Misc. Tips

-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

Advertising:

-Be sure to place a sign at the end of your street, and at the end of other streets in your neighborhood. Also, post some signs on main roads outside your neighborhood.

-Post flyers for your yardsale on bulletin boards in your community. Some places you can post these include civic centers, grocery stores, laundry mats, etc.

-About a week ahead of time, be sure to tell your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and fellow church members about your yard sale. Tell them the kinds of things you’ll have and encourage them to tell people they know.

-Post about your yardsale on your blog. If you have friends and family who you may not talk to on a regular basis, but they read your blog, this will be a great way to get the word out to them. You may even have blog followers who’d be interested in purchasing items from you that don’t sell at your yard sale.

-Place an adveritsement in the newspaper. Be sure that you list some specific items in the ad. Some things that will bring the people in are baby clothes and baby toys/items, children’s clothes, furniture, toys, and antiques. You may also want to specifically list big items such as a couch or table and chairs, and you may want to list the clothing sizes that you’ll be selling.

-Depending on what you’re selling, you may want to contact local shop owners or flea market booth owners. My parents used to sell a lot of antiques, and they’d have a lot of antique dealers and flea market dealers come and buy a lot of stuff.

Advertising Sign Tips:

-If you are having a 2-Day yardsale, you should make 2 different signs, one that says, “Friday & Saturday,” and another that just says “Saturday.” At the end of the day on Friday, you can take down your Friday & Saturday sign, and replace it with your “Saturday Only” sign. “Why?” You ask. If someone drives by on Saturday morning and sees your yardsale sign, they will be more likely to stop if your sign says “Saturday Only.” If they see that the sign says, “Friday & Saturday,” they may assume that all your best stuff was already sold on Friday and they’ll go on to another sale.

-Be sure that your sign is sturdy enough to withstand winds without bending or blowing away. Cardboard is a good material to use or you could something sturdy from the craft store. Also, be sure that your writing is large and dark enough to see.

-Do not let kids help make the sign.

-Keep your sign simple and neat, and be sure that the writing is legible. Also, have one person make your signs to be sure that handwriting on the signs is the same. This way when people see all the signs you have out, there will be no doubt that they are advertising the same sale.