Money Making Weekend!

What better way to spend your Friday night than preparing for a yard sale?

I know,it doesn't sound very satisfying...

but making $523.00 on a Saturday morning sure does!

Our yard sale was clearly a huge success! 

One we could not have predicted and wish we could repeat every Saturday.

In our area Yard Sales happen anytime from late May 'til the end of September!

Here are some yard sale tips to help you have a more profitable yard sale!

1) STASH
 Designate an area of your home to stash items for your yard sale. Collect year round.

2) CLEAN
Clean items!!! take the time to clean your stuff it will sell faster and help stop some of the haggling!

3) JOIN FORCES
Consider asking neighbors to join you in your yard sale! The bigger the sale the bigger your crowd, the bigger your potential for profit!

4) EVAL
In the week or two before your yard sale begin sorting items for pricing.

5) PRICE IS RIGHT!
Click here to view an excellent site's guide to pricing. Price to sell...and be done with it!

6) SHOW AND TELL
Use bright stickers to clearly mark prices
Use signs for "blanket" items to clearly name prices for grouped items

7) ADVERTISE TO THE MAX
The week before your yard sale you'll need to advertise on online and in your local, community paper. Create your signs. Signs should be uniform...
Hang signs 2 days before sale at major intersections near your home & local hot spots, if allowed. And capitalize! Get their traffic too...

8) MAKE CHANGE
Hit the bank! You'll need some change. I suggest $60 worth of change...consider your sell prices to determine if you really need nickels and dimes, otherwise I suggest 2-10's, 4-5's, 17-1's, and 12 quarters.

9) LEMONADE STAND & REFRESHMENTS
Hit the store! You'd be amazed at how much extra cash you can make from selling water bottles and chips! Let the kids have a lemonade stand. Got a person willing to grill? Sell hotdogs and sausages!

10) MAP IT
Night before sale plan how to make the most! Pathways and display is key for intriguing shoppers through all of your items and having them touch and potentially buy things they may not have considered.

- Any items you can gather onto a tarp, sheet, blanket should sell for a similiar price with "blanket" sign

- More fragile, desirable items should go up on a table (waist level)

- And the nicer, hardly worn clothes should hang from a chain, rope, or clothes rack 

- a tip that really worked for me was to use my own furniture to display on! Simply tag your own furniture with NFS (not for sell) think of benches, side tables, bookcases, even dish racks that you can move out front to help nicely display your items.

- big ticket items should be placed at back and front of sale! front to lure them out of car and back to lure them through entire sale.

11) SCHEDULE CHARITY P/U OR CLEAN OUT POV
Night before clean out the truck or mini van so that it's ready for the inevitable trip to charity after your yard sale or schedule a pick up.

12) EARLY TO BED, EARLY TO RISE
Night before get rest! Yard sales are hard work! Yes it's fun to socialize and thrilling to see  your junk turn into cash but in all reality it's hard work! You'll need your rest to carry on thru the rest of your day and weekend!

Day of...
1) start early! Your first customers are the ones who typically spend the most, so be ready for them!
2) know when to socialize and when to back off
3) have a FREE bin and use it! Who doesn't like something for free!
3) RESET! If/when you get a break don't waste that time! As the day goes on continue to reset your displays. If u have 20 items in a messy pile no one can find the jewel they are willing to buy!
4) take phone #'s and if item hasn't sold at end of sale offer it at special pricing and/or ABSOLUTELY cut prices during the last hour of sale! People specialize in scouting yard sales at closing time just like they do in being your early birds.
5) remember sunblock! You'll be in the sun and busy taking care of others so protecting yourself from sunburn is easy to forget!
6) keep rolling! Don't sit after that last shopper! Immediately pack items back into bins for either next years sale or charity.
7) -{BE KIND}- and take down your signs!

        May sound like hard work...and really it kinda is, 
but it's enjoyable and lucrative!

         .....I managed without even breaking a nail....