Oh, we have a couple a year in my neighborhood.

Be sure to advertise/hang signs. Have plenty of signs/plastic bags on hand. Keep your house locked--unfortunately, some people figure it's a good time to case houses--when you're occupied out front.

Try to have your stuff priced and ready to go ahead of time. Expect early birds. Everyone has their own take on them. Me? I figure, if someone makes the effort to show up early (or the day ahead) and wants to buy something I have for sale, I'd rather get the sale.

Be prepared for the bargain hunters. You'll get some people who will try to dicker on every item you have out there. Try to decide ahead of time if your prices are 'firm' or you can build a little 'wiggle room' into them.

Get a few clear plastic drop cloths, just in case it starts raining. you can toss them over your stuff and people can still see what you have through them (yes, some will stop, even in the rain).

Be sure you have the appropriate permission/permits from your town.

Oh, and do NOT agree to sell stuff for others, UNLESS they are willing to come and help with the sale.

Have easy, handheld breakfast/lunch food made up ahead of time, so you just have to grab and go (bagels are good, for example).

If you're having a neighborhood yard sale, you can make a party of it. Last time, I pulled the grill out front, and made french toast, sausaages, hash browns and grilled pineapple for everyone who was out selling their stuff. Had a great time--didn't sell so much that morning, but it was fun and we all enjoyed it. Then I grilled Pizza for lunch for everyone

Have several helplers. Teens are good. Have them walking around, and keeping their eyes open. Things magically disappear. Do not leave the cash box untended. Do you have a neighborhood boy or girl that could do this to relive you. NO potty breaks for anyone. If they really really have to go, go with them. Girls with girls, men with boys. Have plenty of change, but keep most of it in the locked house.
No returns especially for kids toys etc. Try not to visit with friends and neighbors much. Be aware of people who send the kids or others and they stay in the car, car running. If you are selling furniture, and they need help loading, be careful. Don't leave the sale to help load.
Sad to say, there seems to be an increase in people just picking items up. Economy?
Good luck from someone who had 2 sales years ago, never again.

I'm having a garage sale Saturday. I've had one almost every year for the past 7 or so years.

I agree with what has been said so far... but I do not allow people to shop the day before. I did that once and the lady rooted through all the kids clothing, wasted about an hour of my time and bought maybe $4.00 worth. I had to reorganize the whole table... so I don't allow that anymore.

I don't have a cash box. Too many people get distracted and there is the box wide open and full of money. I wear a apron with pockets on the front. Bills are clipped with a clip chip to keep them together and heavy enough to stay in the apron pocket.

I use 3 people to check someone out. One person reads off the names and price, one marks the $ on the board in the person's row and the last person adds all the $ amounts up. Someone collects the money and gives change, then someone bags it up. That is when there are multiple people selling things though.

I do allow people to return electronic items the day of the sale because I don't have time to recheck each item to make sure it is working properly. I don't allow returns on clothing and household items unless there was something really wrong with it like a broken zipper.

Hope you have a great sale!!

Do you usually reach a point in the day where you say everything is half off, just to get rid of it all? That's partially the point of our sale -- spring cleaning to get rid of junk, with the hope of making a little money in the bargain.

Oh, and do NOT agree to sell stuff for others, UNLESS they are willing to come and help with the sale.

Whoops, too late ;) It'll probably be my husband and myself, and maybe one or two other friends. Our other friend who wanted to sell stuff can't be there, though.

Thanks for the tips -- I hadn't thought of bags. Any suggestions on how to get a bunch cheaply?

Any small things like jewelry, keep close to you. Right at the table with you and priced.
And this is what I hate the most that sellers do. Do NOT say, "What size to you wear?" I have lots of size 10's that would be perfect for you.
I don't like it when things are not priced and the seller asks what you will give for it, then appears insulted that you didn't offer more.

I've had a lot of them over the years and i agree with what the others have already said,especially about the apron with pockets.

Never ever let anyone in your house to use your bathroom or phone.

Make sure you have plenty of change and plenty of small bills,and don't take any hundred or fifty dollar bills for small sales,just tell them nicely that it will take all your change and you can't get away to go get more.

As for bags,if you don't have any of the plastic grocery bags,maybe some of your neighbors can help you out with those,most of us have way more than we need of those.
Or go to big lots or the dollar store and buy some cheapie ones.

Oh yeah,one more thing i do is go to the dollar store,or any store that has water and sodas on sale,buy a bunch,put them in a cooler and sell for 75 cents each,you can make a good profit on those,just make sure you get some diet ones as well as regular one.For instance say you pay 4.00 for a 12 pk of soda,selling at 75 cents gives you a 5.00 profit,not too shabby huh??
Good luck with your sale!
Kathi

A woman about a mile from me had a garage sale last fall. When she went inside to get something, there was a man inside with a gun, waiting for her. He had gotten into her UNLOCKED house while she was distracted outside. I don't remember all the details except that she somehow got away from him and called 911. So just a reminder, don't leave your house unlocked. Good luck.

Shirley

Make sure everything is clean and presentable. Put everything on tables or hanging up. People don't want to rummage through stuff. Tables look better if they are covered with a plain tablecloth or non-stained sheet.

I've been told that having everything lined up in one big line cuts down on theft. For instance, if you are holding the sale in your garage, line everything up on tables or racks either side down the driveway.

Make sure you have a lot of $1's, a few $10's and $5's, and lot's of quarters before you start. Have someone you can hand off money to take in the house and lock up every so often. Your pockets will get filled pretty quick while the action is happening.

Be willing to deal. If you are just going to donate it afterward, be willing to come off the price, it will save you a trip and gas money later.

You're getting good advice here. One thing I want to add, since I love looking for books is: if you are selling books make sure the spine (with the title) is facing out so a person can scan the titles quickly. You'd be surprised how many sales I go to where the books are just dumped in a box every which way!

That goes for all your displays, make sure you can "see" the stuff, that it's not piled and my pet peeve is when things are just shoved under tables. Even when I was younger I didn't want to bend and crawl under tables!

Good luck with your sale, I hope you make a lot of money and have fun.

I always help with my daughter's sales each year and we make it a family event. I fix a lot of food ahead of time that can be heated and I have also made cookies and sold them. They have sold pop and hot dogs and those went over well. My main job when I help is at the check out, I am the bag lady! We save our plastic bags all year so we always have a bunch. Also when you place the ad in the newspaper, ask if they have any end rolls of paper. Our paper just gives those to us and we use them to wrap breakables and no newspaper print to contend with. I am not sure when they will have one this year, but we are always organized. We have done this for so many years I can't remember when we started. We enjoy it as it is a time to get rid of stuff, make a little money and have a family get together. Of course everyone is really tired when it is overwith. Hope you do well with yours.

Sue

You'll just have to see how it goes in your neighborhood. I find people don't mind rummaging through stuff on the ground (I never have enough tables), nor under tables. Some think they're getting a better bargain that way. If your stuff is too neat and organized, a lot seem to think you will be asking too much for it. One of the most successful yard salers I know just pulls everything out and dumps it on his front lawn--no tables, no real organization and he sells far more than I do (I'm sort of in the middle--have some nicely organized tables, but a lot of overflow on the ground, in boxes, etc.)

You asked about halfway through the day, cutting prices. I don't do anything as orgainzed as saying 'everything's half off), but I definitely come down, or will deal more readily at the end of the day. Because let's face it, the whole point of the sale is to get rid of your junk.

When you do clean up, set up 3 boxes--one for the obvious trash that you're not going to save; one for charitable donations; and one for the 'good stuff' that you'll put away for the next yard sale. Makes the packing away so much easier to do it that way. A lot of folks just put the junk on the curb that night, and usually it's gone well before trash day. Which I don't mind--since I have yard sales so that I don't have to toss stuff in the trash that still has a little life left.

Good luck--have a good time with it and hope you make good $$$

Be careful with your money. Don't leave it in a box out in public. If somebody asks you to hold something for them, give them a time limit. I had one lady who wanted a working TV for $15 and said she was going home to get the money, but never came back. I later sold the TV thru an ad in my local Pennysaver paper.

Speaking of advertising, what advertising do you do for the yard sale? Local newspapers? Craigslist?

All of the above advice is good.

I live in a retirement community and each July 4th we have a yard sale. Any resident can participate if they want to. Seems like we are always still "down sizing." I started going through boxes in my garage yesterday. lol

We each set up tables in our driveway/yard and take care of our own sales and money.

I wear a fanny pack to hold my money. It has three zippered compartments. Works great for me. An apron with pockets is good also.

As for advertising, our local newspaper runs YS ads free. We also have a local Bulletin Board publication which runs YS ads free. This is so helpful because the BB is available about 100 miles North and South of us, and everybody looks there for sales.

We also put signs on the telephone poles in the area. (If you put signs up anywhere, please take them down after the sale.)

Good luck!!

Sue

Oh local paper for us. It doesn't pay to advertise in it if you don't have much stuff to sell. Of course signs that are always taken down and most are used over several times. She wraps hers in plastic wrap to keep the dampness from them. It seems to work. She probably won't have hers until sometime in September, during a local festival this year.

Sue

Watch out for selling food. Many communities are cracking down for people selling hot dogs, slush burgers, sandwitches. I won't buy at a house I don't know. But then the senior center serves lunch. Chips/pop ok. unopened. Even cookies and bars are discouraged. All it takes is one person to get sick and related back to home made food and the health dept really gets strick.

I don't go down on the price on the first day, I do the second day and really go down on the third.

LOL, multi-day yard sale!? That sounds like too much work. We're just holding it on a Saturday.

So many good tips here, so thank you, all of you. We just sorted through most of our stuff, and priced it all already; have it sitting in our spare room, ready to go. Still have to finish cleaning out the garage, though, where some of the furniture that we're going to sell is sitting.

Any recommendations on signage? How to make it, how and where to post it?

extension cords/outlets for people to check appliances right on the spot

I always use almost day-glo colored posterboard. Use the same color for every sign that you put up. Put them up at corners with arrows, etc. pointing the way.

My best advice, is to tell anyone wanting the best deal ever, is to tell them to come back tomorrow, and everything will be half price. Either they pay your price or take the trouble to come back tomorrow and risk the item being sold.

I hated the first 20 customers of the day asking for nickel and dime prices.

Trin

When I had my garage sales, I really wanted everything gone. Anything that was left after the sale was over went straight to the curb for the next garbage pick-up.

Just want to thank everyone for your excellent advice -- we held the sale on Saturday, and made about $200. I think a lot of our stuff was skewed too "young" for the neighborhood -- we had a lot of games, sci-fi books, computer stuff, etc., and almost none of that moved. All the middle-aged women who came to the sale were interested in the household stuff, and clothes, so that's pretty much all we sold.

A friend who is having a sale in a couple of weeks has invited us to join them -- they're next to the college campus (and are going to put up signs there), so I'm hoping the rest of our stuff will get sold then.

We had one really funny incident -- we were selling a gorgeous inner quilt for a duvet. I got it from Macy's for $125+ last year, used it one night, and decided it was too warm. We priced it at $20, and I swear every person who came to the sale looked at it or asked about it. I was willing to go down to $15, but that was it -- I'm sorry, but $15 was already too much of a steal for it, IMHO.

This one woman kept looking at it, offered $10 for it. I said no, $15 was as low as I would go. She kept walking by, saying "$10? Are you sure?" I kept saying, "Nope, $15." She walks towards her car, and then screams toward us "$13 dollars? Will you take $13?" Still a no on my part (I was sticking to that $15 amount, gosh darn it!) She then got in her car and kept driving back and forth in front of our house. She finally got out, looked at it again, and asked "Are you sure you won't take $13 for it?" Nope. She then left again and continued to drive back and forth, before finally driving away. I think she was expecting us to come running up and say "Okay, we'll take $13 for it!" She was by far the wackiest person of the day...

Hi again rivkadr,

With the bargain that you were giving on the duvet, I wouldn't have budged an inch ... only used once! Dropped almost $100.00!

Dad used to tell of when he was a kid and they were selling apples at the farmer's market.

A lady came up in the early hours and offered a lower price and Dad wouldn't take it.

several hours later, when the apples turned out to have been popular, and several vendors had raised prices, the same lady came back to their table, saying that she'd take the apples at the price that Dad had quoted in the morning.

Dad refused, saying that when she walked away, that deal was over with ... and now that she was back, a new negotiation was in order.

When she'd bought the apples, another vendor next to Dad's spot remarked to the lady that she hadn't seen any green in Dad's eye, had she (when "green" meant rather unwise in the ways of the world, inexperienced)?

I think that, had you quoted a reduced price, when she walked away, and shouted her offer over again from a distance, I'd have raised the price that I'd offered her at that time by a Dollar or so ... that'd have really got her going! (Or should that have been, " ... coming and going ...."?

I'm pleased with the news that you had a good result - with no disaster(s) more newsworthy to report than the one that you shared.

ole joyful