For some strange reason the people of Ohio say "Yard Sale" and not "Rummage Sale". They also call "string cheese" cheese sticks and a "grilled cheese sandwich" here in Ohio is more commonly known as a toasted cheese sandwich. Weird.Regardless of what it's called we're holding a get-rid-of-stuff sale in our front yard this Friday and Saturday.
We're all getting pumped about the experience but now that it's looming closer I'm slightly nervous. I've never held a yard sale before. Hence I call on you for . . .
HELP!
Chloe is primed to sell lemonade and cookies during the sale. And I'm sure Clive will try to wreak havoc wherever possible. Which might mean he'll have to be removed from the premises.
What vitally important tips would you share with me for my upcoming yard sale experience?
8 comments:
Price things to sell! That's the biggest thing. We weren't necessarily looking to make tons of money at our yard sale - just trying to rid the house of stuff, while getting some extra cash. We willing to go down on the price if it means getting rid of it! Another suggestion I saw, was to group items and then have that group for a certain price - have a $1 table, a 25 cent table/box, etc. That makes it so you don't have to tag everything too! Cookies and lemonade is always a hit! Our neighborhood does a huge yard sale in July (over 100 houses), so I always look forward to that. This year we're also having another yard sale, so I'm anxious to see what your comments are :-) Have fun!
I've only ever had one yard sale, which was pretty much a flop, so I have no great tips for you! But one idea I have heard is to mark things using those colored dot stickers. Like all the things with red stickers could be .25, all the things with blue could be .50, etc. Then you just make a large sign with the color key/corresponding prices on it--saves time so you don't have to write all the prices on everything. Unless of course you have those stickers with prices already on them; that would work great too! Abby's idea about the different tables for different prices would also work well!
Here in NH we also say Yard Sale, or some people call them garage sales. I have also heard of rummage sales, though! Around here, those are usually held in church basements or community centers. And we do say string cheese and grilled cheese like normal. :)
I hope your yard sale goes well and that you can make a good amount of cash!! Have fun!!
I make a sign like Carrie is talking about, with categories "kids shirts 25 cents, kid's pants 50 cents" etc and put "Unless otherwise marked" so that I can sell a few of the nicer things for more. I also hang up most of my adult or nicer clothes - my friend has clothing racks, but I have also rigged up a makeshift bar using a pole, closet rod, or something like that between 2 ladders. People seem to look more when clothes are hanging.
We definitely have interchangeable terms here in MI, too. :-)
http://www.raisingfive.com/2009/05/yard-sales-uncharted-territory.html
That is a post with some helpful hints, too. Let us know how it goes!!
I was thinking the same thing as Carrie as far as the grouping/pricing with color stickers. Dividing your stuff by price and sticking stickers on them is very quick.
Confession -- I can get hung up on something like having a 50 cent table and a $1 table and then someone coming and telling me that they got all their stuff off the 50 cent table and I know some of it was on the $1 table. Okay, it's only 50 cents for each item "loss" and I can't know that the person is trying to get over on me; someone might have moved it, but still... :-)
Yep, I'm a little obsessive about things sometimes.
The other thing that I've seen with the sticker grouping for prices is the chart that gives the prices for each color has times on it. 7:00-10:30 -- the greens (for example) are $1. 10:30-noon -- the greens are 50 cents. I would go back to those sales and see what was left once the half price started. (Okay, actually I would go back half an hour before it started to gather my stuff and then pay five minutes after it started) If I'm a "little" too "into" this comment, it's because I'm really, really missing yard sales and thrift shops. :-)
Some places I've been at even had something that said for the last half hour, it was fill a plastic bag for $2 -- that is if your strategy is to get rid of stuff and you still end up with a little more than dropping them off at a Goodwill (unless the tax laws make my statement not true -- I have no idea about that).
Chloe is going to be so cute!
My other suggestion would be not to buy donuts for breakfast and pizza for lunch, because while that is oh so fun, it can eat up all your profits (spoken from someone else's experience where they spent more on donuts and pizza than they made at their yard sale :-).
we took pictures of the biggger items and listed them on craigslist..giving directions that we were selling them at the yard sale only with times and directions..brought in buisness as well as there is a category to list sales there. Advertising is key.
I hate to contradict Karis, but you gotta start the sale with donuts! At least it is a tradition in my family ;-) I agree that advertising is key & be as organized as possible. I'm having a yard sale myself in just a couple of weeks. I haven't had one since I moved home from school & there is A LOT I need to unload!
Good luck to us both!
Gotta be organized! A $1 table & 50-cent table, or at least group like items together: kitchen stuff together, kid clothes sorted by sizes/gender, tools/garden stuff... etc.
Have fun! I had so much fun at mine a couple years ago, mostly because I did it with a friend. Is there any available buddy who can keep you company? Good luck!
Put large baby/children (if your getting rid of any of those things) out front to lure people in. Everyone else has put some great comments. Enjoy the time outside!
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