January was all about starting 2012 off right — we cleaned and rearranged and organized the heck out of our home. Most of all, for my fiance and I, there was purging. We've spent weeks culling out the unnecessary and curating our collections, and we have a ton of stuff to get rid of! Before we donate our belongings to charitable causes, we're going to have a yard sale! Here are some tips we've learned about throwing a successful yard sale!
While much of the country is still enjoying the wintertime, here in Austin we're having some gorgeous days. (LA, you know what I'm talking about.) We're taking advantage of the early spring like weather with a yard sale this weekend. Here's some of the things we've got in mind as we try to make it successful:
- Team Up: Invite friends that have some things they'd like to get rid of to come join in. More items draw more traffic to your sale. They can help with the setup and sell some of their items along the way. It makes the day less tedious, and more merchandise will give your sale greater interest. Plus, someone might bring breakfast tacos!
- Price Items Well: Pricing things well involves setting a fair amount as well as clearly marking that amount. A good rule of thumb is to price most everything at 10% of its original price. There are exceptions, but if you don't know what to charge, this is a good starting point. The cost of every item should be easy to find, and if there is no negotiating, mark it as "Firm." Consider offering quantity discounts for items that you have a lot of. Avoid creating a pricing chart or color-dictated price tags---just put the amount on the item. It saves a lot of hassle for everyone!
- Merchandise Your Stuff: Sure, there's bound to be a ton of seemingly unrelated items in your sale. But try to group like things together, and create some pleasing vignettes. Just because it's a yard sale doesn't mean people don't respond to nice styling. Group things of similar colors. Display clothing in outfits. Set a little table for sale with a place setting. One of my favorite tips? Bring a bookcase out in which to display books. Even if it's not for sale, it will get those books you want to move out of the boxes and more frequently into the hands of your customers. Get creative with it---if nothing else, have a little fun with your items instead of just dumping and piling.
- Be Descriptive: If you have items of particular interest, take the time the day before to create tags for them that indicate what is special about them. Even just a descriptive title can mean the difference between someone who's interested and someone who passes an item by. An unmarked camera in a box of other electronics is not as exciting as a well displayed camera with a tag that reads "Vintage 1964 Kodak Brownie! Takes 120 film and works like a charm!" In the same vein, if there is anything wrong with the way an item functions, indicate it on the tag. The buyer wants to know what they're getting.
- Demonstrate Items: If you have a record player or a radio for sale, put some music on! Show that it works! Make sure you've got power supplies for folks to test out any appliances for sale. Have batteries available for people to try out electronics. People will be less apprehensive if you can readily show them that your item still works. Make it easy!
- Have a "Free!" Box: There's some junk that you're trying to get rid of that you know you won't get much of anything for, so put out a box of free items! Include toys and trinkets for kids, and throw in a few paperbacks. If you mark it with a fun sign, it adds some happiness and fun to your sale.
- Make Good Signs: You don't have to be an artist to make a sign that will catch people's attention. However, it's worth the $5 you will spend on sturdy poster board or foam core and markers to get people to your sale. Yard Sale Queen offers a some visual reminders of what not to do with your yard sale sign! Keep it clear, concise, and correct---make sure folks can read your sign, don't include more information that people can read when they drive by, and make sure the sign is spelled correctly and pointing in the right direction!
- Advertise: Running an ad in the local paper is still a great option, but craigslist is a no-brainer by now. Here is an opportunity to list all of your major items, include photos, and conjure up some interest in your sale before the day of. There are also other sites out there devoted solely to listing yard and garage sales---take advantage of these. Yard Sale Search is my favorite...anyone else have some tried and true sites?
- Negotiate: Pricing your items well is important, but also expect to have some wiggle room in there. Customers are the happiest when the feel like they've gotten a good deal, or talked you down a little in your price. Play the game a bit! But don't do this too soon---save the bargaining for a little later in the sale. You can be less flexible at the beginning of the day.
- Start Early: It seems basic, but getting as much prepared the night before so that you can start as early as possible can really pay off. Early birds are serious shoppers. If you've advertised your special items, folks may show up bright and early to purchase them. This is a good thing---your goal is to sell! But don't be afraid to stick to your guns a little with pricing---it is, after all, only 7:45am. There will be more customers!
- Have Fun!: Since we've teamed up with friends, spent time doing the legwork of pricing and being descriptive the night before, and advertised our sale well, we plan on sitting back and enjoying the day! If we're swamped and spend the whole time helping customers, that's fantastic. But we are hoping to have some fun sitting outside, having a beer or two, and playing some bocce ball with our friends, as well. That sounds like a win-win to us.
What are your best tips for a successful sale?
(Image 1: Larry Page on Flickr, Image 2: sigckgc on Flickr, Image 3: Intangible Arts on Flickr, Image 4: Yard Sale Queen)
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In our neighborhood, sales are all on Saturday, starting as early as 7 AM, over by noon or 1 PM.
I like to mark items with a color dot, not a price, then post a price list prominently in several places. That way I can reduce all the prices toward the end of the sale without remarking every one. I can also see a group of items being bought by one person, scan the colors, and figure out a good price for the whole lot.
Have lots of change.
Signage is key. Take signs down when you're done, please.
We had our first Yard Sale last weekend and although it was great, we ran into a few things:
1. We only advertised on Craigslist and put out a few signs for directions through our neighborhood.
2. People come EARLY. Even if you said No Early Birds. About an hour before we were starting, people starting hovering at the end of our driveway.
3. Once we opened, it was a MAD DASH. Kind of scary! People grabbed everything they could and made their "pile" that they would then go thru and decide what they wanted. All of our organization went to waste!
4. People try to peel off price tags and get a cheaper deal. I live somewhere humid and we had a
lot of glassware, so at first, we thought the labels just weren't sticking. But then, someone came up to buy something that obviously had a nail scratched through the number.
2. People steal stuff. Little items, big items... It didn't matter. Some would go to pay and decided not to buy everything, but still try to walk off with it. We caught a few people. Other times we just didn't notice. We were not prepared with manpower (there were only 3 of us.) We had no idea what to expect.
Overall, it was very successful and we just hope karma comes back to those people :)
These are really great suggestions - I especially like the color dot pricing idea.
True enough about the early birds, they 're pretty pushy, but really the best customers if you're selling vintage stuff - they know the true value of things, and pay accordingly.
For the next sale I'll have my Square available, so will mention that I take credit cards in the Craigslist ad.
Brilliant, and good timing on this! Thank you!
I now live at the end of a cul-de-sac that gets no traffic on it's own, so one advantage some locations have for signs and visibility is lost for me. I don't have much to purge day-to-day, any more. That being the case, I now just donate everything I decide to offload to thrift shops. (I have a heavy glass top table I will try to unload on Craigslist first, mainly to avoid hauling it to a shop, but that's an exception.) My yard sale days are over -- I don't miss them!
Another tip, though, for those who do want to yard sale is save up plastic grocery bags and the like for your customers. (If you don't use them, ask a neighbor who does to help out.) If one person is in charge of the cash box in a relatively secure location, you need enough friends to help customers and watch, to avoid problems. Anything with actual value should be where it can be protected, or even put away with just photos on display, and shown only to serious inquiries. (Me, I'd use consignment for those things.)
Price it low and it will go. Especially if it's big and you really don't want to have to move it back inside.
The iphone square is a GREAT idea! The more ways people have to pay, the more ways they are apt to buy.
As a taller person with not the greatest eye sight, I appreciate sales where I don't have to bend over onto the ground to look at things. Bringing out all your card tables and borrowing a few more might be a fantastic idea.
Put a date on your sign! Since garage sale signs often get left out, how do I know "this Saturday" or "tomorrow" wasn't two weeks ago?
These are great suggestions- I have a few more to add...
DEFINITELY price things low! And decide what sort of sale you're having from the outset- are you trying to get rid of stuff or make some money? If you are in the latter category be prepared to have to store your stuff again and list it on craigslist or ebay. If you are in the former category just price low and know that your stuff is going to a home where someone will appreciate it!
I also like having some hospitality- setting out a few boxes of donuts goes a long way towards people staying to mill around a little bit.
I also think putting on crowd-friendly music is important- Elvis, Johnny Cash, or even Taylor Swift are good options! People like to discuss things together and not be overheard by everyone else. Nothing is creepy like a silent yard sale!
Organizing and styling is SO important. If I drive up to a house where it looks like boxes were just dragged from the basement to the front yard I will NOT be stopping. Put some interesting/big/fun looking items by the road! My dad put his jeep in my front yard to string a clothesline between it and a tree and every other person wanted to joke if they could buy it- stuff like that helps.
I think having a group yard sale is confusing but if a bunch of friends are chipping in small amounts of stuff consider strategically locating the group yard sale in an area known for having "good stuff" people will be attracted to yard sales in pricier or more historic neighborhoods just because of their previous good buys in that area.
Happy yard saling!
What about a "blog-sale?" I've been trying to sell my stuff through Tumblr for months now beause I live in an apartment, but haven't had much luck. Then again, I haven't advertized much. Advice?
My best yard sale practice: Polite people are MUCH more likely than others to get a discounted price. Impolite people won't get even a nickel knocked off the price. And people who ask me more than three times to discount something are gonna get impolite right back at 'em!
My town lists weekend yard sales on the city's web site. (No it's not the city of Miami, it's a town in the Miami area.) This may not be common, but you might want to check your town's web site. In my town you have to have a permit to hold a yard sale. So every weekend there's at least half a dozen listed on the site.
Craigslist also sometimes lists upcoming yard sales or estate sales.
Anita83, here are some ideas for you: Try posting things for sale on craigslist. I've bought several items on craigslist. Or, if you have a lot of vintage or handmade or decorative items, open a little shop on Etsy. Or try Ebay.
@anita83
I think it would just be easier for you to use craigslist... that's what craigslist is for, whereas tumblr is for... not what craigslist is for, anyway.
Good tips here! The only yard sale I ever had was over the fourth of July weekend. I thought it would be great because everyone would be on holiday and have cash to spend.
It was a nightmare! I was trying to make money and one lady chose a 3 pc pantsuit, belt and shoes and wanted to pay $20! I was so insulted! (Silly me!) I told her no, and no one else even showed any interest at all. The only thing that sold that whole day was a set of canisters of my sister-in-law's, which I sold for $4 or so while she had stepped away. Well, she was thoroughly annoyed at me, she had intended to get more!!!!! She also wanted to sell a set of tables for $200 which were about 30 years old, rough hewn wood, like from the 70"s. My brother and I were hysterical at the thought that she wanted $200. We figured she'd get maybe $25. Long story short, we had to drag everything back inside, and eventually donated it all!
I think Artsygirl over estimate what most people will pay for clothes at yard sales.
I've seen sale ads stating that early birds will be charged double. i love that. As a yard sale type person, I try to be polite and arrive only at the listed start time - I think it's rude to sell to those who show up early. It only encourages bad behavior in the future.
Of the sales that I've run, the ones that were priced low we sold far more and made much more money... the sales that were priced higher we had lots left over and didn't make nearly as much money. If you have something of value and want a set price - that's what Craigslist or the paper is for.
And please, estate sales are for when people die or are drastically downsizing and the sale is inside of the house. A yard sale inside the house is NOT an estate sale.
If you have a lot to get rid of and don't want to do a sale and are not thrilled by your local thrift stores, consider contacting relief groups. People that have had a house fire or flood or ... an entire household of furniture is a HUGE thing. And you can know for sure that your contributions are really appreciated...
If you need help to price your items more accurately, but you don’t want to spend time doing research yourself, I would recommend signing up for this new startup called Statricks. I just became a beta user myself, and it is great! You get price reports and fair market values for almost all used goods, so you know you don’t overpay or undersell your stuff
http://www.statricks.com/craigslist-used-pricing-tool.html?lrRef=FYHr0