How To Have A Successful Yard Sale 

Spring is the perfect time to clean out the garage, the attic and the closets (even under the kid's beds) and have a garage sale!   We've heard that listing agents are encouraging their sellers to have garage sales to help drive traffic and awareness!  Better yet, organize a neighborhood-wide garage sale!  Offer to help out your sellers with signs, balloons, post on your website, or make some lemonade!  Here are a few tips to share.

PREPARATION

Preparing for a yard sale is hard work. Ideally, you should start working on your yard sale 3 weeks prior to the event. However, if you work hard, you can have it ready in 2 weeks. Well prepared yard sales can profit upwards of $800.00 or more.

Week 1: Spring Cleaning - choose one or two rooms a day and begin collecting items in the basement or garage.

Week 2 & 3: Organizing - sort, clean and price your items.

 ADVERTISING

Place an adin the local paper and any online garage sale sites. Craigslist, www.gslar.com are some to consider. Large signs or banners placed at all the entrances to the neighborhood and directional signs throughout the neighborhood will bring in the customers and keep them shopping. Also balloons on mailboxes are always helpful to confirm you are open and not just cleaning your garage.

 PRICING

Put a price tag on everything and ALWAYS be willing to negotiate.

Overpricing is the next hurdle...yard sales are for liquidation. Quality items should be priced less than half off the original price you paid. Overpricing can turn everyone away before they get to the garage. 

DISPLAY/SETUP  

What you have to sell and how much you have to sell are important factors as well. If you don't have much to sell, then partnering with a neighbor is a good idea. Put everything in one driveway...you need "The Draw". Walk the sale, re-organize items, always talk to the customers. Some people are too shy to ask for a price or to negotiate...being friendly can make a sale.

As the day progresses and tables get sparse. Consolidate items so that tables are always full. 

THE DRAW

"The Draw" is very important. Although you should always advertise your sale in local papers and online, you still have to get customers to come to YOUR house. 

Perception is everything. Bring some large items or "hooks" (furniture, play, exercise and lawn equipment, etc.) out onto the driveway. Your goal is to gain their interest. You can also put items out that you have no intention of selling, just to get customers in the garage. Yes, that's right, you may have some items that you are on the fence about and you are not ready to part with at yard sale prices. Just don't put a price on it, or, price it higher, you never know, it may sell.

Sell popcorn, lemonade, cookies, water...these are other ways to get people to your house.

(posted by Suzanne Geddes, Marketing/Graphic Designer for AnotherME)