It’s that time of year – YARD SALE SEASON…HAZAA!
Yup. Spring is in the air, and so is Yard Sale Season!!! If you’re from the southern US, you probably started your yard sale season back in February. Go a little further north and it probably started in March – although March was pretty chilly, so you may have had to hold off until early April. But as we round the late April corner and enter May, yard sale season is clearly on its way for the rest of the continent!
Ya gotta love yard sale season!
I used to take the paper and drive around the small town we used to live in, marking my route beforehand of the yard sales I would hit for the certain treasures I would plunder, with some needing nothing more than a simple drive by.
A few years ago I became the guy on the other side of that table. Waiting for the customers looking for deals, hoping to get rid of my stuff for a bountiful…bounty.
As we began selling all our stuff to move abroad yard sales were a necessity. We learned many things. And while the last few did start to grate on us, we still had fun.
So what can you do to have a successful sale this yard sale season? Well, all it takes is these four easy things:
4.) Negotiate!
People are going to low-ball you. If it’s early on you may want to hold your guns on your pricing. Then again, if you’re just trying to get rid of stuff and any money is a bonus, have fun negotiating. It’s actually a skill you can learn. We North Americans don’t seem to think things are negotiable at stores when they are. Yard sales are no exception, so think of it as practice!
3.) Have a backup plan, man!
Cold weather or rain can dampen your spirits pretty quick. If you’ve advertised your sale in a paper or online ad, you’re kind of obligated to soldier on and brave the elements. But if you decided on Friday to have a spur-of-the-moment sale on Saturday (and forgot to check the forecast) you can call in sick if the weather isn’t to your liking. That being said, if you have the ability to move the sale into a garage, then go for it. Otherwise you may want to have some tarps handy. Or a lot of umbrellas!
2.) Sign, sign, everywhere a sign!
I’ve said this many times in all the Sell All Your Stuff Books, and I’ve reiterated it here with this post about 7 yard sale mistakes, and I’m saying it again…HAVE. GOOD GREAT. SIGNAGE. What’s great signage, you ask? Let’s go with the 3 B’s of yard sale signage that I just invented: Bright. Bristol board signs on Busy Streets and Corners (and your own of course). Fluorescent signs stand out. Black marker on a fluorescent pink, orange, yellow, or green Bristol board will pop out. There’s nothing better than being complimented on your signage. Well, selling all your stuff is actually better.
1.) Have fun!
Some people stress right out at their yard sale, and that’s no fun. It’s just stuff, let it go. But you don’t have to let it go for peanuts, so if something isn’t meeting your price, or some things you thought would sell aren’t selling, don’t worry, and here’s why: You know the Christmas show Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? The cheesy one from the 60’s with The Abominable? Okay, so we had these little Christmas ornaments of all the characters in that show – even the Charlie in the Box and King Moonracer from the Island of misfits toys. We priced them at $20 I think. They didn’t sell at our estate sale. They didn’t sell at our first yard sale. And well into the second sale they still hadn’t even received an offer. But just after midday a couple of ladies came by, one around our age in her mid to late 30’, the other possibly her mother. We made small talk to the mother as daughter looked around. Mid conversation we hear an “OH MY GOD!”. Surprised, we turned to see she had the ornaments in her hand and was so happy to see them. She said “How much do you want for these”, we said “$20”, she said “I’m not even going to haggle, that’s so worth it!”. We then chatted about how we loved having them on our 4 foot mini-tree, and in the end we were so happy they found a good home and now belong to someone who will enjoy them as much as we did. The lesson here; sometimes it just takes the right person at the right time.
So, think you’re ready for yard sale season?
Now go sell all your stuff this yard sale season!