off, unless someone begs me. Big sellers were christmas decorations, strange this year, and pictures and paintings. Boy some of those were real ugly if you ask me, but they all sold out. Clothes didnt sell well so they banned it this year. Gee, go figure. The school them recyles good items that do not sell and it goes to the christmas store. If you dont want your articles back, donate them to charity and get a receipt etc., a local shelter, books to the library etc. It depends on where you live etc. Do look and watch people to make sure they arent ripping you off/stealing etc. Arrange things by groups and attractively etc. Put stuff at lower levels for kids etc. Good luck and much success.

 

[JESW]

I doubt I'll ever have one, but I do like going to them.

Just some suggestions...feel free to ignore.

Price everything - can be annoying trying to track the person down to get a price.

Put things in categories...books in one area...home stuff in another..

If you have some junky stuff then put it in a box and say the kids can pick one thing for free. That has helped me at sales with my kids when there is nothing for them but I still want to look.

If you have them, put stuff on tables - lots of people put things on blankets on the ground and it's not always easy for us older folks to get down and then back up.

Hope you have a good sale!!

Jill

 

[tinaluis]

We had a 2 day garage sale the week after Easter and made $1,175. We sold tons of Disney videos, household items like old coffee pots, crock pots, glassware, knick knacks, 2 strollers, comforter sets, Little Tikes Play Kitchen, and lots of girls clothes (we have three DDs). Everything was priced to sell and almost everything did. Good luck to you.

 

[OhMari]

I had a rummage sale 10 years ago and made $60. I sold a lot of blankets and comforters, sheets.

I just don't have time any more. I usually bag up clothes and take it to our Good Will store and take the tax deduction.

My Sister-in-law is addicted to Rummage Sales. When she is done with the clothes she buys for her daughter, she turns around and takes her things to a consignment shop and she says she makes more money than if she has a rummage sale. She has 1 dd and her and her husband make well over $100,000 a year. I don't get her.

Her daughter who is 4 has 4 winter coats for next year already and she will buy at least 2 more.

I could rant all day about my sister-in-law, thank God she live 30 miles away and I don't have to see her.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Oh yea, I forgot to say that the new trend is to have a Fri/Sat sale. Makes sense to do so because you get 2 days of of it. Many people have said that their Saturdays are just to overbooked and that they only shop Fri sales.
I made most of my money on Fri, if you can believe that.

 

[Jeafl]

I hate having them, but I am biting the bullet and having one the weekend of June 21 with a friend of mine. Around here people usually have them Thurs., Fri. and Sat., with Thursday being the busiest day. I have so much stuff to get rid of including patio furniture, 2 bikes, a vanity, an entire set of dishes with serving pieces, curtains, clothes, and tons more stuff. I hope it all goes because I am sick of looking at it.

 

[powellrj]

I use to do them all the time, but its just more than I want to deal with now so I take everything to goodwill also. The most I ever made was about $1000, but it was lots of work. The last one I had was for 4 hours and I just put everything out on tables and let people fill up grocery sacks for a set price. It was 6 years ago and I don't remember what the price was per bag, but I made $400 and was done by noon!!

 

[Virgo10]

I had one 5 weeks ago and made over $700! I'm having part 2 this coming Saturday and I've been marking things all day. So far the weather is looking great for the 5th but I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

Roberta

 

[hercamore]

Well,

It's been at least l0 years since I've had one, but (sigh) we're having one with a few neighbors on June l8.

We can't get basement door open anymore, LOL.

Im trying to get some extra cash for dd and ds (college), but items sell really cheap aroudn here so don't expect to make much.

I will keep JESW ideas in mind. I am hoping to burn some caoloiries lifting, sorting, and carrying stuff from downstairs., LOL.

Good luck, herc.

 

[MeanLaureen]

Thanks for the replies!

I wish I could have a Fri/Sat yardsale but we both work on Friday. How do Sat/Sun sales do?

We have been sorting and pricing for 3 days now!!

Cool thing we did was get a pack of Avery labels (#05418) - they are like small price tags and you get 40 to a sheet, 1000 in the pack for under $4. You can download a template at avery.com so that you can print the price tags right on your computer. We just made sheets of all the basic price points. It makes it so much easier than putting everything down, writing, tearing off the sticker, sticking it on. Plus it's nice and neat black block letters, easy to read. It's made everything so much easier!

I would be ecstatic if we made $1000!!

I have some great plans for signing - the artist in my is coming out Last time I had a yard sale (8-9 yrs ago) I received so many compliments on my signs and how easy it was to read and follow them. I think this year I might add a little gimmic to it to get attention - remember those Burma Shave signs from years ago??

Couple more questions.. Beanie Babies - I know they are not worth squat anymore. I have a ton from maybe the second year of production to 2 yrs ago. What kind of price point on those?

I have a wedding dress from my first marriage - think it cost me about $800 ish - very pretty dress with a lot of beading - very formal. Is $100 too much to ask?

Thanks for the imput!!

 

[Virgo10]

Originally posted by MeanLaureen

Couple more questions.. Beanie Babies - I know they are not worth squat anymore. I have a ton from maybe the second year of production to 2 yrs ago. What kind of price point on those?

I have a wedding dress from my first marriage - think it cost me about $800 ish - very pretty dress with a lot of beading - very formal. Is $100 too much to ask?

Don't know too much about Beanie Babies. The few I had, I priced at $1 each and they all sold.

I think your price on the dress is OK but I might price it higher... say $200, if it's in good condition. If it doesn't sell in the yard sale you could always put an ad in your local paper. You could also post a free ad on this site:
http://www.craigslist.org/

Just find the city closest to you and post away. I've been using CL for a couple of months now and have had pretty good luck. It's free and you can put an ad in as often as you want to.

Roberta

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Thanks, everyone!

I have a question of my own -- I have a ton of carpet samples that I've accumulated (thankfully I'm a carpet sales rep, or that would be really weird! ). They're mostly 18" x 27" size and would be good for floor mats. How much? Would $1 be too much, or would $.50 be right?

 

[Jeafl]

Obi-Wan Pinobi, I use those all the time as my "winter" floor mats in my cars. They are great for keeping slush and mud off your car's carpet. I would think $1.00 a piece is a fair price. If you see people looking at them but not buying, I would then drop the price.

I would also go higher in the dress, maybe $150. Make sure you hang it up high where it's easily seen and won't drag on the floor. People are very careless when they look at garage sale clothes.

 

[Lynn CC]

I've had about 6 in the past years. I've made from $2000 all the way down to $100. It's a lot of work. People like things displayed in clear plastic bags for some reason.
I think it depends on how many people you get and what you have that they may be interested in buying.
Good Luck!

I've been debating to have one or take the things to the church for a Fair that they are having.
I have a lot of stuff again, I don't know where it comes from!

 

[tc]

I am having one on Saturday, June 5. We are moving and I just don't want to move boxes I've never opened since my last move. My goal is to get rid of stuff. We collected everything together on Monday. On Friday we will sort and price. I only had this week to prepare because I've been gone for two weeks at my daughter's wedding, so I'm pretty stressed. In addition to the garage sale, we are boxing the rest of the house to move.

I hope I make enough to buy on AP, then I think I'm a shoe in for a WDW trip in October. We already have a trip planned next May for our 25th wedding anniversary, but I need a vacation. If I can buy one AP, then the May trip will be that much cheaper.

Wish me luck, I've only had one garage sale on my own in the past.