What is the old saying - "one man's junk is another man's treasure?" Perhaps you like to spend your Saturday checking out everyone elses junk and seeing if you must have it but most of us could probably honestly have a yard sale every spring/summer to clear out some unused/unwanted items just laying around. And why not? You could make a few hundred dollars. Here are some tips to get the most bang out your stuff for sale.
1) Plan. Plan. Plan. Honestly, you can't throw it together the day before. Look at your calendar now and see what weekend works for you and your family. If you do this right you can be on your way to the lake by 1:00pm at the latest, so it doesn't have to throw a wrench in your WHOLE weekend. Ask neighbors or friends if they want to get in on the action too. In the yard sale world the more is merrier!
2) Gather your bearings. You will need some extra card tables to set up so ask friends if you can borrow them in advance. I have a friend that has a clothes rack and that works super if you have some nicer clothes to showcase them. But ask ahead. That clothes rack is busy almost all summer. Stop by the dollar store and grab some price stickers and bright colored paper for signs. Make sure you have change. I usually have a few dollars in quarters and 20 $1 bills with a few fives. If you can get a few tens too. You would be amazed at the people that show up and buy something for $2 in the beginning of your sale with a $20 bill - grrrrr people!
3) Price items before hand. The most time saving idea is when you place something in a "yard sale" pile in your garage, price it then. This will save so much time but not always do-able. The Friday before your sale try to set up tables in your garage and lay items out and price them then.
4)Advertise! Make your signs. Just the basics. Make sure they at least have the address and times. Arrows help also. Also, place an ad in the Missoulian (http://tinyurl.com/7eb6rvm) or on Craigslist (http://missoula.craigslist.org/). In your ads I would put a little description of what you have. Obviously list bigger priced items or furniture and certain sized kids or women's clothes. In the Missoulian you pay by line so you may not want to list everything but on craigslist? List away. It's FREE!
5) The night before make sure signs are made, ads are placed, items are priced and you got a little change in your pocket. Plan where you will keep your money during the sale. If you have a little money apron wear that. And if you place an ad in the Missoulian they will give you one in your packet. I personally hang signs in the morning. I am always afraid of the weather ruining my signs or those early birds finding me too easy when I am not ready for them just yet. Try to go to bed as early as possible and set the coffee to start brewing first thing.
6) The morning of, get your things out there and sell, sell, sell. Be cheerful and be willing to bend a bit on your prices. I always have a few items that I won't "give away" and already plan to sell on Craigslist if they don't sell that day. If I advertise my sale to go till noon then around 11 am I make everything half priced except for those few exceptions. You want to get the stuff out. When all done DO NOT put the items back in your garage or worse yet your house - pack it in the car to take to a drop off center. I usually separate items at that point. Any kids clothes or items are something they love at the the Watson's Children Center (http://watsonchildrensshelter.org/ ). Especially swimsuits during the summer! I may have books that I plan on taking to The Book Exchange (http://www.booksmontana.com/). The rest of the items I drop off at Goodwill, Secret Seconds or the Salvation Army.
7) Last but not least, add up those earnings. Wasn't it worth it? And now go take down all those signs you hung up. You don't want to advertise that you don't care about the earth!
Happy Selling!
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