How to advertise your Yard Sale, Tag Sale, Estate Sale or Garage Sale to get the most exposure to make more money

During these difficult economic times there are many things that you can do to put a few extra dollars in your pocket. One thing my wife and I try to do on a regular basis to make a few dollars is to hold a yard sale. As a matter of fact my wife and I have hosted over 25 yard sales over the years! Besides making money, another bonus of hosting a yard sale is you get a chance to clear out some of that unwanted clutter from your home, garage, basement and attic. My wife says that this is her main motivation!

The purpose of this article is to give you step by step instructions on how to properly advertise your yard sale or garage sale to help you maximize foot traffic as well as maximize your profits. Depending upon what your budget is there are many effective ways for you to get the word out that you are having a Yard Sale.

Instructions

1. 

   Posting Signs on Utility Poles (FREE):
   Regardless of the other methods you may or may not use, this method is by far the method that yields the very best results for us. We use bright or neon color poster board for our signs. Bright neon green works great and really stands out with fat black magic marker.
   What information should your sign contain?
   We always write in big print YARD SALE and make sure to include the Street address, any cross streets, the date of the sale, and the time of the sale. A big tip that we use to help people find our home is to draw arrows on each sign to make it easy for prospective buyers to find our home. Make the writing clear and legible. Do not make the sign too cluttered with unnecessary information.
   Placement of signs:
   We place our signs strategically around our community. There are several major intersections that get a lot of traffic. The key is to make sure your sign is visible form all corners and has arrows pointing in the direction of the sale. Make sure all of the high traffic areas in your neighborhood have at least one sign directing people to your yard sale. You will want to place a few signs along any major streets near your home, along with arrows, to help people find there way, lastly, in front of your home make sure you place another sign so people know which house is having the sale. Just in case the driveway full of items is not evidence enough!

2. 

   Community Bulletin Boards (FREE):
   Take advantage of this next free source of publicity that is available in most if not all communities. Almost every Super Market has a free bulletin board where you can post your yard sale. Library's also have free community bulletin boards. We even have a Deli in our neighborhood that has a bulletin board out front for this very purpose,

   Community Websites (FREE): This is another great way to gain exposure for your yard sale. If you check with your local library and Chamber of Commerce chances are they will provide a section that will allow you to post your sale, free of charge. You can also post your sale of websites like Craigslist or Yahoo. They have regional listings that will allow you to post your sale, also free of charge.

3. 

   Local Newspaper Classified Ads (HAVE TO PAY FOR): This can be a very effective way to advertise your yard sale and for a minimal cost. Many people like to advertise in the yard sale/garage sale section of their local newspaper the week of the event. Just as with the street signs you want to make sure all of the information needed to find your yard sale is in the ad. You can also advertise in a regional newspaper, but the cost will be more and I am not sure that the results will justify the cost of the advertisement.

   I hope that you found this information useful in deciding on an effective way to advertise your yard sale. Based on my past experience the methods I highly recommend is using highly visible and clear written street signs. I also take advantage of free website and bulletin board postings. In my experience it is not necessary to pay for a yard sale ad in the newspaper to get traffic to your sale.

   Good Luck!!!

Tips & Warnings

• Take advantage of all of the FREE sources available to advertise your yard sale.

• Make your signs very clear and concise.

• If you do not want "Early Birds" do not put your signs up until you are ready for the buyers to arrive