Right now, I’m in a garage somewhere trying to sell my stuff!
Read my super long winded post about having the worst yard sale ever! Hopefully, you’ll learn from our mistakes & your sale will be awesome!
My family has been having a yard sale every year since practically the beginning of time. Okay, so it’s probably been a tradition for 30+ years, but it feels like the beginning of time. It has been a yearly tradition for my entire life.
Our little town is not very yard sale friendly. Because we’re in the middle of nowhere, we normally don’t see a ton of traffic, but once a year something magical happens. My parents (who host the sale) live close to a yearly festival area that turns their country road into a highway for a few days. Since there’s so much traffic, it’s the perfect time to set out stuff we want to get rid of!
You would think that since we’ve been putting on sales for so long, we would have it together by this point. Spoiler: we don’t.
Our sales have never been very organized. Hosting a yard sale is a ton of work. Some years are better than others in terms of finding time to gather up our stuff & set it up in a presentable manner. The entire ordeal is incredibly exhausting! The past couple of years, I’ve actually went inside & took a nap during the sale!
I hoped this year would be different in terms of the how we conduct the sale. With so much going on in our lives lately, though, the sale has taken a backseat to life & it’s shaping up to be the worst sale ever!
Inspired by this post, here are my tips for having the worst yard sale ever:
Day & Time
This is something we’ve always struggled with & it will probably be the same this year. Last year, my husband & I were out in the yard a couple days before the actual sale, setting up a tent that was going to be used to keep stuff under cover. We had someone stop & ask about our sale so we gave them a little “preview” of the random stuff we had in the garage already. I mean, this stuff was not priced or set up AT ALL & was just in random piles. The person actually ended up buying some stuff!
For that reason alone, it’s best to have set days & times. We usually don’t have any boundaries in that aspect & it really becomes ridiculous.
One year, my dad set up some stuff next to the road in anticipation of the sale. I can’t remember if he had it covered or not, but he didn’t have a sign out or anything. Then we all went to work. I got a call at work later on in the day from a neighbor. She said there were a ton of people surrounding the stuff & banging on the doors of the house, trying to pay for their purchases! We had my grandmother come over to run “the sale” until we could get there! When we actually had the sale, we had people stop by that wanted to pay us for the stuff they got from the road! Ridiculous!
We also run the sale forever during the days we host it. We’re not one of those sales who has set times & shut the doors when it’s over. Again, we have no boundaries! One year we were out there with flashlights selling stuff to people!
This is definitely how not to run a sale!
Publicize
Because our sale is held during a busy festival weekend, we really don’t have to publicize. As I’ve said above, we get people stopping even when no one is there!
With that being said, Craigslist has been a huge publicity generator, though! I have our listing saved in my posts on Craigslist, so it’s incredibly easy to republish it year after year. I just have to go in & add new pictures & information! It’s amazing how many people use Craigslist to find sales!
What I’m terrible at is posting about the sale beforehand. Most of the time, the info is on Craigslist the night before. The sooner the better though because people like to schedule these things in advance!
Signage
Apparently, we don’t even need signs to have a good sale! Haha!
We typically do a sign on the mailbox & one just down the road from the festival area. We lucked out one year because another neighbor was having a sale & put a sign at the end of the road. Because our sale was the first one down the road, a lot of people thought it was for us!
Prep Your Stuff
We don’t really do a lot for prepping. We just kind of gather things the weekend before.
We do try to price things, though. I hate going to yard sales & nothing is priced! Our prices are negotiable most of the time, but it’s good to have a starting point.
We try to keep things organized, but sometimes we have so much stuff that it becomes difficult.
Arrange Your Tables
We’re actually pretty good at this one! Once we start selling things, we’re also good about rearranging things.
We’ve managed to gather a fair amount of tables throughout the years which make setting up a breeze! We also acquired a couple tents that keep our outside items under cover.
The tents really bring people in because sometimes they don’t realize that the garage is full of stuff! The tents are a good eye catcher!
Cash Cash Cash
We’re good at this one too! At least the “having change” part.
I get bored easily, so when it’s my turn to sit at the money table, I’m usually all over the place & leave the money unattended! So amateur!
One time I even went to our garage next door while I was supposed to be running the cash register. In my defense, it was super early in the morning & there wasn’t anyone there at the time. Of course, in the short time I was gone, someone managed to do their shopping & was ready to check out! I saw their car in the driveway & ran back immediately!
It’s probably a good idea to have a designated person running the money situation at all times!
Make It Friendly
We’re super friendly at our sale. My dad & husband are ammeter salesmen & it really shows when they’re running the sale. My mom & I usually like to let people shop. My dad & husband like to get people talking & try to make sales based on what people want. There’s even been a ton of times where my dad ends up taking people to the barn to show them some things that aren’t “officially” in the sale.
Donate
I’m all for donating your stuff after the sale.
There’s a ton of local places that will take your stuff.
For clothing, we try to give to places that have clothing giveaways. We also drop off bags of clothes to friends & family that might want them, with the stipulation that they take all of it!
For glassware & other household items, I recommend checking with your local branch of Habitat For Humanity. We’ve shopped our local ReStore so many times over the past couple years & I just love them.
So that was a lot of words! Apparently, I have a lot to talk about on the subject of having the worst yard sale ever!
Seriously, though, don’t be like us. Keep your sale under control!
Again, this link has the tips you need to have a great sale!
PS: I’ll be sharing peeks of our yard sale over on Instagram stories today! If you want to see all the craziness, check it out!
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