Yard Sale Tips and Tricks Thread

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I do not know if this thread has been posted before but I think if not we need one. I think that a yard sale thread is right on topic for a budget board. We can post our ideas for having your own yard sale. Going to yard sales. What to do ...what not to do. Anything really. With yard sale season upon us I think it is perfect timing.

My first tip is don't overprice. I went to a yard sale last weekend. There were really nice girls clothes but they were so overpriced that no one bought anything. She wanted $2 a piece for items and sold everything individually even P.J.'s. I would much rather get a lower price and get it sold that keep firm and bring it back inside.


Anyone else?

 

[Makdyn]

This is a great idea. I plan of having a couple this summer. I will be reading. I have no tips usually we only have once a summer and we just put everything out and hope that it sells.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

This is a great idea. I plan of having a couple this summer. I will be reading. I have no tips usually we only have once a summer and we just put everything out and hope that it sells.

I wanted this thread to be for everyone that has an interest in yard sales. Even if you never ever want to have one but you like to go to them, put your comments here.

 

[Blondiex46]

As I said I decided to have one this weekend and will keep having them until I get enough money for the June trip. It depends on what it is how it sells. I am selling a Total Gym that is unused. I have all the parts and the directions are ripped. Any idea on how much you would sell it for. I am going to try to find out who much it was new, not that will matter.

 

[Vickie46]

I love to go to them.. this past week.. I found 2 Little Tikes Coupes.. one for 2.00 and one for 3.00.. I put them both on Craigslist.. and sold them for 20.00 each.. I also sold a Little Tikes Football Toy Chest for 25.00 and only paid 3.00 for it... I love Craigslist... stuff I find from going to garage sales!

Also.. I am in the process of getting ready to have my own too! So I am thrilled about this topic.. I need some ideas.. I know my little one can't wait to have a snack stand.. it usually does great... I think its all in the child... people will give children 50 cents just to see them smile...

Good luck everyone!

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

My kids are going to sell a few snacks as well. (Since there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground we have time to plan) They are going to get the cases of Walmart brand soda and sell them for .50 each. I don't like the idea of homemade items but Sam's Club sells their snack foor at a pretty good price. If you look at the price tag in small print it will tell you haow much each item is. So if a rice krispie treat costs .25 to buy you can sell it for .50.

 

[Cruz Family]

My only tip is to put price tags on things. There is nothing I hate more then going to a yard sale and having to ask the sellers prices! Besides, I am way more likely to buy something I am not really looking for if I notice a good price on it.

 

[LynnTH]

We have garage sales every year. Usually at my Moms house and we usually have about 8-10 different families in the sale - so, it is pretty big. Which is great because more people stop when they see that the garage and driveway is overflowing with stuff. (Many times I will drive by a sale when I only see a few tables set up)

Someone had previously said to "mark everything". I second that. I hate asking how much something is.

Also, I think advertising and signage can be huge. We always advertise in a few papers (we split the cost with all the families in the sale). We also put up tons of signs. Make sure the signs are big enough so people can actually read them when driving by (I hate those little bitty signs that have so much written on it - the only way you could see it is if you stopped your car and got out to look). Also - put arrows to direct traffic to your sale. We also have those flags we hang up in the yard -so, people can see where the sale is. (You know those flags you see in front of new homes and such)

I also hang up as many pieces of clothing as possible. I also group them according to gender and size ( I actually went online and found size markers like in the stores - so, I have 2 of each from 3Months all the way to adult size 18 and XS to XL. These have come in very handy and people can go to the size there are looking for) I sell a lot of kids clothes and I don't mark them to give them away either. But, I also will not sell anything with stains or holes in them.

We also group things in like departments and on separate tables (our church has a a bunch of tables that are older that we can borrow at any time) So, like a table or two each for clothes, toys, holiday stuff, glassware, kitchen stuff, linens, purses/bags etc.

As stated in other threads. I have done goody bags for boys and girls with all the little kids stuff that your kids accumulate from Happy Meals and Birthday Parties and such. I put 5-6 items in each bag and mark them for $1. I sold all 20 of them I made last year.

My work also has a big popcorn machine, so I made popcorn and sold bags of that for $1. Will do that again this year as I did pretty good with that last year.

Can you tell I love having garage sales. I am in one at my friends house in a month. It is the annual Woodbury Sales and it is huge. People come from hours away to shop at this yearly sale. The streets are just car to car with people. I can't wait - it is going to be so much fun (and hopefully make me some good vacation money...)

 

[robinb]

My kids are going to sell a few snacks as well. (Since there is still 2 feet of snow on the ground we have time to plan) They are going to get the cases of Walmart brand soda and sell them for .50 each.

I, for one, would never buy crappy Wal*Mart soda from a yard sale. *blech* Keep your eyes out for specials on brand-name sodas instead and stock up in advance. Wal*Mart bottled water should be OK.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I, for one, would never buy crappy Wal*Mart soda from a yard sale. *blech* Keep your eyes out for specials on brand-name sodas instead and stock up in advance. Wal*Mart bottled water should be OK.

I don't think it is that bad. I am not opening a store and Walmart soda is better than a dixie cup of lemonade sold for .50

 

[robinb]

I don't think it is that bad. I am not opening a store and Walmart soda is better than a dixie cup of lemonade sold for .50

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't buy it and I suspect that I am not alone. Seriously. I would go thirsty or buy a Diet Coke from one of your neighbors and pay more. You could probably make the same per can profit on regular name brand stuff if you tried and you are more likely to sell Coke or Pepsi v/s Wal*Mart cola.

FWIW, I would buy the dixie cup of lemonade over Wal*Mart cola, especially if it were being sold by a child. I'm usually a sucker for the snacks and the little kids.

 

[Vickie46]

I can tell you I am a sucker for those Walmart 25 cents Sams cola.. I like the fruit punch... Its not that bad really.. and its cheap!

I do like DR PEPPER the best.. but 25 cents is much easier to come up with..

 

[Plantlady]

I can tell you I am a sucker for those Walmart 25 cents Sams cola.. I like the fruit punch... Its not that bad really.. and its cheap!

I do like DR PEPPER the best.. but 25 cents is much easier to come up with..

I too.. after shopping at walmart, plop my 25 cents into the sam's choice machine, and walk away with a soda.

 

[robinb]

Here are some very popular tips from a veteran DIS member LilMermaid. I don't know if she is around, but I saved her tips in case I ever wanted to have a garage sale. Many people on the Budget Board have followed her advise over the years with great success. Enjoy .

GARAGE SALE TIPS by LilMermaid
(or "How to Make Some Extra $$$$ for Your WDW Vacation)

Before you read this tips, keep in mind that what worked for me may not necessarily work for you. But, I have had four very successful garage sales (netting $700, 800, $1300, and $1341 respectively)???.so, there might be some merit to some of these tips, LOL! Do realize also that I take my garage-saleing very seriously J! I put a lot of time and effort into preparing for my sales, and I truly believe that the amount of money you make is directly proportional to the amount of time spent preparing for the sale!

PRE-SALE PREPARATION

Be ruthless when cleaning out closets, cabinets and such when looking for items to sell. If we haven't used something in the last year, it's outta here!

Clean all of your sale items ---Face it???people WILL be turned off by dirty goods! Nicer kids clothes should be washed and hung up (I save all the hangers I get from stores and dry cleaners for this very purpose). If an item is stained, I try to get the stain out, and if I can't, it goes in the trash. No one wants to buy stained clothes! Ditto for missing buttons, snaps
and broken zippers (although I will sell coats with broken zippers if they are in good condition for $1-2 dollars, because most people will be willing to have a zipper fixed on a nice coat)

Clean those toys???diapers wipes are great for wiping down kid's toys. I also put toys (without moving parts) in the dishwasher???you'd be amazed at the difference it makes???some look practically brand new, and this makes a huge difference in the amount of $$$ you can ask!

Wash those stuffed animals in the washing machine???yes, I know the tag says not to, but I've been doing it for years and have never had a problem. Set them out in the sun to dry (do not put them in the dryer), and you will be rewarded with clean-smelling, fluffy stuffed animals, which can command a decent price! The only stuffed animals you can't wash are the really old kind that have styrofoam in them. Any decent stuffed animal made within the last 6-7 years will be fine!

Throw kids' outgrown tennis shoes in the washer also! Set them in the sun to dry. I've sold tons of my toddler tennis shoes because of this???they look practically new (which they are, because kids outgrown those things so darn fast!)

To sum it up, clean items sell better than dirty ones!

On broken items --- I don't sell things that are broken (with the exception of electronics, because there seems to be a good market for this). If something is broken, put a label on it indicating that it is broken, and price it accordingly.

On pricing items: I've been to many sales where NOTHING is priced???you must "ask"! IMHO, this is ridiculous???everything should have a price sticker on it, and the sticker should be placed where it is easily seen. When pricing the nicer clothes that are going on hangers, I write the size below the
price???I got lots of compliments on that at my last sale.

How I typically price items: I take great care to keep my children's clothes in good condition, and while not all are "big name" (Oshkosh, Gap, Gymboree), I tend to price on the high side. If an outfit is "big name", I will price it at about $3.75 to $4.75, depending on the outfit. If it is a lesser name, I will put it in the $2.25 to $3.25 range. I tend to use prices like $3.75 instead of $4, because it seems so much cheaper! These prices are for 2 piece outfits and nicer dresses. Nice separtes (shirts and pants) are typically priced at $1.25 to $2.50. Kids shoes are typically $1 to $2. Baby equipment which is clean and in good condition: Highchair $25, Exersaucer
$25, portacrib $35, johnny jump up $10, crib $50, baby blankets $1, baby bottles 25 cents each (people will buy old baby bottle nipples for feeding puppies---bag those up and price them at 10 for $1J).

PREPARING FOR THE SALE

Having enough tables is very important. If you are short on tables, you can lay planks on sawhorses or strong boxes in a pinch.

Displaying clothes: I don't pile my tables high with children's clothes. As I said earlier, the nicer clothes (which I would ask $1.50 and up for) go on hangers and are hung on rods suspended from the tracks of the garage door on either side of the garage. When putting the children's clothes on the rod, I have different sections for boys and girls clothes, and in each section, I group them according to size, from smallest to largest. Also, if you have 2-piece clothing you aren't hanging up, pin them together with a safety pin.

The only clothes which I may not price are my 10 cent and 25 cent clothes???if I have something that isn't torn or stained, but isn't especially nice, I'll put them all in a box with a sign on the front saying 10 cents each or 25 cents each. These always sell! And, I usually end up going 5 for $1 (on the
25 cent stuff) or 12 for $1 (on the 10 cent stuff).

Ziploc bags???..are my secret weapon, LOL! I put small items and items with several pieces in ziploc bags, and write the price on the bag. For some weird reason, when people see things in ziploc bags, they BUY them! These are some of the things I typically put in ziploc bags: toddler shoes, jewelry, kids socks (4 for $1), , baby t-shirts (2 or 3 for $1), parts to toys (tape the bag onto the toy), small decorative/craft-type items, belts, newer linens (use the larger bags, naturally), and anything nice that I don't want to get stained with many different people handling it.

If you are selling children's toys, attach any instructions or papers that came with the toy (if you keep these things). If you are really obsessive like me, you might even have the original box???that alone will get you a higher price! I do not sell broken toys. If a toy is missing a piece, I'll call the manufacturer to see if I can get a replacement (and I've done that several times, and have received the parts for free!) If I can't get a replacement, I'll indicate that it is missing a piece.

Old cassette tapes (except for children's tapes) don't sell very well! But, old record albums do!

Paperbacks and hardback books are good sellers if priced reasonably. 25 cents for a paperback, and 50 cents to a dollar for a hardcover are what we usually use.

Adult clothes don't sell very well, regardless of price???you might want to donate these to Goodwill and take the tax deduction!

ADVERTISING YOUR SALE

I can't stress the importance of this enough! We live in the suburbs of St. Paul, MN, and we advertise our sales in the major St. Paul newspaper AND the weekly neighborhood paper. It costs about $40 for both ads, but the expense is definitely worth it.

Signs: You need signs???lots of signs! We typically hang up at least 15 signs within a 1-1/2 mile radius of the house (my husband does this). White poster board is not a great idea???use ONE bright NEON color (we like orange) for all your signs. The neon posterboard is a bit more expensive, but here is what we do: We make a few signs with a full size posterboard with the important information, and have an arrow pointing in the direction of our house. Then, every other block or so, we hang another sign (in the same NEON color) that is only half a poster board with the word SALE in big bold letters with a directional arrow. Since the signs are all the same color, they are
basically just following the arrows. And, don't forget a big sign for your front yard! We had a lot of comments about how easy it was to find our sale because of the great signage.

SETTING UP THE GARAGE

When laying out everything in your garage, place the toys in the back of the garage. People will have to walk by everything else to get to them, and they will undoubtedly see something else which catches their eye! Also, put a few of the larger "hot" items out in the driveway (such as Little Tykes play
equipment or something along those lines) to entice those people driving by to stop!

Try not to put things under the tables, as most people won't see them. While I prefer having most things on tables, there usually aren't enough tables to go around. Set larger items in the driveway, and set smaller items (non-breakable, of course) in boxes in the driveway. I usually will set the box on top of an empty box turned upside down, so that people don't have to stoop over.

WHEN TO HAVE YOUR SALE

When is the best time of year to have a garage sale? Well, that depends on where you live. We are Texas natives, but we live in Minnesota now. In Texas, garage sales are year round. But, in Minnesota (and many other northern states, I would imagine) garage sales are normally only held from April through September. We have always found FALL to be the best time to have a sale. Face it???if you have a sale in late spring or summer when EVERYONE else is having theirs, yours will be "just one more on the list". But, if you have your sale in the fall, after the kids are back in school, there are fewer garage sales held at that time. Consequently, people who love to garage sale will be lined up at your door at the crack of dawn waiting to buy you out!

Do not plan a sale over a holiday weekend.

And, last but not least, my best tip (for which you may think I'm crazy)???have your sale over 2 days, but NOT 2 consecutive days. On our last sale, we had the first day of the sale on a Saturday (we made $800). After that, we took down the signs, reorganized, and re--advertised for the following Friday. On the second day (the following Friday), we made $500+. By doing this, we got the typical Saturday garage salers the first time, and the following Friday, we got the people who can't go to garage sales on Saturdays for one reason or another. Having a garage sale on 2 consecutive days just doesn't get the job done, IMHO. Especially if it is a Friday/Saturday sale. Very few people will come on Saturday if they know you actually started the sale the previous day???they figure the good stuff is already gone. By moving the second day to the next week, you get a whole new crop of customers! It definitely worked for us.


LilMermaid
Lover of all things POLY!

 

[Livin'4Disney]

Always have it the first weekend of the month (people have cash in hand from pay day!)

Never do a "multi or joint" yard sale with friends neighbors (you definitely won't make as much $$ if you do)

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

Great ideas on that last post. I do like the two non-consecutive days for a sale. I never thought about it before.

 

[Local_Girl]

I agree with the pricing tip. Also, clean up your stuff when possible. I'm much more likely to spend time looking at clean stuff at a garage sale versus stuff that's grimy, dusty, and disorganized. When we do our own garage sales, we're careful to clean our stuff and organize things so they're easy to see and access and have had customers comment that they appreciated it.

Also, if selling a big item with lots of parts, be SURE to have everything together. We sold a crib to a family and found an important (make that vital) piece that we had forgotten to include. We put it aside, and fortunately the family remembered where they had purchased the crib several weeks later. They came back and we were able to give them the piece, but we felt terrible about forgetting it in the first place and had no idea how to reach the customer.

Keep extension cords/batteries on hand to test electronic items. Don't let strangers into your house to use the phone or bathroom...be prepared to direct them to the nearest public restroom. Have some plastic grocery bags on hand for customers that purchase a bunch of small items. Be sure to have plenty of change first thing in the morning...but I'd recommend pricing things in increments of $.25 so you shouldn't have to deal much with small change.

 

[PaulaSue]

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't buy it and I suspect that I am not alone. Seriously. I would go thirsty or buy a Diet Coke from one of your neighbors and pay more. You could probably make the same per can profit on regular name brand stuff if you tried and you are more likely to sell Coke or Pepsi v/s Wal*Mart cola.

FWIW, I would buy the dixie cup of lemonade over Wal*Mart cola, especially if it were being sold by a child. I'm usually a sucker for the snacks and the little kids.

Ditto on both points!

 

[Colinsmom]

We had our first garage sale two summers ago before we moved. Friday-Saturday were the "normal" garage sale days around there. So we opened up Thursday evening from 4-7 or 5-8 while we were setting up. We had tons of traffic (caught people on their way home from work who needed to satisfy that garage sale itch a day early, lol) and easily made $500-600 that night. I don't know that I'd recommend selling while setting up necessarily, but those few hours were well worth it to be open! I also like to open earlier in the morning - if most sales start at 8 or 9am, then open your doors and be ready to go at 7am! (Get people while they still have money in their pockets!)

I agree that adult clothes don't sell well at all, with the exception of DH's t-shirts priced really cheap. But we don't bother any more - we get more by donating it and taking the tax deduction.

We had a second garage sale after we moved, and made almost $4000 that summer in garage sales! Made another $500 last summer! (Yes, we had a TON to sell!)

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I giving this thread a bump....did anyone have a sale this weekend? Did anyone go to a few sales? How did you do?