11 Ways to Make Your Yard Sale a Success
11 Ways to Make Your Yard Sale a Success
Want to make sure your next yard sale is a huge success? Not only can you purge unwanted items out of the house and make room but you can put some cash in your pocket for a family vacation, a new couch, or whatever you need! Here are 11 Tips to help make sure that next yard sale is awesome!
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Be clean and organized- Wipe down anything that needs it, baby wipes are handy to keep on hand while setting up in case you miss something. You can generally ask a bit more and sell more if your tables are neat and organized. Separated by sizes, put kitchen gadgets together, tools, and other like items. Make your stuff look attractive to buyers if you want to move it.
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Mark Prices– Price everything! Be negotiable but pick up some cheap price stickers and give everything a price. The exception is if you have a table full of paperbacks and want to make a sign for all of them at .50, or if all clothes will be $1.00 , etc…
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Have Change– Make sure you have plenty of change to make a sale or you might lose it. Coins and smaller bills like ones and fives, even a few tens and twenties to break big bills.
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Interact– While you don’t want to hover over your customers like a used car salesman on the last day of a sale you should not ignore them either. Greet them and be ready to answer questions. I can’t tell you how many yard sales I have been to where the people were too busy chatting with each other to acknowledge me and acted as if I was interrupting them when asking for a price or something.
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Advertise– In your local online groups, craigslist, and classifieds. This will bring in a lot more people than just throwing up a few signs. Be sure to list some specifics- tools, furniture, baby, maternity…Let everyone know what you have.
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Lots of signage– Put one right at the end of your driveway, on each corner, at the closest major intersections on either side of your road, and if you live far back in a community or out in the country be sure to post lots of signs randomly along the road so people know they are headed in the right direction.
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Choose date well– First thing to consider is the weather, then look and see if there are community sales in your area, swap meets, etc. You can really take advantage of all the traffic that will be passing by.
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Quantity– Make sure you have a lot to sell. If you have 1 table with 10 items on it you might get a lot of drive bys but not many shoppers. In my experience I would rather move on to the next yardsale than to stop at a tiny one. Save up items until you have enough for a big one.
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Lots of tables– One of the things I absolutely hate at yard sales is when people don’t use tables and all there stuff is thrown on a tarp in the driveway. I am not likely to kneel on the ground and dig through piles of clothes.
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Invite others– Whether you organize a community sale, just a couple neighbors on the street, your mom, or a friend the more you have the more people that are likely to stop. This goes hand in hand with #8-Quantity above. This is a great way to bring in the volume!
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Freebies– Everyone loves free stuff, offer something to draw them in and make them feel like they are getting a great deal. Have a basket of free stuff for kids so they can look while mom and dad shop, offer odd dishes, or vases, a paperback book or something for free with purchase.
Follow these 11 tips and you are sure to have a successful yard sale. Do you have any other yard sale tips and tricks to share. Drop them in the comments below.
