Part Two… Your Yard Sale Follow-up!

(Revert to part 1 if necessary) 

With that said, here’s a surefire method to the catch & release of all that excess baggage.  In my experience, the rule of thumb to a fabulous yard sale is advertising!  Trust me… the promotion of your personal retail adventure is paramount to its success, and by the employment of free advertising sites, funky cardboard signs, and word of mouth… you’re on the fast track to a little extra cash.  Come ‘on, with the price of gas these days, green paper is always welcomed in my book.

Examples: 

MULTI-FAMILY SALE (or) NEIGHBORHOOD SALE  CLOSET CLEAN OUT SALE2323 FRISKY
KITTEN LANEJUNE 21^ST 7AM-3PM 

Use bright neon arrows for the navigationally challenged.  This is a sale, not a mission impossible.  If potential buyers are forced to drive around in aimless dire search while trying to discern a plethora of cryptograms that are nonsensical… they WILL eventually give up.

Simply as that.  But remember, assembling your sale requires a lot of labor and if you’re not willing to go the extra mile and put forth a diligent day or three… forget about it.  Get your ‘Go to the mattresses’ frame of mind energized and have fun with it.  Ask your friends to tackle their closets, donating all of their… 

“Never gonna happen again jeans!”

“Haven’t worn this since Sunny and
Cher were together!”

“If I leave the house in this outfit one more time, I’ll probably be pummeled by random strangers.”

Then pick a day (weather permitting)… and think of it as a going away party for your superfluous, and not to mention completely disregarded items (i.e. rubbish).

Make your yard sale adoption-theme the biggest social event of the month.  Sounds silly, I know but it works!

*Signs, signs everywhere signs (but learn the laws and regulations for your area)

*Price everything.

*Be reasonable.  It doesn’t make a lick a difference if you paid $600 for those last season Dolce & Gabbana stilettos … yard saler’s don’t give a damn.  So mark ‘em down or plan on keeping them in the retirement section of your closet forever. 

*Have plenty of bags for customers.

*Play neutral music for background enjoyment.  It’s not a rave… it’s a sale.

*Keep it neat and organized… visual appeal is vital.

*Have lots of jingle… customers will undoubtedly hand you a twenty for an item that costs 50 cents.

*Employ your customer service guru.

*Be prepared to dicker-down.  This is a little concept known as bartering.  You’re trying to sell this stuff, so take what you can get and accept the best offer.

*Keep sharp-sighted to the location of your cashbox.  An unfortunate digest, though without sounding accusatory, the hard truth is that not every yard-saler is going to be honest, happy, or even pleasant.

*Pet Control.  If your dog looks and/or acts like Cujo then for God’s sake, keep it indoors or contined in the backyard away from the customer’s visual line of fire.

* Perpetually double-check your items and by that, I mean… there are times when valuables have inevitably slipped in among the masses, and you wouldn’t want your Great Grandmother’s Parisian antiquities going for a buck a shot, would you?  

*Restructure your sale.  After several transactions the selling space is going to appear lax, which can deter passerby’s, so keep it organized by combining and eliminating extra tables if need be.

*Think positive, after a couple of hours you’re probably going to be bored to tears.

*Remove all advertising signage at day’s end!

*Have fun, make cash, and whatever doesn’t sell… donate to your local Help House or Goodwill!

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