Last week I wrote about how to shop at yard sales, this week I will give you a few pointers for having your own successful yard sale.

• Plan ahead. Spend a few weeks going through your house and collecting items for the sale.
• Look for ways to post an ad for free. Craig’s list is the biggest one, but some towns have local papers that let people list yard sales for free. In your ad list the date, time, address and items you are selling to catch people’s interest.
• Make signs. Make them big and easy to read. If your house is hard to find make sure you have lots of signs directing people to your house from the main road.
• Combine with other families if you don’t have a lot of stuff. The words “multi-family sale” are music to the ears of yard sale shoppers.
• Price all of your items. I have always liked masking tape, it sticks well and comes off without damaging items.
• Price your items at garage sale prices. That means cheap. Items should be priced between 10 and 30 percent of the retail price.
• On the day of the sale, get up early and have all your stuff set up by the advertised start time.
• Get small change before the sale. I usually have between $75 – $100 in an apron around my waist. I get a few fives and tens, but mostly ones and quarters.
• Have plastic shopping bags for customers to put their purchases in, this isn’t necessary but it is nice.
• Make eye contact and greet people as they approach your sale.
• Be prepared to negotiate. Yard sale shoppers love to haggle, if they offer you a certain amount feel free to counter offer. Usually if they really want something they will pay a reasonable amount.
• Organize your stuff. Borrow tables from your friends. String up a line in the front yard between two trees for clothes. People are more likely to look through stuff if they don’t have to bend over.
• Have a box of free toys that kids (not your own) can play with, if the kids are happily playing mom and dad are likely to stay longer and shop.
• Put the nice big items at the curb to attract people that are just driving by.
• Slash your prices at the end of the day. At our last sale, my husband was giving stuff away with bogos, half off, fill the bag for a dollar, anything to get it out of our driveway.
• Coordinate with a company that picks up donations to come get your leftover stuff at the end of the sale. That way nothing comes back in the house. After the end of our sale we put everything on the curb and posted an ad on Craig’s list for free stuff. It was all gone in an hour.
• Have fun and be happy knowing that all of the stuff that was cluttering your house is leaving!