20 Tips to Boost Your Yard Sale Profits by 20%

Placement is everything.  Advertising is crucial.  Planning is essential.

A yard sale isn’t throwing everything out on the lawn and hoping it sells.  It’s an event.  And buyers strategically plan their journey.  Make sure your sale is on their route and boost your profit by 20% or more with these 20 tips:

Extra! Extra! Read All About It:

1. List your sale on Craigslist- every 3 days- and title your Craigslist ad with as much info about the sale as possible.
   • Apps like iGarage Sale are in use by tech savvy shoppers and Craigslist ads filter into these GPS based searchable gems.
2. When listing your ad, include your big items and/or categories. -Example: 2004 Total Home Gym and Baby Gear galore!
3. Invest in sturdy Yard Sale signs- bright colors and catchy wording.
4. Place your signs the day before your sale so they stand out and remove old signs from previous sales that may be near your signs.
5. Check your county ordinances regarding signage. Hello! You’re putting your address on them and they will find you if you’re in violation!

A Little Prep Goes a Long Way:

1. Don’t throw together a sale in 2 days.  Plan at least 2 weeks in advance.
2. Neighborhood Sale?  Plan it the same weekend as the neighborhood up the street. You’re tapping into their marketing expense and guaranteed more traffic!
3. Have a Plan B for inclement weather.
4. If you can, run your sale Thursday-Saturday. This allows more marketing time and saturation of your sale.
5. Move your sale to a prime location or in a heavy traffic area.  Especially if you live in the back of your neighborhood or off the beaten path.
6. Organize the layout of your stuff by categories or rooms in a home. Example: Kitchen-Baby-Yard Tools-Clothing

The Art of Selling:

1. If it’s junky- don’t sell it.  You’ll ruin your Yard Sale reputation.
2. Place your big items out by the mail box or in a visible location.
3. Move your cars down the street and block others from parking in your driveway. Make your sale nice and open with no visual blocks.
4. Place price tags on everything and where people can see them.  You’re leaving the door open for negotiation if the buyer has to ask the price.
5. Price your stuff at what you would pay for it.  Not what you DID pay for it.

Bring on the Money:

1. Break out the hot chocolate or lemonade stand- $.75 per cup! Pancakes also do well on cold mornings and are super cheap to make.
2. Make the kids work the hot chocolate/ lemonade/ pancake stand!
3. Don’t take checks.
4. Do have plenty of cash on hand to make change. If you don’t have correct change, you’re likely to short change yourself on the sale!

You may like my previous post: For Sale- Yard Sale- Just Sell It- Sale I dive into understanding the 3 types of sales and how to play on the emotions of the seller to snag a bargain!