How to Have a Successful Yard Sale
Having a successful yard sale takes more effort than just throwing your stuff on a table or tarp. Your sale needs to be a fun and organized experience for people. The better your items are displayed, the more your items will be seen. The more items noticed the more sales you make. It’s a snowball effect that will bring you more money.
Spring cleaning is a great way to get ready for your yard sale even if you aren’t having it anytime soon. When I clean closets and other storage places I always put yard sale items in a box and label for a yard sale. To save time, later on, I always price the items as I’m packing them away. This one trick will make yard sale time much easier.
Once you are ready to have the sale there is a list of items you will need to get the sale going.
- Tables
- Tarps
- Clothes Line
- Pricing stickers/tags
- Yard Sale Signs
- Ads placed in penny saver papers
- Balloons
- Hammer/nails
- Pen and paper
- Scotch tape
One thing most people hate is going to a yard sale where everything is dusty and just plain dirty! I know I will walk away from the sale and so will most other people. If you have lanterns, dishes, or other items that have been stored away, please clean them before putting them on display.
Groupings
You will sell more items if you set up your tables in groupings. For example, all brass items should be displayed together, crystal together, and any other items you have several of. Jeans and t-shirts can be folded and put on tables, but other clothing should be put on hangers and displayed on racks or on make-shift clotheslines. Children’s clothes are usually small enough to display on tables.
Purses are easy to display by hanging on hangers or by hanging on nails in trees. If you don’t have enough tables to display shoes you should lay down a tarp and neatly display the shoes on it.
How to Price
When I have a yard sale prices are in increments of 25 cents. Nothing is below a quarter because you don’t want to be messing with dimes, nickels, and pennies! If you have some small items you feel are not worth a quarter, then make them two for a quarter. Just don’t go below a quarter!
Pricing your items too high is one way to drive off potential sales and end up having to pack most items back up after all the hard work you’ve done. Just because you paid $100 for an item two years ago doesn’t mean you can price it for $75 at yard sales.
People shop yard sales to get items for next to nothing so let’s be fair when pricing. If you get $45 for a $100 item you are doing good and it’s $45 more than you had before!
Your prices need to be not only fair but better than prices at the Goodwill or thrift stores to compete. It’s better to sell 100 items at $3 than 25 items at $4. Why? The money is the same, but the idea is not only to make money but clear these items out of your home, so why not let them go to someone else’s home who will love them for years to come.
Preparation for the Sale
Beside pricing your items and getting them cleaned up for the sale you just be sure you have plenty of poster board signs made and they need to be put up the night before or very early the day of the sale. The newspaper ads usually must be turned in a week ahead of time.
If you have a post or fence you tie balloons on them that will blow in the breeze, bringing attention to the sale as people pass by.
Getting Money for Change
I usually want at least $100 worth of change when the yard sale starts. Below is the breakdown of what I usually start with.
Two rolls of quarters $20
Twenty-ones $20
Six – fives $30
Three – tens $30
After the first few hours, you will be able to take your money out and just work on the yard sale money you’ve already taken in.
Food and Friends
It’s always more fun to have a friend do the yard sale with you. It’s easy to put your initial on each pricing tag to separate who sold what and tally up at the end of the day.
As far as food goes be sure and have sandwiches, soups, or other items already cooked to you don’t have to stop and worry about what to eat. You can also have an ice chest full of drinks outside and even sell some to your customers for extra money.
Its yard sale season, so get yours set up and makes some extra money for your family!
