Yard Sale Tips and Ideas - Continued

Bags and Packaging
You will have customers that are going to purchase just one item but want a bag or a box.  You also will have customers at your yard sale that are going to buy sixteen things and need a box or bag to get their items home.  Having assorted boxes and bags available for these needs are going to help your yard sale customers feel much better about their purchase from your sale.

You can save up bags from the grocery store, get boxes from your local grocery store often for free, or you can check around your house and find bags and boxes that are not being used.  Often a collection of bags from your shopping excursions will provide enough for your entire day.  Ask friends, family and neighbors if you can have a few bags if they are known to save them, having extra is always better than running out.

Planning a Yard Sale
Planning for a yard sale will take a few weeks.  The first few weeks you are going to go through your home – from top to bottom and find all the ‘stuff’ that you want to sell. You should go through the entire house, putting things in the yard sale pile, and then after you have been through the house, wait a few days and go back and do it again.  Even on the second trip through you are going to find more stuff that you realize you don’t need to hold on to and can get rid of.

Plan on having enough blankets or tables to hold all of your items that are for sale.  Gathering up the tables ahead of time will make everything much easier later.  You are also going to need some type of cash box so that you can keep your change all in one place.

If you are going to have a yard sale with another person you also need to have stickers with your names and prices so that you can split up who sold what later.  A notebook with a pen will be needed to track who has sold what during the yard sale as well.

Best Advertising
Advertising in small town newspapers will get your yard sale noticed.  If you are having a sale on Friday and Saturday, you need to advertise Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday in order to get the number of people that you want at your yard sale.  Most often yard sales are held on Friday and Saturday. 

Signs put on the corners of the block where you live and in places around town where the traffic is highest on the days of your yard sale will also pull buyers to your yard sale.  Advertising in the newspapers and putting signs up around your neighborhood your customers will come to your sale. 

Price Matters
The purpose have having a yard sale is to clean out your home for the stuff that you don’t use, need or want, while making a few bucks for your pocket as well.  When putting price stickers on items be sure to keep prices low so people will opt to buying them.  If you are having problems selling anything during the first few hours of your yard sale, be sure to go back and remark your items as a lower price so your customers will start buying!