Tips to Make Money at a Yard Sale
Setting up a yard sale requires careful planning and a focused strategy, at least if you actually want to turn a profit. In a sea of sloppy, disorganized yard sales this summer, make yours stand out—and increase your chances of coming out on the other side with a wad of cash. Follow these tips for hosting a successful, money-making yard sale:
Make it a party. People are more prone to pull over if they see decorations or a lemonade stand set up at your yard sale. Come up with a theme for the sale and embellish your signs and tables accordingly. It can be something as simple as a summer picnic, for which you spread red-and-white checkered table cloths over display tables and pour frosty, complimentary glasses of water with lemon wedges. Small frills like these might be enough to lure someone in who’s on the fence about stopping.
Advertise in advance. The more you get the word out about your yard sale, the better your chances of attracting a crowd. Put up flyers around town, particularly places where stay-at-home parents or older folks, the demographic typically free during the day, might frequent (think the grocery store or the gym). You can also advertise on the town’s Facebook or even create your own Facebook event and invite friends.
Price items simply. Instead of painstakingly placing a price sticker on each item or requiring your guests to ask you directly, group stuff into categories. For instance, you could price all kitchen appliances at $10 or blouses at $2 apiece. Display one large price marker in the middle of the table to which it pertains and make it clear that every item around it falls within that pricing category.
Turn your yard into a boutique. You might not think that staging plays a very big role in making sales on your front lawn, but in today’s world, looks matter. So instead of following outdated yard sale setups, try arranging yours to look more like a quirky boutique than a hodgepodge of knick knacks. Display your rings and earrings in a drawer with separate compartments for each piece. Hang your tops and dresses on a clothing rack or the clothesline out front. Display old paperbacks in a bookshelf you’ve lugged out of the house. Small touches like this could make all the difference in snagging you a sale.
Offer something unique. Just like creating a party atmosphere makes people more prone to swing by, so does promising them something they can’t find at any other yard sale. Perhaps you can sell fresh bouquets of flowers from your own bed or homemade cocktail mixes that are ready to go with just the addition of booze. Baked goods, fresh sandwiches, lemonade—anything extra can sweeten the deal for shoppers. Some yard sale hosts like to throw a few free items into the mix, maybe a beat-up armchair or old TV that isn’t really worth much, just to get potential buyers interested in stopping and taking a good look around.
Show me the money! 11 ways to make more cash at your next garage sale [TODAY Home]
How to Have a Money-Making Yard Sale [This Old House]
14 Ways to Make More Money at a Yard Sale — and Have Fun Too [houzz]
Image and attribution:
