If you’re moving soon, you’re likely considering offloading a few things by hosting a yard sale. In order to sell and move as many things as possible, it’s important to be prepared for your yard sale or garage sale. Here are some tips to ensure the most successful sale you can have:
#1: Check that yard sales/garage sales are allowed in your town or city
It sounds silly, but some towns or cities have ordinances around yard sales and garage sales. Some towns only allow a yard or garage sale one day of the year, and at a designated place. You don’t want the police showing up and shutting down your yard sale or garage sale, so check for this very specific thing before hosting your sale.
#2: Host in a place with a lot of traffic
Lots of people don’t know that a yard sale is happening until they’re driving past and see all the things out front. This is why it’s important that if your home isn’t in a good area for visibility, it might make sense to bring things to say, a parent or friend’s home that is more visible. You can even ask a neighbor if you can set up at their house for the day – especially do this if you are on a blind drive!
#3: Make your signage, and make it visible!
One of the worst things people do is create tiny signs with small writing where you can’t make out the when or where of a yard sale, and they post them in high traffic areas where you can’t really read them when driving past quickly. Make sure your signs are bold and visible, and readable at a distance before posting them up.
#4: Host at a sane time
Carrying out your yard sale means committing some time to sitting out with items. Obviously if you can host on a nice sunny day versus a rainy one, you will likely get more visitors and more people purchasing, but since you can’t guarantee the weather, prepare with an umbrella or tent if you have one, and make sure that you sit for enough time for people to find you. 10 AM to 2 PM might seem like enough time on a Sunday for people to come by, but for people with errands to run earlier in the morning, a 10 AM to 4 PM yard sale may be more successful for you. Remember if you run a window of only an hour or two, people aren’t very likely to drive by and stop in.
#5: Spread the word
Once you have a location, and you’re prepared to sit there – rain or shine – you will want to spread the word with your signage. However, you should also utilize the power of the internet for your yard sale! Post on Craigslist the location and time of your yard sale. Find local Facebook “yard sale” groups and snap a few photos of your offerings, then let people know to come by.
#6: Have prices ready – and be ready to haggle
Know how much you’re selling things for, and, even if you’re selling something for a quarter, expect people to try to haggle you down to a dime. Make sure you have plenty of physical cash and change to give people money back. You may even be prepared with Venmo or PayPal for higher priced items in case someone doesn’t have enough with them so you can take money digitally.
No doubt you’ve been to a few yard sales yourself. Let us know what you think makes a yard sale most successful in the comments below!
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