How to Plan A Successful Yard Sale
Creating the perfect yard sale is all about organization and selling things at a fraction of their real value. People come to yard sales looking for a bargain and if they think they find one, they will be much more likely to buy more. A lot of people will also simply drive by, so the key to getting people to come in and look around is to look organized. If things look like heaps of junk, people will just keep driving. Read on to learn how to plan a successful yard sale. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Start early. Too many people plan a yard sale at the last-minute and have no time to organize their stuff. Unfortunately, this leads to tables full of junk or worse yet, a bunch of stuff thrown of blankets on the ground. Set aside a specific space, a closet or corner of the basement, and put things there all year long. Then, a month before the sale sort through it and sort things by category.
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Price everything. Large signs displaying prices may seem like a really good idea, but you still need to put tags on everything. Also, make sure that your tags are easy to read. Signs will help attract customers, especially if they say things like "All T-shirts $1".
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Consider the item's condition, not sentimental value when pricing it. A ragged teddy bear, no matter who loved its fur off, will generally not get more than a quarter. A used video game in the case with the instruction manual and without scratches will get much more than a beat up one.
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Sell cheap, but not too cheap. As part of your preparation, find out what you can reasonably expect to get at a yard sale. More likely than not, you will not find a buyer for grandma's collectible dinnerware that sells for $15 a piece. Try eBay or an antique store for items like that. But don't undersell yourself either. in the case of electronics or video games, consider what you could get if you traded it in at the local game store. Charge more than you would get, but less than the buyer would pay.
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Plan your display. Think ahead to figure out how you will display clothes (hanging is good), breakables and larger items. Large items will help draw people into your sale to see what you have and can be used as temporary display cases, but remember that if the bookcase is for sale and you sell it early, you have to find a new place for the merchandise that was displayed on it.
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Participate in a neighborhood or community-wide sale. Many communities have big sales at the school parking lot or sponsored by a civic organization. These are the best places to set up a yard sale. Often the price is low, $20 or so, and the organization takes care of the advertising. they also attract more buyers because people presume that more sellers means more good stuff to buy.
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Choose a good time to have your sale. Coordinate with local events that draw traffic to your community. Think about how you will attract people to your sale. Also, avoid having yard sales in the hottest part of the summer or on a day that is particularly rainy or chilly.
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Tips & Warnings
Be sure to have enough change. Nothing spells disaster faster than not having change when someone wants to spend $3 of the $20 that they have.
Don't be afraid to haggle. People who get bargains, buy more.
