Yard sales are all-American traditions. When you have too much stuff to fit in your closet and attic, it’s time to put that stuff up for sale in your front yard or garage. Yard sales and garage sales can be great ways to meet the neighbors, spend some time outside, make some money, and get rid of junk you no longer use or need all at the same time.
Want to make sure you have a successful yard sale? You’ve come to the right place. Read on for a step-by-step guide for a fantastic garage sale!
Before the day of your yard sale, you need to prepare accordingly. Remember these three things in the week or so leading up to your sale, and you’ll set yourself up for success.
Next, set the yard sale for the right date. Generally, it’s a good idea to hold your yard sale on the weekend, preferably starting on Friday or Saturday morning when most people are free and do not have work. Don’t forget to pick a weekend with a sunny forecast! Spring and early summer are said to be the best times to have a yard sale, although having a garage sale in the fall can attract customers who are back-to-school shopping or early on the hunt for holiday gifts.
Take a look at your calendar and choose an appropriate weekend date for your yard sale, then remember it for later. You’ll need to spread the word about the date with some homemade posters as it gets closer.
Lastly, call up some friends and family members and see if they’re interested in helping out for a weekend day or two. If you expect to host a yard sale where you’ll be selling a lot of items from your home, get at least one helper – otherwise, you’ll find it pretty tough to get everything unloaded and organized the morning of your yard sale and packed back in your garage before nightfall.
Of course, you won’t be fully ready until you have the important yard sale supplies that you’ll need. Be sure to grab these and put them in a safe, organized spot the day before your yard sale, so you’re ready for business come morning.
Lots of folks have trouble determining what to sell at a yard sale. Consider these pointers as you get started packing boxes and drawing up your complete item list.
Most people shop at yard sales to grab hidden gems or quality items rarely found in stores. You’ll have a much harder time selling a dozen old, holey T-shirts than you will selling one really nice dress shirt.
Therefore, stock your yard sale with items you feel would be worth buying, not any junk you can find in your attic or basement.
Sometimes you’ll stumble upon an item you forgot you had and wonder if you should give it up. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you don’t use it at least once per year, sell it. That way, you can keep seasonal items, like winter jackets and boots, while getting rid of the things you really don’t need or use all that often (or at all), like old baby clothes.
Of course, some items are valuable purely for their memories or sentimental meaning. Remember: you’re in charge of your yard sale. If you don’t want to sell something, like your child’s first set of pajamas, don’t. The last thing you want is your yard sale to become a sad event where you bid goodbye to precious trinkets, you’d rather store safely in a keepsake box.
Still not sure what exactly you should sell at your garage sale? Here are some ideas to get you started:
You’ve got your yard sale items set up, your helpers ready to go, and your date picked. But to make sure you make enough money to enjoy an affordable holiday vacation, you’ll want to keep these key tips in mind.
Draw up a couple of handmade posters and put them on telephone poles or in coffee shops near your home to advertise your garage sale. If you’re not so artistically inclined, you can find printable yard sale poster templates online and fill in the details with the date and time of your yard sale. At the same time, make a social media post or two about the upcoming sale so your Facebook friends can help spread the word.
Don’t forget to list your address! If your home is a little out of the way, including a few landmarks could be wise to make sure no one gets lost on the journey to your driveway. You can also tie a few colorful balloons on your mailbox out front to help people find your home.
The early bird definitely gets the worm when it comes to successful yard sales! Try to start your yard sale officially at 7 AM or 8 AM to make sure you get the crowd of potential shoppers on their way to work or daily activities.
Don’t cram all your for sale items in your garage or on one side of your driveway. Move the car(s) out of the way and set up all your stuff as widely apart as you can. Set up a few tables with like items, for example, and put all your clothes on racks and hangers on the other side of the driveway.
The more people have to move around, the more likely they are to browse extensively and find something they like.
There’s one important pricing rule to keep in mind when selling your stuff at a yard sale: it has to be at a big discount. We know you still want to make money at your garage sale, but if you price your garage sale goods too high, no one will buy.
To that end, try to price each item on sale at about 10% to 30% of its retail price. You can research online to find comparable retail prices for most products these days.
If you’re having trouble finding the retail price for an older item, like a pair of shoes no longer in production, check online marketplaces like Craigslist, eBay or Facebook Marketplace. Someone might be selling the same item for a price you can use as a starting point.
Have a lot of similar items for sale, like various camping equipment or a complete collection of old video games? Slap another price sticker near them all and list a “bundle” sale price at a discount. This is a great selling tactic for the last day of your yard sale when you want to get rid of as much stuff as possible while still making a few bucks.
One last tip – the longer your yard sale goes, the more money you’ll make. If you can manage it, keep the garage doors open until the weekend’s over. That way, people have several days to stop by and give your garage sale a look.
With this checklist in hand, you will be all set to have a fun, successful yard sale.
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Sources accessed 4/13/2022 –
Poster My Wall- Yard Sale Posters
How Stuff Works – How to price garage sale items
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