Free Shiny Sells

6.14.2009
So we had our annual neighborhood yard sale yesterday. You may remember me mentioning it in a previous post.


Last year we learned a few important rules about the art of yard sale-ing and I thought I'd pass them along:

1. Free does not sell. Make items at least 10-25 cents.

2. Even though the township says yard sales may not begin before 9 AM, people will be cruising around at dawn. Get ready the day before and wake up early.

3. Clean your items - shiny sells.

4. Have lots of change. Your items will probably be mostly priced anywhere between ten cents and ten dollars. People like to bring twenties. (Also have bags - people will buy more if they can carry more.)
5. Make sure your yard sale is visible and that people do not have to walk too far back onto your property - it freaks them out and they will miss a ton of stuff to avoid this aforementioned freaked-out-ness. (This could just be a York County thing)

6. Read a book. People are also scared off if you watch them too closely and will leave ASAP. (Again, could just be YC)

7. Look up from your aforementioned book, smile, and say hello when you see people approaching. They will be more likely to browse through your belongings.

(No, this isn't me, my smile is WAY cheesier than that.)

8. Price to sell. People like to haggle, but don't start too high or you will be left cleaning up a ton of junk your extremely valuable possessions. If you really want to get rid of it, price low and accept all reasonable offers.

9. Buy bottled water in bulk and bake something. Hungry and thirsty people = you making $ and attracting people to your sale.

10. If you REALLY want to sell - put a bunch of bags near the entrance and a sign that says, 'Fill a bag for $5'. Later in the day when traffic slows change it to 'Fill a bag for $1'.
All in all this year was a definite hit! We had a ton of small items and most of them were gone by noon, AND we made $48! What we didn't sell is in my trunk and will go straight to charity on Monday morning. I may have make a few purchases, but I only spent $7.25 - and wait 'til you see what I got. You won't believe your eyes! I am still in awe of my savvy purchases.

So if you want to make some moolah and clear out clutter (and don't mind doing a little work) - yard sale-ing is for you!

Do you have any yard sale tips to add to my list? I'd love to hear them!

3 comments:

  1. You could sell hot dogs too! I saw it done. It is cheap and easy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like a lot of your garage sales tips. Especially #8. I've gone to garage sales where things were priced way too high and I turned around and left because I didn't think they would agree to any price I could pay and I hate feeling like I'm low-balling people. I want the seller to be happy with our deal too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You could sell hot dogs too! I saw it done. It is cheap and easy.

    ReplyDelete

 

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