Tips for a successful yard sale?

[dsheinem]

I know that many of you (like myself) hit up yard sales/garage sales with frequency, usually hunting for games. My wife and I are planning to have a sale sometime next month, and I wanted to get ideas about what you think makes a yard sale successful or not. Have any of you held sales that did well or not so well and have some insight to offer? Are there certain things you look for when you visit a sale, and certain things that you purposefully avoid? I of course have my own views on all this, but I figured it might be useful to get some advice from the community.

Oh, and since I am sure you are curious: I don't plan to have very many games available at the yard sale. That said, some of the items from my BST list may make it there if they are still lingering. I pretty much have the games angle down, I am just looking for thoughts about selling other household goods.

Other useful information: this would be a Saturday only sale, is not located in a neighborhood, and would be set up in a driveway some distance from the house itself. I will probably have a few bigger items like an indoor basketball hoop game, a foosball table, some end tables, maybe a futon, some older stereo equipment and PC stuff, some infant/toddler clothes, toys, and accessories, maybe some kitchen things, and other knick knacks that I can find in my attic or basement that don't ever get used...

[noiseredux]

I actually was planning a pretty big blog post on this subject soon. As you know my wife and I are big yardsalers. We hit up sales for hours every week as weather permits in New England. That being said, I don't have a quick answer but will come back with a thoughtful response full of bullet points for you later.

[dsheinem]

I actually was planning a pretty big blog post on this subject soon. As you know my wife and I are big yardsalers. We hit up sales for hours every week as weather permits in New England. That being said, I don't have a quick answer but will come back with a thoughtful response full of bullet points for you later.

Was the blog post focused on games? If there's one thing I (and the rest of us) know, it is about how to be successful with games at yard sales...it's the other stuff that I'm curious to see what people think...

[noiseredux]

I actually was planning a pretty big blog post on this subject soon. As you know my wife and I are big yardsalers. We hit up sales for hours every week as weather permits in New England. That being said, I don't have a quick answer but will come back with a thoughtful response full of bullet points for you later.

Was the blog post focused on games? If there's one thing I (and the rest of us) know, it is about how to be successful with games at yard sales...it's the other stuff that I'm curious to see what people think...

nah, it was going to be EVERYTHING. Like I said, we go every week. I'm looking for games, but my wife's always looking for other stuff. Housewares, books, whatever. We've also held several of our own yard sales (I don't bother selling games at those myself). Anyway, we always seem to leave sales with a critique of how that sale could have been better. Anything from 'product placement' to ease of reading your signs.

[gtmtnbiker]

The best tip for a yard sale is to price things to move. Don't be pricing stuff to get max cash. People go to yard sales to look for bargains.

Personally, I think yard sales are a waste of time for me as a seller. I prefer to donate stuff to my church or Salvation Army and take the tax writeoff.

[Luke]

Donate your stash and claim the items on your taxes: everyone wins.

[fastbilly1]

The best tip for a yard sale is to price things to move. Don't be pricing stuff to get max cash. People go to yard sales to look for bargains.

100% agree. Ive been to garage sales where they checked all prices against Ebay and they ended the day with most of the stuff they started with. Just price things at a price you wont mind letting them go at and you should be fine. Ive only held one garage sale and I priced everything to move because I really didnt need the stuff at all.

One tip I will give you, if you have holiday decorations, price them lower than everything else, hell mark them free if you can. I havent been to a garage sale in the past fifteen years that the seller hasnt been trying to push weird Christmas or Halloween decorations for way to much money.

Personally, I think yard sales are a waste of time for me as a seller. I prefer to donate stuff to my church or Salvation Army and take the tax writeoff.

I started doing that since a Church near my house holds a flea market once a year.

[samuelarnold]

Get the book yard sales for dummies from the library. Have some help on hand to watch your wares.

[prfsnl_gmr]

My wife and I have had several successfule yard sales, and we have found that the key to a successful yard sale is advertising. You should place signs at nearly every busy intersection near the yard sale directing people towards it. Also, you should advertise the sale on craigslist daily one week before the sale date.

Also, people are shy at yard sales, and they will pass on buying a small item if they have to ask you how much you want for it. Accordingly, to the extent practicable, you should have prices for each of your items marked clearly (i.e., by placing small stickers on the items, by stating that everything on a particular table costs $1, etc.). People will make impulse purchases if you do this, and you will move many more items.

Finally, don't haggle with people over the small items unless they are buying a lot of them - seriously, who offers you $0.10 for a $0.25 item? - and mark the large items up 25% more than you think they are worth so that you can take a large chunk off of the price and make people feel like they are getting a really good deal.

Good luck!

Edit - Be sure to have a lot of small bills around and break out the coin jar. You will need them for making change. Also, watch your money like a hawk. Thieves will not usually try to steal items for your yard sale, but you can bet they will try to get your money. (This has never happened to me, but I have heard about it happening to other people.)

[Stark]

I would say make sure the stuff that you can see from the street is really visible. As in, put the larger items toward the curb. I often do drive-bys on garage sales and won't stop because the thing I can see is a table full of crap.