Advice for 'future' yard sale.

[ari'smom]

Yes, underpricing can be tough. But I don't think anything is really underpricing if you got it for free lol. But here is a formula that might work. Someone else mentioned half of what it would cost in a store. I disagree with that if they are talking about full retail price. But if you want to use store price as a guide, maybe half of the lowest price you have seen it either on sale or at a box store or dollar store. I'm sure some people pay full retail, otherwise stores would go out of business. But I think it is fair to assume that many people who yard sale also look for bargains elsewhere. So they are going to see right through a flimsy pricing strategy. Unless you have an item that is really sought after, hard to find, or they are looking for anyway (i.e. you will save them a trip to the store.)

I see this a lot at Goodwill i.e. they use retail as a guide to price certain things. When I know I have seen that same item sold in TJMax or Marshalls for so much less. Plus retail stores have sales and clearance too. I think I read somewhere that on fashion (designer) clothing, only about 20% is sold at full retail, the rest is discounted in some way. So I say if you are going to sell anything, be as savvy a seller as you are a shopper.

[joshmamabear]

for name brand clothes I want to get rid of, I bring them to consignment shops and get a fair price for them. For kids clothes, check if you have Plato's closet in your area where they buy gently used name brand kids clothes for a great price (much better than what you'd get from yard sales).

[KmmCo]

I have good luck at my new house with yard sales. I am not too far off a really busy street and that is where we put signs up. This is a neighborhood of 4-5 + bedroom homes filled with large families so everyone here is looking for bargains for kids stuff and household stuff. (I never did as well at my old house on sales and it is only a couple of miles away, but I do remember that I used to come over to this neighborhood to look for sales when my child was younger because of all the good stuff I could find.) On any given Saturday, I can find a dozen or so yard sales withing walking distance of my house. I guess it just depends on your location how well a sale goes over.

I price HBA stuff pretty cheap if I got it for free - about half of what the usual "sale" price is - and it usually goes pretty fast. Canned goods do okay sometimes too - I am putting out some bottles of the franks hot sauce this next sale as I don't need it all. I even told my son he could sell his excess garden veggies this fall if he wanted to make a little cash!

Nobody around here seems to even care where you get stuff. ( I have seen some odd yard sales around here , like a whole yard full on NIKE shoes. I kinda wonder sometimes if the stuff "fell" off a truck somewhere. I do know that some of the folks do bring truckloads of stuff back from Mexico too when they go to visit relatives, so I just use my best instinct on what to buy. Electronics are the only thing I tend to be cautious of, especially if they are new in the box. Oh, and several years ago I remember a guy getting busted for illegal fireworks - not a smart thing to be selling out of his garage - especially with a major police station 6 blocks away!!!)

Anyway, all you can do is watch to see how others are doing at yard sales in your new neighborhood and give it a try. It is up to you whether you want to store stuff for another sale or just donate it at the end of the day! We have a lot of charities here that will just come pick up on Monday or Tuesday if you box it up and leave it in the drive with a label. I have seen some people just put up "free" signs on their yard at 4pm too just to get rid of all the rest. We have put a lot of stuff out to the curb here ourselves and watched it disappear within 48 hours - a lot of "scrappers" do cruise through here on the weekends and right before trash day midweek so that does help get rid of stuff!

[couponmommyof3]

Thanks for the advice with the clothes, but I don't get rid of clothes. My own clothes I probably have worn for a million years, sad, I know. The kids clothes I keep! I will never get rid of those things. *Warning-Story approaching* (LOL) When my first daughter was about 16 months old, DH (NOT me) decided we were done having kids for a while. I promptly sold all the baby furniture. And guess what? A month later I found out I was pregnant! I will probably keep the kids' clothes until I KNOW I am done, or my sister starts having them.

[Peacan]

First of all - assume you're going to get 75% of the price of the items you're asking for! Be prepared to let people think they're getting a better deal by letting them bump you down a dollar or two :)

I usually put a blanket on the ground with a box full of rummage items and clearly mark the box 25c or whatever the price is that you want per item. These are usually kiddy toys and nic naks - everyone goes through that box either looking for a bargain OR to buy something for their child who won't give up and walk away unless he has something from each and every yard sale they go to! :D

I have never had a problem selling clothes! I usually hang everything and label prices clearly so that people know what they're going to pay and how they're going to haggle ;)

I throw all like items with like items (cosmetics, toilettries etc) and mark the baskets "50c per piece" (or whatever you want to sell the item for) and I always have a large table with other items that are larger for people to see from the street as they drive past - crowd pullers!

I do good on baby clothes too - I usually lay out the sets together and put all the onesies in a basket and price the basket.

I have sold anything and everything from rabbit hutches to baby grows to earrings and bar stools! I think at the end of the day it really just depends on who turns up to look and what they're out to buy that day!

I live on a one-way street in an apartment and so I find it helps to advertise or people drive by and don't come back. We also have a community sale once a summer so more people take part and more people stop.

Last time I had a sale I made over $100 and I really didn't put much effort into it. When I got bored I left my son outside with the stuff while I grabbed a cup of tea and a sammich. The money my son made I let him keep some of and sent him to buy pizza for lunch as an incentive.

Keep your buyers interested by being ready to haggle - everyone loves a bargain! Also be friendly and chat a while - the longer they're there, the more likely they'll spot something they might want.

When the day comes to a close I usually give everything away for pennies just to get it gone!

I actually need to think about getting one together myself this month! I have so much stuff in my house that just needs to go!!

Good luck!!

[accred1]

At my DD and my yard sales we have a box set to the side that contains "freebies" from fast food places and such items. We ask the parent if the child is allowed a free item and we tell the children they can pick one item for free if/when they let their parents shop. This way the children are involved in a treasure search and the parents can look at leisure.

When asked "Did you run a store?" we answer "no" we combine sales and coupons to get good deals and then pass them along to you. Our prices are better than Walmart.

The "normal" starting time for yard sales in our area is 8am. We set ours to start at 7:30 and get the eager beavers. Sometimes they are there at 6:45am and we tell them to go get a cup of coffee and let us get everything out first.

Mary T in NC

[ari'smom]

LOL. Now I want to go to some yard sales!

[anaj06]

I just had a yard sale last weekend and made over $600. We are moving so I had more stuff than I normally have both stockpile and just normal junk! I have always sold my stockpile on shelves. I have 3 large ones in my garage and I just clear my stuff off and use them for the day and then put my stuff by.

I hang signs of the shelf saying this shelf is $.50, $1.00 and $2.00. Anything that I want to sell for more than $2.00 I individually price and put on a table on the other side of the garage. I do really well with this strategy!

Last weekend, I had the following on my shelves (at least what I can remember):

50 cents: panty liners, hamburger helper, Bisquick, travel size shaving gel, other food items that sell in the store for a buck, some can goods (beans, corn, etc), envelopes, filler paper, ink pens,

$1.00: shampoo, body wash, shaving gel, McCormick spices, brownie mix, deoderant, toothpaste, tooth brushes, campbell's soup, marcal napkins,

$2.00: a variety of medicines that sell from $5-10, make-up wipes (Garnier), tampoons, pads, several FAR items from WAGS - probiotic stuff, etc, mens hair color, glade, lysol products,

I hope this helps, I had very little left over except for some of the weird medicines and FAR items.

[ari'smom]

Ha ha anaj. I would come to your yard sale and want to buy everything! Love your pricing!