Having a yard sale is the perfect way to earn some extra money and de-clutter your home. In order to have a successful yard sale, there are a few things you should do to ensure people will show up and purchase your items. This list will help you make your next yard sale a huge success.

How to Have Successful Yard Sales

Place Several Ads

The first thing you need to do is promote your yard sale! If you want people to know you are having one, then they need to know when and where. You can put signs up around your neighborhood, but I wouldn't stop there. Make sure to advertise your yard sale on Craigslist, Facebook Community Groups, and possibly in your local newspaper. Remember that the more you advertise, the more people will show up. More people means more money in your pocket!

Get Organized

Before you even start advertising your yard sale make sure to spend some time getting organized. When people shop at yard sales, they want to be able to browse quickly to see what you are selling. I also put ‘popular' or ‘big ticket' items close to the street to draw people in. These are items like antiques, beautiful and big furniture, or electronics. Don't hide those away in the back use them to make people stop! If you plan to have yard sales on a semi-regular schedule (once or twice a year), it might be worth it to invest in a folding table or two. This is the perfect place to put smaller items. If you have close to sell consider getting a portable closet to hang them up for easy display. If your yard sale looks disorganized, people will probably just move on to the next yard sale.

Have Money

Most people going to a yard sale will have small bills on them. However, there are always going to be those people who weren't planning on going to a yard sale but stumbled across yours. Make sure to have plenty of one-dollar bills, a few fives, and tens on hand. If possible, you should also make sure to have some loose change. There is nothing worse than losing out on a sale because you can't break a twenty. I like having $40 in change a roll of quarters ($10) and a roll of dimes ($5), a $10 bill, a $5 bill, 10 $1 bills. This has always worked well for me then I have a small jar of change in the house if needed.

Mark Your Prices

If you have followed the steps thus far, you are probably going to have a lot of people at your yard sale. When you have a good group of people in your yard, you probably won't have time to answer every single question. To avoid any confusion make sure to have all of your prices clearly marked. When potential buyer looks at one of your items, they should be able to see clearly how much the item cost. You should also be willing and ready to negotiate with the buyer on the price. Remember, people, go to a yard sale to get a great price! I love using these neon-colored yard sale stickers it makes my life easier I don't have to write every price, and they are easy to see for buyers!

Have a Welcoming Environment

Make your yard sale a place where people want to hang out and look around. Set chairs out for the men and have a few toys out for young children. If you really want to go above and beyond set out some coffee, pastries, and juice! One yard sale I attended they offered a local bakeries donuts (for sale of course!) and some water or coffee! Your buyers will really love the special touch and probably end up staying and looking around a little longer.

Clean Your Items

Before you open your garage doors for your yard sale, spend some time getting your items clean. No one wants to buy dirty things so make your items more appealing by cleaning them up before you put them on display. It doesn't take long to clean up toys, wash the clothes and make your items look nice. A little bit of water and a rag or paper towel is all you need.

Have Electricity

If you are selling electronics, you will want to provide your customers with a place to test out the items. Having a power surge with electricity available will allow your buyers to quickly test out any items they are interested in.

Get the Kit

If you haven't had a lot of yard sales in the past, I recommend getting a yard sale kit. Get one with an apron; this is mostly for holding your money. You don't want to ever leave your money in a box or bag sitting somewhere it's easy for someone to walk off with it when you get busy. The signs in the kit can be reused, and you get price stickers which I can never seem to have enough of because I lose sheets of them at a time!

What tips do you use to make money at a garage sale?

Want even more advice on your yard sale? I highly recommend the book Yard Sale Pro: How to Have a Wildly Successful Yard Sale.