Guide to Effective Yard Sales

This is an outline for having a successful yard sale fund raiser. Yard sales require a bit of work, but if you know what you're doing, you can make a fair amount of money in a relatively short time. This plan is designed for you to get the most out of your sale.

• Set a date a few weeks ahead of time. One day only is a good idea. If you do an entire weekend, chances are the second day will be a waste because most of the good stuff will be bought up on the first day, and if you over do it, you may end up trying to choke the next person to suggest a yard sale for a fund raiser. Plus, you won't have to deal with getting enough volunteers to cover for two days.
• Pick a location in a high pedestrian or steady traffic area. You want a place where people will see you and want to stop and see what you've got. Don't go for a secluded neighborhood with very little traffic. If people have to work to hard to find it and get there, they won't come and buy your stuff.
• Start soliciting donations early, too. Set a deadline for collecting donations, so people know how long they have to clean out their closets. I suggest setting a "pricing date" and have the day before be your deadline. Remind people often and always tell them "Anything helps!". Make sure you thank them a bunch for their donations, and let them know what the money will be used for.
• A good time to do a sale is at the end of the school year. It's early in the season for sales, so people will be excited to shop. It's also nice to get donations from people moving out of dorms. Plus, you can drop the "spring cleaning" line.
• Have nice signs. Lots of nice signs. By "nice" I'm talking big, bold, clear signs with arrows. Don't clutter up your signs with a bunch of decorative stuff or too much info. The day, time and address can be good, but aren't necessary. The bigger the signs, the more people will come. It's a psychology trick. Bright colors can be good, just make sure people can read them if they're driving by.
• It is important to pick a day before the sale to price things. Everything should have a price on it. A lot of people will just leave a sale if nothing is priced. Make sure the prices are visible. Don't use a color code to price (red stickers = 25 cents, blue = 50, green = $1)! It's tacky and confusing for a lot of people, and it's easy to get ripped off. When in doubt, under price instead of over price. You'll sell more stuff and make more money. Lots of people will check out what you're asking for things and base their opinions of your sale on a few items. The worst thing you can do by underpricing is make a little less money than you could have, and make someone's day, whereas if you over price, you can end up not selling much and having a whole lot of junk left to clean up.
• Have bags to offer to people who buy a lot of things. It's a nice gesture.
• Plug electronics into a working extension cord and have them running. That TV will sell a lot faster if people know that it works. Have signs for electronics with details of the item, e.g. "Lawnmower works, a little tough to get it started. $5" "Boom Box, Radio and tape player work fine, CD player doesn't. May just need cleaning? $2" Always be honest.
• Start early. It's not most folk's idea of a good time to be setting up for a yard sale at 7am on a Saturday morning, but if you do it, you'll have more money to send out all those veg starter kits people ask for. Do it for the animals. Yard sale nuts are out hunting for bargains at the crack of dawn and you want to be ready to take their money when they're ready to spend it. Shoot for having volunteers setting up no later than 8am, even if it's just two people.
• Speaking of yard sale nuts, they like to show up and ask to look through stuff early. If you can stand it, I say "let em". It can be irritating to have someone poking around when you're trying to get set up, but your main objective is to make money, and they've got what you want. If you want to discourage people, you could say, "Sure, you can look, but prices are double until our start time at ___ o' clock". Or, just sell stuff as you put it out and be glad you'll have less to deal with later.
• Send one or two people in a car out to put up signs. They should make a list of where the signs were put up so after the sale someone else can go take them all down. This is important.
• You can list your sale on line at Craigslist.org.
• If you're using a table to display items, but the table isn't for sale, make a big sign to tape to it making it clear the table isn't for sale.
• Have some "sold" note cards handy to tape onto larger items that sell and people have to come back for. It saves time for you in case you're busy, and it's nice to not have to keep telling people that the sofa has already been sold. If you can swing it to have some extra volunteers available to help people load furniture into cars and trucks, that's great.
• Don't take checks. Stick to cash.
• Have a big bowl of water and a "dog water" sign for thirsty pup pups. It will encourage dog walkers to stay and take a look at what you're peddling. Plus, it's a compassionate action for animals!
• Plants are a great thing to sell at a yard sale. If you plan way ahead, you can sprout some and have a bunch to sell as a side show.
• Selling soda or water can be good, too. If you're really motivated, you can have some baked goods or something to sell there, too!
• DO NOT allow people into the house to use the bathroom or try things on. Direct them to the nearest public restroom. People can be shady, and while it's nice to encourage community and all that, I say it's better safe than sorry. We can have community at potlucks.
• Music at your sale can be good. Stick in some good intergenerational tunes, and keep it kind of low. It's fun, and it allows people to talk more privately.
• It helps to have a mirror available so people can try clothes and hats on and see how they look.
• If you have a ton of clothes, people might not want to dig through piles of them, but if you say $3 for a bag of clothes and shoes, then they go a lot faster and you'll have less to pack up at the end of the day. Sometimes they'll find a shirt they want, but nothing else, and then they can buy that item for what the sticker actually says.
• If you want to mention that your sale is a fund raiser, go ahead. Some people will be excited about that. It could get tricky when people want to know what you're raising money for, but most people will accept "animals" and not ask any more questions.
• Be sure to thank all of the people who gave donations and volunteered time or services. Let them know how much money you made and be sure they know they helped make it happen.