Tips on Hosting a Successful Yard Sale

Summer is a time for fun, sun, vacations, and yard sales. Yes, yard sales. Across America more and more people are choosing to sell their no longer wanted items in a fast and fairly simple way to make extra money. Depending on how much time and effort you are willing to put into setting up a yard sale, yours can become extremely profitable, if done in the correct way. Below are a list of some tips that may get you headed in the correct direction.

(1) Inform your friends, family and neighbors that you plan to host a yard sale. Many yard sale shopper enjoy multi-family or neighborhood sales, because it is always easier for them to see more items without traveling as far.

(2) Begin sorting through the items that you will to sell at least a week or two in advance. It is also a good idea to have price tags ready to be labeled when you initially start sorting your items. This process is a good example of time management, it will save you from handling certain items more than needed. In addition, there are some customers who will leave a sale without purchasing anything if the items are not clearly marked.

(3) If you are selling any articles of clothing it is a good idea to display the clothing size on the outside of the item near the price. Many shoppers dislike the thought of having to sort through hundreds of pieces of clothing just to find their size.

(4) Do not overprice your items. This is a common mistake among people holding sales. You should put yourself in the place of the shopper and ask yourself if you would pay $1 for an infant dress or if you should lower the price.

(5) Advertise your sale. Yard sale shopping is growing rapidly and there are many people that get the local paper and map out their routes to the sales ahead of time. It is a good idea to submit a classified ad to your local paper. If you are doing a multi-family or neighborhood sale ask everyone to split the cost and the price of the ad will be well worth it. It is also recommended that you hang up fliers at local businesses.

(6) The morning of the sale you should post signs around your neighborhood leading potential customers to your sale. Local and state laws vary on the use and ability to post signs; therefore, it is a good idea to check with local officials before posting signs. All of your signs should be bright, bold, and very easy to read.

(7) Greet everyone who enters your sale territory. Don’t be over zealous; however, many people at least like to be acknowledged and it may give someone the courage to come ask you a question when they otherwise might have been too shy.

(8) Have plenty of change ready. It is a good idea to get rolled quarters and plenty of ones and fives from your local bank. Many people often wonder how much money they should start with. It all depends on the amount of items you have and the amount of traffic that you receive. I would recommend no less than fifty dollars.

(9) If you are planning a two or three day sale and your items are not moving as fast as you’d like them to, try marking down your prices on the final day or last few hours of your sale.

(10) Guard your money! The last thing that you would want is to lose or possibly have someone take your hard earned profits.

At the end of your sale remember to take down your signs! In addition, if you have any unsold items that you no longer want, consider donating them to a non-profit charity or church before just tossing the items into the trash.