7 Secrets of Successful Yard Sale

yard sale sign
A yard or garage sale is the easy way to find a home for things that you no longer use but that are too good to be thrown away forever. The following secrets and tips will help you make your sale more successful and cost effective. Implement some of them or follow the instruction step-by-step for making the process a lot easier.


  1. Collect stuff during the whole year. As long as you find something in the house that you don’t use anymore, and none of your friends, relatives or neighbors needs it, put it in a box in your garage or under the stairs. When the box with clutter is full, start another one. This way, when the time of the sale approaches, you will have couple boxes of stuff you want to get rid of.
  2. Have a plan. Nothing can be successful without proper organizing, so make sure you have enough time to clear out all the clutter in your place, and to price everything you are about to sale – you need at least couple days to do it properly and without hustle and bustle.
  3. Team up. Experienced garage sales say that you should never do it on your own. Team up with your friends and family – this will not only provide you with greater variety of goods to sale, but a help as well. By dividing responsibilities between the group of people you will make the sale more manageable.
  4. Advertise well. The proper marketing is one of the keys for successful sale. Take your time and put some effort into making readable and big signs about the sale, and put them in the way that would lead people to the place where sale will be held. You can use Internet for better advertising - post a listing online. People looking for items on special websites will be directed to your listing, so make sure your listing is informative and descriptive.
  5. Price things to sell. Whenever people go to yard sales, they plan to pay the proper price, which is usually not more than few quarters (unless the item is brand-new and has all the tags). That's why, when pricing your goods, be objective and wise – you should better price it on lower end and make someone buy it. Make sure you put price sticker on every item you are selling.
  6. Location matters. The easiest way to ruin your sale is picking a location that is hard to get to. If you live far from busy intersections, find alternative places for sale, like your friend’s or relatives' house.
  7. Timing is important. Don’t try to throw a sale in freezing cold winter or hot summer, as people don’t go shopping in extreme weather. Try picking up a time when the weather is nice and make sure the forecast don’t promise any rain. Find out what days of the week are most popular for garage sales in your area – this may vary from neighborhood to neighborhood.

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