Yard Sale Dos and Don’ts.
We had a big yard sale over the weekend, and I have to tell you, I was dreading it! We had quite the big pile of stuff growing in the basement, and the thought of hauling it all out to put on display seemed overwhelming. But you know what?! We did it, and we had great yard sale success! We made about $550 and the biggest item sold was an old dresser for $30. Plus we donated 2 big truck loads of stuff to good will, and I feel so much lighter! If you too might be thinking of having a yard sale sometime soon, here are some things that I think can really help guarantee success.
1- Offer Different Payment Options – We got the Square credit card reader right before our big sale and it was so great! People were thrilled that we had “the square” credit card swiper. It makes it so convenient for those who prefer to pay with a debit or credit card. We were also prepared with cash to give change if needed, but the square was a bonus.
2- Hang Up All Clothing – We had a bunch of clothing that was “like new” that I had been storing for years. My local dry cleaner gave me a bunch of hangers for free. I also called my local Old Navy and they gladly gave me a big bag of small pant hangers. Here’s a tip: Use backyard toys like swing sets, trampolines to hang items. We have a kid’s jungle gym: the Geo Dome Climber in our backyard that worked perfectly for hanging a bunch of items. When we first set up, we had the clothes hanging on our big shade tent and the weight of the clothes caused the tent to break (dangit). I sure wish we would have thought to use our backyard jungle gym first, to save the tent, oh well…maybe you can learn from our mistake. If you have two ladders and a big wooden stick, that would work great too for hanging clothes. People are more likely to look through clothing that’s hanging then digging through a big box.
3- Be Welcoming and Conversational – Be sure to greet people right when they get out of their cars. People are more likely to stay longer and purchase items if they feel welcome, plus they drove all the way over to your house. Find out right away what they might be looking for and lead them right to it if you have something similar. If they have kids with them and you have kid items hold things up and draw their attention to things in a friendly way.
4- Plan Your Yard Sale For Two Days. We ran our sale on a Friday afternoon from 4-8pm and again on Saturday from 8-12. I had a few people tell me that they loved that it started on a Friday. Some people are just not morning people (raising my hand), and they might prefer to come in the afternoon rather than the morning. If you are going to go to the efforts of a big yard sale and pull everything out and set up, you might as well give it more time for people to go through it. One of the benefits to the seller of selling on two days is that it gave us a second chance to rearrange things for better visibility the next day, like grouping like items together.
5-Advertise Online Like Crazy – I used our local KSL classifieds which I found to be the best way to get in front of the right kind of people looking for yard sales. I posted on KSL multiple times (at least 5 times). I also used my Instagram and Facebook page to get the word out too, but the majority of people who came said they saw the ad on KSL classifieds. We also had a few signs and we could have done better with the signage, but for the most part online advertising was the best way.
6- Find Help/ Get a Babysitter – Thankfully, our kids spent the night at my parent’s house the night we started our sale. In addition to needing to get the work done…I’ll admit there may have been a few items that I snuck into the sale while the kids were gone that I knew would have been in debate (like that toy I just couldn’t handle any longer)…a Mom’s gotta do what a Mom’s gotta do. Plus, yard sales are a ton of work, and with people coming and going, you really need to be completely available for a few straight hours. If your yard sale is a neighborhood or street sale, and your kids are home, you might end up buying all your neighbors old toys (this just happened to my sister). So if you can get help with the kids, do it!
7- Borrow Tables – Get as many things as possible up off the ground. We borrowed a few tables from neighbors, and not only was it a great way to organize like items together, but people are more likely to go through things if they’re easy to find.
8- Donate! – You know the saying “Less is More” …After you have yard sale, there are never truer words, than “less is more”. It’s crazy the amount of things that accumulate at your house over the years. The last thing I wanted to do with all the items we didn’t sell after two days, is move it back into my house to store again. We ended up hauling two big truck loads of items to our local good will (Deseret Industries “D.I.”), and I have to tell you, it felt great to have it gone. Clothes that we were never going to wear again, toys that my kids don’t play with and the list goes on. Even though we have a big unfinished basement with the ability to store it all, there is something so freeing about having less stuff.
9- Background Music – this might sound silly, but I really think it helps break the silence. Imagine going to your favorite store and having it be completely quiet, don’t you think it would be weird? The music just adds a level of welcome.
*Things we didn’t do, wish we would have done and or could have done better:
1- We didn’t price anything. I’ve heard that it’s good to add price tags to everything to guarantee more money. This might be a great way to increase your ultimate earnings, but there’s a few reasons why we didn’t do it: #1 it’s too time consuming and #2 most people will talk you down on items anyway, so the end price will never be what you are asking.
2- Offer ice cold drinks, candy or food- If it’s hot out, and people are out shopping, they might love an ice cold water or soda while they look around, plus it’s an easy way to make more money. Diet Sodas are great too if you’re worried about spills, because they evaporate with no stickiness.
3- Free Stuff – If at the end of your sale you know you’ll be donating everything anyway…call, text and or email friends, family and neighbors – and tell them they can have anything they want. Also list it online under “free stuff” so you don’t have to haul it off yourself. I let Avery’s friends go through stuff and they were thrilled. I only wish I would have reached out to more family and neighbors. I’d much rather have something go to someone I know than a stranger.
So that’s it for now. I’m sure more will come to me after I lay in bed, you know how it goes. One of the benefits of a yard sale is how physically active you are during it. According to my Fit Bit (which I’m loving!), I walked about 15k steps on both Friday and Saturday going up and down stairs. So if you are on the fence about it, view it as a big workout. 😉
I’d love to know, have you had a yard sale recently? and if so, do you have tips to add to the list that were helpful?
