Yard Sale Success

A defining moment in my “grown up” life was hosting my first ever yard sale. I finally have a home, a yard, and a bunch of items that were no longer needed or of value to me. Biased as I may sound, I advertised my sale as “Quality Items” listing a poker table (barely used), dirt devil cone (bridal shower gift), Louie Vuitton handbag (fake of course, but still with the tags!), picture frames (still in the box), jewelry (that was no longer sentimental), comforter sets, bathroom sets, towels, DVDs, sporting equipment – you name it, we had it and were ready to give it away for cheap!

I started the yard sell playing hard nose, negotiating little from the price displayed on the yellow tags I stuck to every single item displayed. How could you think that my foot massager that heats up is worth less than $15?!! And my Nike sneakers, $2? Get off my lawn!

But after my first sale all my “quality items” became negotiable as I quickly realized receiving $2 for my use-to-be-favorite-shirt was better then having to find dresser drawer space for it again. My town home driveway seemed like a cruise line’s first foreign port where visitors and locals barter prices until both felt like winners! By early afternoon I was pulling items out of my drawers and closets that were never intended for sale but were needed to simply to fill up the vacant table space outside (and make a couple of extra bucks)!

6 hours later and $350 richer, the remnants of the yard sale were packed in black bags destined for Goodwill. By my measure, my first yard sale was a success!

Yard Sale Tips:

Be set up by 7 am - people were on our door step by 6:55 am!

Advertise on craigslist.org - it is free and people check here to get addresses and plan their yard sale itinerary for the day!

Convince a neighbor or two to have a yard sale the same day - this produces more traffic to your area.

Price all your items so less questions are asked.

Be reasonable when pricing your items. People do not come to yard sales to spend $20, $30 or $40 dollars on something - that is what craigslist and ebay are for!

Have a watchful eye! Unfortunately I had a nice watch for sale swiped from my table when not looking for a quick minute. Keep more valuable items closer to where you are standing.