Featured How To Hold A Successful Yard/Garage Sale

Any tips and best practices for holding a successful yard/garage sale?

My parents have been tasked with planning an annual neighborhood garage sale for our sub-division of about 50 homes. The tentative date is going to be next Spring when the weather improves.

As frequent auction attendees we have a considerable amount of excess vintage and newer stuff that we could part with. In the past our yard sales haven't been very successful possibly due to poor signage and a lack of advertisement.

Any suggestions on:
a). advertisement
b). signage
c). pricing (build in room to negotiate?)
d) ????

Thanks,
Joe2007

 

I search Craigslist for unadvertised sales.You'd be surprised how many people just post there. As for pricing,no matter how cheap it is and no matter how much of a steal,theres going to be people that are going to argue with you and want to pay a buck ! Look under ebay sold section,get a general idea of what stuff is selling for,then price from there. I usually expect about 30% of recent sales value. Considering Im a cheapo and pay very little,it still leaves me a nice tidy profit.
Be sure and have plenty of help,thieves abound in those type of situations,and always keep small valuables right in front of you,preferably in a locked case.
To be honest,I dont have garage sales anymore just because it got to be such a hassle.You state specifically in the ad "9 am start,no early birds" and you WILL have dealers showing up at 6 am. What I used to do when they pulled that was remember their faces,and throw them out when they showed back up (and they will) .
Have plenty of wrapping material and bags and boxes,theres nothing worse than buying a ton of stuff and no packing provided!
I really cant stress enough having plenty of help,otherwise you will be overwhelmed and they will steal you blind.Oh, and plenty of change! be prepared for endless $20's !

 

1) FIRST!!!
NO damn signs written on an fn typewriter!!!
JEEZ people write so small literally in pen and pencil.
LARGE FAT BLACK MARKER!
~
2) Bright color paper and posted so they don't roll over.
I know tacks and push pins will drain a 401k...but BUY more!
~
3) JUST> G-SALE and correct facing arrows.
~
4) NO addresses!!!
Or at least small.
I don't know where your house is and the address doesn't help me. (see #3)
If I've a navigator on Google or GPS... maybe.
I'M not looking for you if that's all you give me.
~
5) LARGE visible date(s).
~
6) OBVIOUS places to plug stuff in.
~
7) TAKE your signs down IMMEDIATELY when done...
I offer free delivery of them the next weekend by brick or rock through the front window.
~
8) I suspect I'll add to this.

 

It's always good to have brightly coloured balloons on strings on the house fence/ trees etc. Easy for people to see where to go and less chance of car crashes as people look for participating house numbers. If I go on my own I'm not fully paying attention to what's in front of me when I'm looking for the house.

 

YES!!!
I like that!!!
And HIGH up!
Add cord to the '$ doh' balloon strings!

 

With our tiny roads here in UK some people park like Starsky and Hutch. Seen some paint scrapes as people try to squeeze through/past!

 

Hi,
I agree with most of the former posts. In our town if the signs are not removed with in 48 hours of the sale, the police remove them and you get a 25 dollar fine for each one. BETTER not to have an address on the sign!!!!!!! for that reason alone. One community here has the sale at the community center not at the houses. They do not want the cars running into everything and clogging the streets.
Have a staging area for packing. I REFUSE to pack anything. You have a large area with wrapping with boxes, newspapers and bags. I had several people show up with bags of broken items that I NEVER had for sale. They called the police and wanted refunds. I showed the police the staging area where they pack themselves. Case closed.
Remember to HAVE A BLAST WITH YOUR SALE, never clause yourself to become depressed. I miss my giant sales.
greg

 

HA!!!!
~

 

Santa or Mrs. Santa an option?

 

Around here, Craigslist is the paper of record for yard sales. The newspaper does have tag sale section, but 90% of sales aren't listed there.

If you say no early birds, mean it. It's no fair otherwise.

If you have jewelry, don't expect Ebay prices, or even consignment store prices. Make sure it hangs or displays so it doesn't get tangled up. That's an easy way to generate breakage.

Get stuff out there and set up well before your start time. You don't want to be unpacking when you're also selling.

And a cardinal rule: don't have stuff out or mixed in that you don't want to sell! I can't tell you the number of times I've been interested in something at an estate sale only to find out it was NFS.

 

Thank you KingofThings!

 

One of my biggest peeves at yard sales is the lack of pricing on items I *might* be interested in. Finding the person whose job it is to tell a prospective buyer the price can be tough for starters and frustrating as all get out. If there's a "pricing line" I'm much more likely to bail out than wait. Please tell the participant families that they should price items before the sale. Sure, some things, like books or CDs can just have a sign on the table or box, but other stuff should have a price sticker of some sort.

And having a box or table out front that says "FREE" (for stuff you might be throwing away otherwise) can be a good attraction too.

 

Yes, craigslist is good and free.
If you are in the USA, there is also yardsalesearch.com which I believe is free to post too.

Agree with KOT- big letters on signs with address in large letters so I can get it right off the sign and not pass it by.

Have bags and cartons to help buyers take their stuff home in.
Have lots of small bills and change so you can do biz easily.
Have help if possible, people can have sticky fingers so watch them carefully.

Start setting up as early as you can so you have everything in place when the buyers show up.

Have a dollar table if you can to disburse items that have no real value but you need to unload. People love free things. A free table is also good.

Pray for good weather. LOL

I am sure I am missing something here, but that is a start.

 

Oh yes!!!!
I HATE that bs with people putting the wrong stuff out!!!!!
What a PITA that is.

 

If you have an oddball item you don't know what to do with, put it out there! Odds are it'll be the first thing to move; someone's been looking for it for months if not longer. Things like Tupperware lids and Corningware lids are big sellers if not big dollar sellers.

 

If you do craigs list. post some pictures if you can, also a general list of stuff you are selling. I usually have my stuff priced and on tables in the garage by the night before, that way all I have to do is slide them out. ( best if you have a helper).

 

Hi,
Had to laugh. At my in-laws parents estate sale. The day before the sale we were pricing stuff. I took my aunt's baby dish out of the trash. She said "what are you doing, nobody wants that old trash". I marked it 12 dollars. She almost had a fit. Bitching and telling everyone that I am crazy. At the sale the first thing to be sold and paid for was the baby dish. My aunt said everyone is crazy.
greg

 

Your aunt painted with a broad brush, didn't she?

 

Shoot... I still have never been to a tag/yard/garage sale...

Since 2017 was the year I finally entered a THRIFT STORE(!) - maybe 2018 will be my year for a tag/yard/garage sale!

 

I betting on you SBSVC that this year or next year will be your year to find the joy in yard/tag/garage sales. But be warned, they are addictive and may require intervention.