Yard sale- where did I go wrong?!?

[McKelly]

I would try again. I had a rummage sale this past weekend and made $700.00 on kids clothing and toys. I advertised specifically the sizes I had, maybe that helped. The people that came asked me exactly where certain sizes were and picked out a lot of stuff. Keep trying, it might have just been an off weekend!! Good Luck!!

 

[luvdisney81]

I'm an expert at having yard sales. Tip I learned for clothes. DON'T fold them nice, seperate kids from adults but thats it. Put them in a pile and let them pick through, for some reason it sells SOOOO much better that way. If they can just glance over, they will, make them look. And after about 10am discount everything to go even faster. Offer paper bags for 3$, tell them to fill it up!

 

[RichAyers]

donate and write everything off......you'll make more than a yard sale and spend almost no time doing it.....I've done this for the last 3 yrs or so and my tax return is helped quite a bit

Rich Ayers

 

[mom2alix]

Originally posted by RichAyers
donate and write everything off......you'll make more than a yard sale and spend almost no time doing it.....I've done this for the last 3 yrs or so and my tax return is helped quite a bit

Rich Ayers

I second that! We used this software last year (our bank recommended it) and it made a huge difference in our tax return!

 

[crisi]

Another option is to donate it all and write it off on your taxes. You can use fair market value on your taxes - which is often three times as much or more as you will make at a yard sale (at $.50 an item). If you are in the 30% tax bracket - plus any state taxes, you can make more in tax savings than you can via yard sale, for much less work. I "make" over $300 a year doing this.

 

[stacilee]

We're here in South Carolina. There is a consignment chain store all over here called "Once Upon a Time" sizes newborn to girls size 12, (boys 12 too, I think) plus gently used toys and all sorts of baby paraphenalia. Stollers cribs paypens etc.
Look in your local phone book. This same chain runs a consignment store that features teen clothing (male and female) called "Plato's Closet".
You take all your offerings to them clean, in a laundry basket or box in the morning and they call you by the next afternoon with the amount of $$ they will offer you for what they chose out of the box. They only take what they think they can sell and when you go back in they show you what they chose. No need to make an inventory list or anything.

They will pay you Cash on the spot or you can choose a store credit.

I did this recently and I swear they only chose about 1/4th of what I offered and they paid me $36 for it. All the things they didn't select you get back (if you return in 24 or 48 hrs I think it was).
I have a friend that took her things to a "fancier" consignment shop and they offered her diddly for the GORGEOUS things she had. (thankfully, she said No Thanks.)

With what ever you get back, you can donate what you don't want or pass them on to a charity, a women's shelter -always happy for children's clothes or to a friend as hand-me-downs.
This was an effortless way to make funds available for new stuff.
Good Luck!

 

[nana2tots]

What sizes are they?????nana2tots

 

[Abra Cat]

We're in Asheville, so definitely west of Raleigh.

Originally posted by Deb T.
Hi Abra Cat,

Do you by chance live west of Raleigh? We also were part of a neighborhood sale last Saturday! Maybe we live in the same neighborhood! Anyway, I personally thought it was a very slow day. We've been participating in the neighborhood sale for five years, and this time we only had a fraction of the amount of people who usually stop in. I know it was graduation weekend, so that might be one reason why things were slower. We only made half of what I predicted. As far as clothes, I only had adult sizes, and everything was marked at a dollar. I also had a table of toys and two tables of miscellaneous stuff, plus three boxes of books and video tapes - most items were marked $0.10 - $0.50 and nothing was over $2.00. I definitely had everything priced to sell! However, by 10 a.m. I was handing out paper grocery sacks to the few people who came and said they could have anything they could fit in the bag for $5. Only four people took me up on that offer. I still ended up taking 9 full bags of stuff to Goodwill today. So, I don't think you did anything wrong - I honestly think it was just a bad weekend for garage sales. I wish us both better luck in the fall!

 

[tetrimble]

If there's one thing I've learned about selling children's clothing at yard sales, it's to make sure to list those items (including whether boy's or girl's clothing and the sizes) on the yard sale signs. Lots of people will come out to yard sales, but by advertising the clothing and the sizes, you will end up getting people who would not ordinarily stop. Since you have some great brand names, you could also include those on the sign if you wanted.

The main thing is that most people who go to a yard sale tend to go every weekend once the weather turns nicer. Those are the ones that will typically look for specific items or for collectibles. To entice those that don't normally do the "yard sale thing", you need to let them know exactly what they will be missing out on.

It's worked for me in the past and I've sold more children's clothing than anything else I've tried selling. While I can get rid of "big ticket" items like furniture, tools, etc. and smaller things like books and videos, clothing is still always my #1 seller.

 

[missypie]

I think it really depends on the location of your neighborhood. Are you within easy driving distance to the type of people who want or need to buy their or their kids' clothes at yard sales? Our neighborhood is sort of tucked away and I almost never can sell kids' clothes (except some people buy them for craft projects!) A friend of mine lives in a similar neighborhood, but is fairly close to a large immigrant population, and she sells everything she puts out.

I have a friend who has daughters younger than mine, so I give her all the girls' clothes in good condition. Another friend has a son younger than mine, so I give her first dibs on the boys' clothes. If something is stained or torn or just worn out, it gets pitiched. Everything else gets donated. It's quick and we get a tax deduction.

 

[disneymom3]

We had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. Had lots of nice kids stuff--baby clothes that still had tags, name brands, etc and no one even looked at it! We had crowds and sold a LOT of stuff but maybe three clothing items sold. Totally surprised as in the past I have spend quite a bit of time refolding and reoroganizing and we didn't have to do that at all!

Weird!

 

[kilee]

I have to say-- I went to a yard sale last week. The women had all brand name stuff-- Tommy Hilfiger, Land's End, Northern Refelctions, American Eagle, Ralph Lauren. She had everything marked $.25-.50. I bought quite a bit. I went back to her sale a few hrs later to see what was left--- NOTHING!! Well clothing wise anyhow. She had sold all of it. It really comes down to pricing. I go most Friday's and Saturday's. I walk right out of many sales within 30 seconds due to ridiculous prices (IMO). I'm not paying $20.00 for a used car seat, or $3 for used clothing. A yard sale isn't ebay, or a consignment shop. It essentially should be the cheapest way to get rid of stuff.

 

[Abra Cat]

That's how it was for me— I hardly had to refold anything, which makes me think it wasn't my prices as much as no one wanted kids' clothes.

Originally posted by disneymom3
We had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. Had lots of nice kids stuff--baby clothes that still had tags, name brands, etc and no one even looked at it! We had crowds and sold a LOT of stuff but maybe three clothing items sold. Totally surprised as in the past I have spend quite a bit of time refolding and reoroganizing and we didn't have to do that at all!

Weird!