Running A Successful Yard Sale
ABC’S of a Simple and Successful Sale
There may be snow on the ground, but it is never too early to begin planning for your first or next yard sale. That beloved time of year when flowers are blooming, the frost is long gone, and homeowners are absolutely fed up with their cluttered closets and garages. Taking a hard look at a cluttered garage can make you do one of two things, close the garage door and pretend you did not see any of it, or get rid of it all.
If you fall into the getting rid of it all category, then you may want to consider hosting a yard sale. Yard sales can be fun and quite profitable, if you follow a few basic steps. Organizing and marketing are the two most important parts of any successful sale. Organizing what you have can be made easier if you use cardboard boxes, storage bins, or crates. Sort through the “stuff” and decide if it is able to be resold. If it is broken, or heavily soiled, then set it aside to be thrown away. The goal is to resell items that are functioning, regardless of age. If you are selling small items, group them together, and tag them.
Tagging items may seem like a hassle, but it makes it so much easier for you and for the costumer on the day of the sale. If you want to keep all of your items at a certain price point, then group the items together and make one large sign that clearly shows the price.
One of the biggest mistakes I have seen people make at their yard sales is with their pricing. Pricing items too high will leave you with little sold and having to haul it all back into the garage. If the goal is to clear out the clutter from the garage or basement, then keep the items under $10. If you have items that are above that price point, consider selling them online.
After all the items have been organized, cleaned up, and priced, then you must focus on picking a date for the sale. Sales that are on the first of the month or around the middle of the month do better. Find out of you need to register your yard sale with your town. Most communities in my area require a permit at no cost to you. Some towns host town-wide sales and they tend to generate far more traffic than single home sales. In the past, I have asked my neighbors to consider having a street wide sale and they have always been quite successful.
Your yard sale is only as good as your signage. A simple, clearly written, YARD SALE sign with an arrow and one balloon is my favorite choice as a marker. They are highly visible and easy for people to follow. Too much information on a sign is confusing and unnecessary. I have been following yard sales signs for forty years and I can’t stress enough how important an arrow is. Nobody has time to read the small print on a busy road.
Advertise your sale with whatever free online sites that are available to you. I regularly check Craigslist for my local yard sales on Thursday night. Some yard sales are two day events that start on Friday.
Borrow tables from your family and friends and have them ready. Check the forecast and prepare accordingly. Yard sales in May and June tend to do very well. July and August is typically too hot for people unless you have canopies that you are able to set up to offer some shaded relief.
Make sure you have help on the day of the sale. A designated person to handle the money, and plenty of change. If you are not willing to accept bills over $20, then make a clear sign stating it and place it near the cashier table. If you are willing to accept cryptocurrency, or any other alternate form of payment, then make a sign for that too.
Have bags or boxes available for the larger items and the delicate items that will need to be wrapped. Free items can be placed at the end of the driveway and should be clearly labeled. Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to stop by. On the day of the sale remember to get up early, eat your breakfast, drink your coffee, and get out there early.
Your first group of shoppers are the professionals looking for specific hot ticket items like video games, jewelry, vinyls, vintage clothes, and comic books. If you don’t have any to sell, let them know so they can move on to the next sale. If you do have those items, be prepared to give them a price for all of it. Often they will want to purchase it all as a group rather than to spend too much time going through each item. I highly suggest that you do your homework on items that you are unsure about before the date of your yard sale.
You did the prep work so now have fun with it. In the last hour the items can be half price or better yet, “FREE”. Less to pack up and donate. If you have too much leftover then you need to look at what went wrong. Remember the initial goal here is to clear space. Let it go. A wise woman once said that holding on to our clutter is rooted in our inability to make decisions. Make the decision today to take back your cluttered closets, basement, and garage.
