Day 21- Yard Sale Bliss!

To some, yard sales are trash you buy from other people, others find them to be treasure troves, I find them to be very profitable but only if you do things that help you make the money. Since I am having my annual yard sale in two weeks I figure now is a better time than ever to make sure I get the most out of mine! There is always tips you can follow and expand what you already got! A few simple things that are always on top of my agenda in preparation for my sale is advertising, merchandise layout and pricing. Some may say duh to these but I can say more times than not they do actually follow through with them when the time comes. So before your next sale think about those simple actions and how far they could take you in profits!
To be just a little more detailed..... Here what I mean by those few things.

#1 Advertising - Think simple and LARGE! I know I am not the only one that has tried to read little letters crammed on the side of a box in tall grass! But I am serious, I am a firm believer and follower of arrow signs. Choose a neon sign with Sale and an arrow and have the simply follow the arrowed signs to your sale! No address needed- more than likely their will be more traffic because they don't have to stop and figure out where to go. YOU have showed them the way. I say LARGE because of location as well. If I am on the opposite corner at a light and I can't read the address to your sale then I probably won't go! Truth hurts but again thats why I say arrowed signs work best. If I cant read that is says SALE or an address I kinda know its a yard sale sign and I can follow without hesitation! A big plus to this type of advertisement! If stores advertise at every corner why can't you?! Posting signs in high traffic areas, entries into neighborhoods, in local grocery community post and even on CL (Craigslist) will help get the word out of your sale!

#2 Merchandise Layout - Once you have the people at your sale, you must sell to them! Even the worst salesman should be able to make money because their sales pitch is not what they buy, the customer is buying the merchandise. Remember this when putting stuff in a yard sale and putting it out on display. When you put stuff in a yard sale remember the "newer" it looks the better it will sell. Keep boxes for old toys, these alone can double the value of the toy at resale! Clean stuff sells faster and better! I cannot stress enough the customer is used to buying new at the store even if they understand its not a new product, it is new to them. So think of it that way; they don't want to take it home and clean it just to use it. Besides just thinking of what to put in because thats easy, think of how you show it to your potential customers. My suggestion is different for different items in a yard sale, so the best way it to group and explain ways to improve the sale of each.

Clothes- These should be clean and easy to look through or else no one will take the time to dig through boxes or you could have a big mess to sort through for the next customer. My thoughts are if it can be hung on anything resembling a clothing rack then hang it! (Its not rude to keep your hangers when sold!) Think of a retail store, everything thats hung up can be easily looked through without much mess. Even streaming along a fence top is a good idea, people can look without making a mess. But then what about kids clothes? These are okay to stack on tables but sort them by size or boy or girl or style even, the further you organize the less mess you should get. Remember the customer is wanting a quick shopping experience! Thats pretty much it for clothes.

Housewares- Organize these as they would be in the home. Entice the customer to buy, by showing them how it could look in their home. (*Again think like a retailer!)

Toys- Every yard salesman is wanting to rid of these as quickly as possible and for as much as possible. My advice is BUNDLING. Place small like items in ziplocs and sell all for good price. Larger toys can be sold at reasonable prices, these are used and if they don't have the original packing forget original prices!! Remember you are trying to make money!! :)

MISC.- Keep with the sorting on display. Think about the shopper- males are driven towards power tools, sporting equipment etc. So don't put this stuff with the extra yarns and dishes! :) Same goes for the women, crafts and such should be with other items that they would be interested in.

Lastly we get to PRICING. This is one of the most frustrating things when shopping at a yard sale for me. If you don't price it and I have to ask I am not going to ask because I figure it will be to expensive or you really don't want to sell it! :) Sorry but thats the truth, so do yourself a favor and spend the extra time pricing all items or at least addressing the pricing issue for all items in your yard sale! If you have a whole lot of items that are say all $1 then put it all on one table and label a sign that says everything on this table is $1 each. This at least tells me the price and I can decide then to buy or not. This is it for pricing because it is up to you and where you live and what you are selling to decide the price. I am just saying let all of your customers know the price as well! :)


So thats it...I believe that if you stick to these you can get more out of every yard sale you have and maybe just maybe the next time your out fishing for your own yard sale adventures you will stop and think just what makes you go to any one yard sale and what enticed you to buy or not buy and then use those answers for your own profits! :)
I hope you enjoyed my little tidbits on yard sales and took a little away to help yourself!

~With Luvz,

DEZ

Heres some more stuff you might be interested in:

http://www.yardsalequeen.com

Yard Sale Checklist