So a few months back, Karen proposed a small yard sale to get rid of excess junk around the house. I personally didn't think we had enough to justify the work of a yard sale, but then my sister found a new house, effectively stocking us with a driveway full of pretty good stuff.This past weekend was the yard sale. (Or as they say in the U.K., "jumble sale," which my British friend Cait wants me to popularize in America....although I didn't risk putting that on the signs.)
It was a somewhat epic amount of work, but the result was about $630 in profit. (We spent roughly $100 on the newspaper ad, signs and prizes for friends who helped set up).
The experience itself was great, too. I actually had a lot of fun. People were nice, and just about everything sold.
But if you ever find yourself wanting to host a garage/yard/jumble sale, let me share a few tips while they're fresh in my memory.
What we did right:
* Warned away early birds. We had a "No early birds" line in our ad, and we put a sign at the end of the driveway the night before. That seemed to keep people from knocking on our door at 5 a.m. (which I hear is a regular occurrence).
* Offered free coffee. It was easy to make and set out, and it seemed to make folks happy and encouraged them to stick around longer.
* Had HUGE signs. I borrowed some large sandwich boards from my agency and covered them with poster board that we had colored with markers. They ended up dwarfing every other pitiful yard sale sign. I know most people don't have access to these, but you should at least try to scrounge for something similar in size and effectiveness.
* Had a clothing rack. Last time we did a yard sale, we stacked clothes on a table. This time, thanks to a clothing rack we borrowed from Karen's office, they seemed to sell a lot better. They also obviously saved precious table space.
* Had lots of grocery bags and cardboard boxes on hand. The boxes proved especially useful.
* Priced low. Our goal was to move stuff, and we did. If you price low, you stand the best chance of getting rid of most things in the first hour. Be strong, and forget what you or your mother-in-law paid for that porcelain sauerkraut cooker or whatever.
* Priced simply. $1 for adult clothes. 50 cents for baby clothes. The only exception was $3 for jackets.
*Didn't have a cash box. We carried the money in fanny packs and dropped off large wads of cash inside when it started to get full. This eliminated the stress of watching a money box all day.
* Arranged tables by topic, not by price. This just seemed to help people find what they were looking for, then buy lots of it. It can be tempting to bunch by price, but it's pretty worthless.
* Played music. It made it a bit less creepy and easier for people to talk to each other about my stuff in front of me.
* Cut boxes in half to hold books. This was my personal accomplishment. We had tons of books, but I didn't just want them stacked messily on a table. So I cut some cardboard boxes horizontally, then sealed the top or bottom. Poof! Suddenly you have a bunch of shallow boxes that were perfect for books, CDs, etc.
What sold well:
* Tools. By far the big winner, especially power tools. Sold before we opened.
* Small appliances. (Be sure to have an outlet for people to test them.)
* Computer and video game peripherals.
* DVDs. (Thanks, Dad!)
* Books -- especially cookbooks and paperbacks (we charged 50 cents a piece).
* Holiday stuff. (October was a good month for that.)
* Bathroom stuff, aka "Health and Beauty." Everything sold but a comb.
* Furniture.
* Guns. I didn't have any, but people kept asking all day.
What didn't sell well:
* Reference books. Total waste of space, except the dictionary and the Bible.
* Board games.
* Flower pots. Didn't sell one (out of about 15).
* Coffee mugs.
* Candles.
* Slim clothes. (Although it was worth it to see the look on women's faces when they held up Karen's shirts.)
Well I hope all that helps you guys out if/when you decide to tackle one. I definitely think it was worth the effort, but it'll be a while before I have the energy to tackle it again.
If you find yourself waffling about whether to have one, just picture this little stash of pot-dealer cash:
5 comments:
So, do you have any tips on how to pick a jumble sale? (That one's for your British friend.) There are too many at any given time in L.A., so I just don't bother.
Dale - our newspaper ad started like this: Not your mother's yard sale (unless your mother's really cool).
Several people commented that they saw that and HAD to come check out OUR yard sale. So maybe look for cleverly written ads? Oh, and look at the list of things being sold, see if anything catches your fancy.
David forgot to mention an important part about offering free coffee - DON'T offer lids with the cups! That keeps people from just grabbing a cup and driving off without buying anything. With a styrofoam cup full of hot liquid they're forced to linger at your sale!
It actually said "unless you're mom's awesome."
And yeah, great point about the lids.
And Dale, I'd look at the garage sale listings on Craig's List. They're free, so people might be more thorough about listing their stuff. Unlike newspaper ads, which end up sounding like text messages from a high schooler.
I love the ad. That is a great idea. When Mary and I had a yard sale one year, it actually snowed (very unseasonable weather) so we went back to bed. You have no idea how many people showed up anyways. I mean, SNOW! Come on people!
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