I am tired of all this clutter!!! I've tried craigslist, no responses. I live in a smallish town so hardly anyone knows of cragislist and if they do are probably scared since the craigslist killer thing happened

Freecycle is a pain as well. I tried it, people breaking their fingers typing to you that they want something then when you set a pickup date/time they back out!

So, time for a good old fashion, yard sale. Does anyone have any advice or tips? It's been forever since I had one.

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I didn't have my annual yard sale this year. We just had way too much going on. I would try to organize clothing by size, (throw out any stained or worn items), make sure all electrical items are working, gather plenty of tables and racks for display, price items at what you would be willing to pay for them at a yard sale, make sure you have change and also bags for purchased items. Yard Sales are so much work. I spend several days just getting ready, and although I do manage to make some cash, sometimes....it just doesn't seem worth the effort. I guess the best part is getting rid of clutter, and making a little cash in the process. Good luck with your sale!

I have sales every year. My favorite is setting up at trunk sales for a local fundraiser benefit. They charge around $10 to $15. That alone is about the cost to put an ad in the newspaper.

Anyway, I have real success at my sales. What I do is put a table cloth over all my tables. Nothing worse than seeing items on an old scratched up table. I price everything with a bold sticker or tag that people can see instantly. I am also willing to deal. I have had many people offer a certain amount of $ for a few items. I usually let them do it because I figure if I dont, I will just end up taking it home or tossing it.

I group like items together. All jewelry in one spot, clothes in another and so on. NEVER put anything on the ground unless its an out door thing. If its a big item and you must put it on the ground place plastic underneath or a blanket. It lets people see that you care enough to keep the item in good shape (what I mean is if you have a cabinet and its sitting on the grass, one may not buy it because it could be dirty underneath). People do not want to bend over to sort through stuff laying on the ground either. I have seen boxes of books, clothes, etc on the ground, its too hard for people to sort through them. They will get over looked. Believe me I know. Try to get a rack that is eye level and place your most "need to sell" items on that rack.

Clothes should be sorted by size. I made the mistake of putting all the clothes on the table for a price each and people continuously asked me what sizes they were. I didnt even know! They were all mixed in. I wont make that mistake again. My cousin was more organized with her clothes and did great!

Dust, clean, fix, paint whatever needs to be done to an item before selling it. People will NOT buy an item if they have to do those..

Have you ever watched Clean Sweep?? The people running the sale talk to the buyers and try to "wheel and deal" with them.. if you want an item to sell and someone looks very interested in it.. talk to them about it. Keep it simple. I once had a treadmill in my sale. This couple were pondering over it. I approached them and gave them information about it. I offered to plug it in and let them see how it works. They bought it!

If someone seems to be looking for something in particular, ask them what they are looking for. You might just have it stashed in the house and forgot about it. That has happened to me.

Cash: When people get money from the bank whether its from the Teller or ATM, they usually get $20 back. Be prepared to make change for $20. Its rare for me to get anything less.
Have plenty of bags and a few boxes in case you have a big buyer of little things.
To be safe, always have a helper who can also relieve you if necessary. Keep an eye on your potential buyers. I have had a thief in the past. Keep all jewelry and high priced items close by where you sit. If you are worried about counterfeit money, purchase the pen from an office store that retail stores use. I keep one on hand in my cash apron along with paper, pen and a calculator.
Print flyers up for your sale with pics of the bigger items. Place them on bulletin boards all around town. Like laundromat and grocery stores with tags of the address and time of the sale. People will not remember them after seeing the flyer.

Hope that helps and that you have a very successful sale!
Think Green!!

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I do yard sales frequently. In fact I'm getting ready to have one in November.

Try and make things as clean as possible. They don't have to be spotless but at least not messy. Price your items but be prepared to bargain, especially if it's stuff you don't care about and want gone.

Try and do it with at least one other person around. You wouldn't believe the creeps out there who will try and steal you blind.

I try to have them the first weekend of the month. Lots of folks on fixed incomes get their checks around that time.

If you're selling anything of value, keep it on you or always within sight.

Put up lots of signs! Make the lettering big enough to see from a car going over 30 mph. I don't advertise any more, just use the signs and things have worked out well.

Have bags, boxes and newspapers to wrap and pack the stuff you sell.

Get at least $50 in change... ones, fives and 10's and some coins too. One of the sales I had, the first person that showed up bought around $10 worth of stuff and only had a $50 bill.

Don't be afraid to cancel if the weather turns out bad. There are few things worse than doing a yard sale in the rain.

Group your items. Kitchen stuff, clothes, toys, guy stuff. People tend to buy more if they don't have to go looking all over the place

That's about it. If I think of anything else, I'll post it.

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The better things are set up the more money you'll get. If you have a way of hanging clothes on a rack and putting together outfits on display you can charge more.
Put like items together and items that can go together near each other (blender near a set of Margarita glasses, salad bowl near tongs etc)
Start early and stick to Friday and Saturday for the best prices. Sundays a lot of people don't come they think it's picked over.
If it's hot offer cold bottles of water/cans of pop.
Have a free box but make it one item per person or one item free when you spend $5.
Big ticket items out in front people like baby stuff, tools, fishing stuff, collectibles and sets of things.
Sometimes I even bundle items into a grouping (five pairs of pants the same size for example) thus getting rid of several items in one sale also this way if they want just one you can say you have to break up a set and get a couple more bucks.

Have lots of change depending on how you are charging. If you have stuff under $1 you'll need silver if not just some 1s and 5s.

Have someone out there with you to make conversation people feel more obligated to buy when you have personally acknowledged them and you'll have someone to help you watch for thieves.
Good luck let us know how it goes.

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Great tips guys! I appreciate it.

Thanks for all the great advice ladies! I'm kind of excited to have the yard sale now!

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Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

Make sure you shut all the doors to your house (esp. the ones in the back) while you are having the sell. Once a friend had her house robbed while she and her family were out front having the sell. Just awful!!
Have fun.
I agree with everyone else about grouping your items. The earlier you get out and set your things up for the sale the more of a relaxed day you will have. We always have a table with 2 charis (one for me and my husband). This way we sit and use the table as a register. Have PLENTY of change and when you get several large bills take a break and take it inside and put in a safe place.

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ALSO, instead of pricing several small items go ahead and place them in a large baggie and price the entire thing.
For misc. items I have sometimes thrown it all in a box with a note that either says 10 cents OR entore box for $2.00

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We are having one today. I hate having yard sales, as they are so much work, but we always do pretty good with them. We have lots of stuff out - we just cleaned out a storage shed - and I am hoping for the best.

Last sale we had we put the time in the paper as 9am-3pm, and we were busy from 8:30am until 2:30pm non-stop! People were scoping out the sale at 7am!!

We set up last night somewhat, and covered what was out there with tarps. That way today will be just uncovering the stuff and setting it up on tables.

We plan on running inside around 11am to the computer and ordering pizza to be delivered. That way we can get lunch and still both be outside.

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I'd rather have all my toenails pulled out than have a yard sale. Around here, no matter what you put on it people offer you about 1/3 of it. That is when they aren't coming in a large group and two or three distract you and your DH while the other ones steal stuff off your tables.

Gotta love South Fla!

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If your goal is to get rid of clutter then make the rule that nothing that goes out for the yard sale can come back in the house, except to be put back out on the second day if it's a 2 day sale.

Do everything possible to sell the stuff-offer 1/2 price or fill a bag for $5 toward the end of the sale, etc. Then, at the end, box/bag up everything that is left and give it to charity. There are charities that will come and pick up stuff, check around to see if there are any in yor area that do. If not, plan to end your sale early enough that there is still time to drop the remainders at a thrift store at the end of the day. Then the clutter will be gone!!!

Good luck. Hopefully the weather will be good and you'll get lots of shoppers!

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We made $125. Everything was "make an offer" as it was all stuff we wanted to get rid of. We are happy with that amount, as everything was just taking up space in the storage shed. We closed up 1 1/2 hours early though.

Lesson learned : instead of 9am-3pm, make it 8am-1:30pm. It is gorgeous out, and the mid-day sun was making us way too hot!

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"Yesterday my life was duller, now everything's technicolor!"

Congratulations on the $125! You made money, de-cluttered, and kept "stuff" out of the landfill.

Well, how did it go, susiecat? Inquiring minds want to know....

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