Yard Sale? - Philadelphia,PA

My sisters, some of her neighbors and I just joined together and had one. Rather than repeat the stuff said below here's my tips to add:
1) There's a difference between the stuff that you just want to get rid of at any price versus stuff that's worth money. Price accordingly. Better to sell a piece of junk for $1 or less and let someone else take it than to have to pack it up and drag it to goodwill yourself. But if it's an old designer handbag hold out on price - post on craigslist or ebay if it doesn't sell at the yard sale.
2) Watch for theives! My sister's neighbor was selling Mary Kay cosmetics at the yard sale and someone stole a $13 item. We are pretty certain of the lady who took it since she asked how much it was, said it was too pricey and when other people arrived she hovered around the cosmetic area while no one really kept an eye on her! And she drove an expensive car too!
3) Decide ahead of time how much you'll settle for in terms of price. Many people really want huge bargains - they want to buy your Beatle's White album for fifty cents. You've priced it at $5. Decide if you'll go down to $2.50 or not. don't be afraid to tell people no if they want your mahogany chest of drawers for $5 if you really want $30. You can't buy a decent chest of drawers for less than $200 and even that will be made or particle board.
4) Run an extension cord so people can test the radio, iron or lamp to make sure it works.
5) Keep your money on you. You can get a pocket-apron for about $1 at Home Depot to keep your money in and on your body. AGain - theives abound - you'd like to think that they dont - but they do.
6) Use BROAD tipped dark markers for your signs - draw arrows - use simple directions such as "Right on Main to Maple Ave" - then hang another sign on that corner to take them "Maple to Beach St". They'll see the balloons or sign at Beach St and know where to go. If you see another garage sale hang signs directing people from that sale to yours.
7) If you can get a few of your neighbors to run a sale on the same day - even better! then the sign can say "YARD SALE - 4 families!"
8) Bundle things. We had a pile of Rescure Heroes to sell. I put them all in a box and priced it at $1 per action figure. People picked through bought one or two - at the end of the day I ended up with a box of rescue heroes, minus 3 or 4. In hindsight when someone bought one I should have thrown in another for 50 cents more, and a third for an additional quarter! Maybe I wouldn't have had 20 remaining rescue heroes. ;o)
9) Put the good looking big stuff closest to the street. I will drive slowly past a garage sale and if all I see is clothing, glassware, babyswings and toddler playhouses I keep driving... I'm looking for chairs, wooden furniture, etc.

Finally - don't expect to get rich on this. It's a lot of work. If you work outside the home, have kids and time is precious you may find a yard sale to be more work than it's worth unless you have a lot of desirable high priced items. When we were selling kitchen tables, chairs, cabinets and a double jogging stroller at our first sale we made over $500 and it was worth the time. But when we had a sale a few years later and made $120 over the entire day - it was barely worth the money for 2 days (the staging day before & the sale day) of my work.

We have had them set up for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I always post they will be open until 7pm on the weekdays so those working that might drive by and see my sign will come and check it out.

I would say opening early, like 7am is good too. I hate that part of it but even then there were people there around 6:30am.

Have it open as late as you like on Saturday, if people are still coming then stay open unless it's too hot or too cold. They will come in any weather unless the sirens are sounding...lol.

Also, the reason for having a yard sale is to get rid of stuff, not make money. It is a nice side benefit of selling everything off but people come to sales to get something for nothing. They won't pay prices we think our stuff is worth. I won't pay over fifty cents for kids clothes and not much more than that for much of anything else. It's primarily for you clearing out stuff.

-Advertise on Craigslist a few days before.
-If you don't want to do Friday, just do Saturday. Sundays are usually duds.
-Have everything ready to go so all you have to do is roll up the garage
door: change from the bank (coins, ones, fives, tens), have everything
priced, hang clothes (don't lay them down), put a sign out front to make
your house easy to find (add ballons to the mailbox or sign), put signs
that you premake (or buy) w/ your address at a few intersections or
cross streets near your home
-Be ready to go early (7am). Serious garage salers show up earlys & if
you list your address on Craigslist they will come knocking. List time on
Craigslist (ex. 7am-2pm). Capturing early a.m. market is best.
-Place "like" items toghether on tables
-Be sure your items are clean (they sell)
-Don't over price (you want to make $ AND get rid of your stuff)
-Whatever doesn't sell...donate as it will most likely not sell at your next
garage sale
-If you can make things cute and/or like a boutique, the better your items
may sell.
-have someone there to help you in case you get busy and/or need to go
in & use the bathroom. ;)
Good luck!

Sat and Sun 8am - 2pm

Do it in the morning, start on Friday if you can. Put clearly marked signs at the end og the block. Be sure it is organized by size on clothing and shoes, set it up like a dept store. Housewares together, toys together, etc. Be sure you have prices clearly marked but be willing to negotiate. Have cash on hand to make change and have some plastic grocery sacks for people to tkae stuff him ein.

Make sure your city or neighborhood doesn't require you to have a permit. In my hometown you were required to get a yardsale permit and could only use the signs that they porvided, which you had to pay for (what a racket). The police would actually go out on Saturday mornings, when things were slow, and check garage sales for their permits and ticket them and shut them down if they didn't have them.

I recommend you do it from Friday through Sunday. Start early in the morning. Most garage salers are "early birders" and like to get there before anyone else to have the best shot at the good stuff.

No matter what time you say it starts people will knock on your door earlier than the time stated and want to look at your stuff, so have it set up the night before and be prepared to get started a little earlier if you want to sell your stuff.

Do you go to yardsales in your area? I'd suggest doing that first. That will give you an idea of what time to start and how to price your items. In Mississippi, yardsales were expected to run Saturday and Sunday starting at around 6 am! People would haggle for everything (even to knock it down by 25c)! Here in New Mexico, they usually run Friday and/or Saturday starting at around 8 am. People are not as likely to haggle--they just go by the posted price. I keep everything outside (front yard or driveway) NOT actually in the garage... that way people aren't poking around in your stuff (that you don't want to sell). If you're expecting rain or a hot sunny day, plan to put up a canopy. You can also have the kid(s) set up a donut & coffee table--where they sell a small cup of coffee for 50c and donuts from walmart for 50c. I like to make signs for things that I'm selling a lot of (e.g. "Clothes: pants $2, shirts $1, baby clothes 50c") that way people aren't asking you over and over "how much is this shirt" etc.

Good luck and have fun! I love having yardsales and going to them!

Saturday and Sunday from 6:30am to 12pm. is when we always have ours. We have a lot of early birds and then they start to get scarce around 10am-12pm, so we end up closing everything at 12pm.

Have a yard sale sign and your address very clearly written and put it at the end of your block.

Make sure you have $50 in change and some coins because you will get a lot of people giving you $20 for $1 item etc.

Do a First Come First Serve basis. Don't hold anything for anyone unless they pay you in advance and they say they will come pick it up later. Get their name and phone number and stick it on that item with the word PAID on it so you remember who paid you and who is coming to pick it up. :-)

Yard Sales are about selling stuff for cheap prices, so try to stay reasonable in that area. I sell my clothes for .25cents to .50cents each...I sold my movies for $3 each....etc.

Have at least one other person there to help you with your sale.

If you can, have your clothes hung up that you're selling. Don't let anyone in your garage. Make them stay out in your driveway. Have everything that you are selling in your yard or on your driveway. Wear a Fanny Pack around your waste for your money. You can get grocery sacks for the people who want to buy a lot of clothes, or multiple items so that it is easier for them to carry.

If you have baby clothes to sell, have them organized with separating sizes and you can use diaper boxes for each size. Then if you want, you can sell the whole box for one price. :-) I've done that a lot.

Some things I gave away, and some things I sold for dirt cheap...and some prices I held my ground on. :-)

I always have a good time doing my yard sales. I love talking with people and helping them. Enjoy your yard sale. :-)

You have gotten some really great responses so far, and NY Metro Mom of Teens was very thorough. Double check about permits in your area . . . it would be awful to make $150 and them owe the city $200 because you were ticketed.

I would really stress the importance of a great Yard Sale sign. Make it bright and eye-catching so people will be drawn to your sale, and then be able to find their way! We live on an Army Post and I am not kidding when I say people don't know how to make a sign! 2 weeks ago we saw a sign that was attached to a fence that was about 10 feet from the corner. It was on 8.5x11 paper and was typed in what must have been 12 pt. font! SO ridiculous! My husband and I joke with each other that good yard sale signs must come from California, because we now live in GA with people from all over the country (and world), and have seen 1 yard sale in 10 months that has been good.

I would recommend making signs on bright poster boards and putting one on every corner leading up to your house with a giant arrow! Even if people cant read the address, they will be able to find the house!

Best time to do a yard sale is first thing in the AM to afternoon. That is for MY area...in Denver? they do yard sales on Friday!! Which freaked me out!! LOL!!

Have everything separated and priced the night before.
Put signs out the day before - YARD SALE 10/20 0700 to 1200 (for example) with arrows to direct them to your development/home.
Put balloons on your mail box to set your home apart from everyone else's....yeah sometimes it's obvious but sometimes not so much!!

Advertise on craigslist with pictures of your bigger items -do that Friday afternoon (or the day before)

Make sure you have a roll of quarters, at least 20 $1 bills, a 5, 10 and 20. need to be able to make change.

Price things to sell - the idea is to make money and get rid of stuff..if it's over priced, it won't sell.

If this is your first yard sale? I would take a weekend or two BEFORE you do it to go around your area to see what things are priced at and what they have....look at their signs and look at how they are getting people there...

Won't be a successful garage sale if people don't show up.

Feel free to inbox me if you have questions.!
GOOD LUCK!!