Garage/Yard sale pros

We want to have our first yard sale but have no idea where to start or when to have it. Any tips?

Re: Garage/Yard sale pros

First, figure out when you want to have it - Saturday's are usually the best.

The key is making large, clear, concise signs and post them all around the neighborhood and on main roads. I can't tell you how many yard sale signs i've seen that i've slowed down to see where the sale might be, and can't read it.
If you can't read it from a car driving by, you'll lose people.

Put things out on tables, blankets on the grass etc. Have hanging racks for clothes, boxes of shoes/bags etc.
Presentation is key - people are more likely to look at something nicely presented than go digging through a lot of boxes and stuff just thrown on a table.

I've done pricing two ways - where we put a sticker on everything with a price, or where we've just put things out and have people ask you. If you don't have prices, you'll tend to just make things up on the spot and sometimes if there's a lot of people there it can get hectic trying to think of pricing on the fly. People usually respond better when there's a price already on there.
But be realistic in your pricing. People go to yard sales to get bargains. Even if you have something labeled for $1, people will offer you 50 cents!

Have a lot of loose change/small bills on you.

If your goal is to just get rid of stuff, then you should be good. If your goal is to make a lot of money, well it depends on what you have i guess. Furniture is the only real money maker.
Price clothing at $1 per item, or more for fancier things. Give people bulk discounts etc.

Have plastic bags for people too.

Be prepared for people showing up early and be prepared to shoo them away. We've had people show up and knock on our door the night before!! (we put up signs the night before) The same people came back at 6:30 the following morning when the signs all said 9 pm.

If you have a lot of one item, list it on your signs. People like baby items, baby clothing, toys, furniture.
We had people drive up and yell from the car to ask if we had any electronics, scrap metal, or costume jewelry - those are the people who just drive around all day and go from sale to sale looking for very specific things.

you'll probably meet any neighbors you don't know as well!
Oh, you could also go in on it with a neighbor if you're close with any of them. Giant multi-family yard sales tend to get a lot of traffic too

hope that helps!

Message edited 5/13/2013 4:37:33 PM.

Garage/Yard sale pros

DH and I had one when we were moving 2 years ago. We were newbies, so we made a TON of posters and posted them all over our town on telephone polls. We drove our cars up to our main cross street with a garage sale sign. We posted an ad on CL about it as well. We had it on the first weekend in October, I think now is a perfect time to hold one- we are seeing more and more signs around our neighborhood for the

We just wanted to get rid of everything (anything that didnt sell we just threw out), so we priced everything low. Had a lot of grouped specials (5 dvds for $5, 5 shirts for $10 etc). Furniture we sold very cheap- $20 for a couch, $15 for a kitchen table, etc. We made a decent amount of money and were only left with a few bags of stuff that we just tossed.

The one thing that we completely sold out of was jewelry- we had a ton of collectors coming by looking for any antiques, gold pieces and watches. I found that these type of people were very specific in what they wanted, and didn't bother looking through the "junk".


Good Luck

Re: Garage/Yard sale pros

Advertise on Craig's list...and put up 6-8 colorful big oak tags

I was surprised how many people told me they ame bec of Craig's list

The prev posters also had great suggestions

Expect a real experience...the people who come out to these are definitely *interesting!

Re: Garage/Yard sale pros

I've been saying I was going to have one for years now, but am scared of crazy people.

I would seriously consider hiring a LIFer to help me for the day who does them all the time.



I have so much crap I just want to get rid of.

Re: Garage/Yard sale pros

I've done them in the past, with my parents (at their house when they were cleaning out to move). We priced everything and people still ask how much... We had ladies come and give us a story about how they were with a daycare and wanted us to donate all the baby items to them (our neighbor told us to watch out for this same exact speech and sure enough, they were right - obvious liars).

It was a team effort. We didn't hang signs up until we were ready to go - to avoid early birds. Only 2 of us handled the money. As cheap as the stuff is, people steal.

People were asking to use the bathroom. That was a big no - no one was allowed inside.

We had a bucket of ice with water bottle free for the taking.

We did the right thing and applied for and paid for the permit through the village hall. We removed every sign we hung up.

What we didn't expect was to have people come by the next night or two and tear apart every bag that was at the curb for garbage. They left a complete mess - and really, nothing of value was thrown out. We donated what didn't sell to Big Brothers and Sisters. They came with a truck the next day.

The last one I did was a multi-family one, but all in one yard (my parents house and all my brothers and sisters came over with what we wanted to sell). We made over $1500 in two days. Old laptops, printers, CDs, records, etc. sold well. Clothing really depended on size. Shoes sold well (which amazed me really!). Books didn't sell at all.

Garage/Yard sale pros

Put a price on everything. I am a garage saler, and I hate having to ask how much each and every item is. If there is no price, I leave. I have also held many, and always price everything, and always do very well. Signs with arrows are key. Less words, more arrows!

Re: Garage/Yard sale pros