Archives for 2009

-If you have friends, family members, or neighbors that want to have a yard sale, you should consider having your sales together. This way you’ll have more items at your sale, which means people will be more likely to stop, and if you’re advertising in the paper, it’s a plus to be able to say that you are having a “2 family (or more) yardsale.”

-Or if you know that another family on your street will be having a yard sale, you could consider coordinating yours around the same time. If people are looking in the paper for yard sales to hit, they’ll be more likely to go to areas where there is more than one sale going on.

-For quick pricing, buy the price stickers that are pre-made. It saves so much time.

-If you really want to get rid of stuff, plan to do price mark downs. If you’re having a two day sale, do your mark downs at the end of the first day. And if you’re having a one day sale, do your mark downs around lunch time.

-Be sure that you are up at least an hour before your sale will start. Even if you put a note in your ad that says, “no early birds,” you are bound to have some. Many yard sale enthusiasts leave out before the sun is up to start hitting yard sales. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Display Tips:

-If you can’t get racks for clothes, you could hang clothes on your front porch or get some wire to create a temporary clothesline.

-If you don’t have enough table space, try moving your items closer together and place big items somewhere else, perhaps on the ground.

-There are many things you can use to substitute for a lack of table space. If you have a pickup truck, you can put the tail gate down and place items on the bed of the truck.

-Lay out an old bed sheet on the ground, and you can put a lot of toys, books, and other items on it.

-If you’re selling any tables, you could use them to display other items temporarily.

-If you have a lot of books to sell, consider bringing one of your bookshelves outside to display your books.

-Boxes and tubs that your items were once stored in, can be used to make temporary tables. Just lay few on them on their sides, and you’re good to go.

Finding Things to Sell:

-The obvious source for items to sell is the attic, garage, and basement, but you should look around the entire house for items that may be unnecessary and better off in a yard sale.

-Always go through your closets. Pull out any clothes that don’t fit or that haven’t been worn in a long time. Do the same with shoes.

-Go through kitchen cabinets and drawers and discard any items that never get used. Don’t forget to go through the “junk drawer” if you have one.

-Go through the toys in your child’s room and get rid of things that never get played with. (Tell your kids who may object to this, that if you find some things to get rid of, then there will be money to buy new stuff in the future.)

-Look around your home office. Get rid of unnecessary supplies, books, magazines, etc.

-Consider de-cluttering your bathroom. If you have a lot of extra shower gels, bubble baths, and body mists that never get used, sell them.

-And of course, if you have your own etsy shop or a home based business, this is a good time to put some of the items that you sell out on display. Even though it’s a yard sale, and people are expecting to pay cheap prices, if they see something they like that’s brand new, they will be willing to buy it. (Don’t forget to have some business cards available.)

-You should also consider selling refreshments. Take out a cooler and fill it full of ice and bottled waters. You could also sell sodas if you’d like. And if you have kids, you can let them run their own lemonade stand. You can also offer homemade snacks like cookies, brownies, or cake slices.

-Jerri