Now that hot and steamy July and August are gone, people are once again breaking out the boxes of stuff for yard sales, and putting their homes up for sale. I used to do flea markets with my step-dad when I was a kid. We traveled all around the county, selling goods (he was a trader in the 70s, before the rise of WalMart and Jamesway). After he got a little too old to travel, we held the “yard sale” on our front lawn. It was quite the experience for me! I am a a terrific haggler now, and I handle all the bargaining in the family. hehe. Do you know what the best thing you can do to get people to visit and buy your stuff at your yard sale? Make quality, professional-looking yard signs, and have everything organized on nice, neat tables. Believe me, it works!
However, the cost of printing up paper yard signs at your local print shop can quickly overshadow any profit you’d make. So I suggest you check out VistaPrint for your printing needs. I have used VistaPrint and can account for their speedy service, excellent quality, and great prices! And I have a goodie for you– a promo code you can use to get 25% off your customized yard sign! Use the code: YardSigns25. These sign are also great if you are selling your own home, have a business, support a candidate or a cause, or just feel like telling your neighbors to have a nice day! 
Signs start at $11.99, which is very affordable. I love VistaPrint! I know you will love them, too!
26. August 2008 at 1:18 am
While that may work in NY (and i’m from OH so i thought it would too!), I can tell you from experience that it DOESN’T work in Southern California!
I’ve been to several yard sales and a couple of years ago, I held my own.
You see, the ones I’d seen everywhere were crazy!
They boatloads of downright cr*p! And they had stuff on blankets on the ground, draped across the bushes, you name it.
So here I AM thinking that I can put up tables & tarp shade, offer drink & brownies, invite others (to add variety ya know!) and really make out like a bandit!
I had super signs donated by a local RE Agent and ads running in the local Penny Saver. THE WORKS!
I walked around most of the houses up & down my street and invited people to bring their stuff, all marked up, and I’d help them sell it.
No one did that.
Come the day of the sale, I had some visitors. One person remarked on HOW ORGANIZED it all was (i’m thinking, well, duh!).
Do you know that people were looking for stuff like surfing & scuba gear? I’m from OHIO! I didn’t have stuff like that.
None of the refreshments were of interest at all.
OH, I forgot! I bought lunch for all the gals who brought their stuff to sell too!
The top dollar amount was sold by a friend who brought these GORGEOUS silk-flower arrangements. She made a whopping $30! Of course, she had to GIVE AWAY her wonderful silk-flower arrangements for a whole $1 a piece.
I don’t even remember what I made. It was a disaster. I couldn’t believe it.
We were there pretty much all day, just shooting the sh*t and almost no one came by after about noon.
You know the worst thing? I went walking around to check on my fancy signs, come to find out that a neighbor lady thought the sale was a pretty good idea too. She did it on that day (and didn’t bring the stuff around to MY house). Also, mysteriously, all my signs pointing to MY HOUSE had to be put back in place!
Of course there were OTHER signs for the neighbor lady (she was ‘on the way’ to my house see) pointing to her house & her sale.
I don’t KNOW that they removed my nice pointing signs. It sure felt kind of rotten though.
I was totally blown away at all this.
I know I’m not on the ‘main’ drag and I made a lot of effort to help people to the house.
I think I’d have felt better just donating the whole lot!
I had a beautiful dress suite that I’d never worn, paid around $250 for it. Some lady wanted to give me a whole $1 for it! I was outraged since I was willing to let it go for $20.
Wow, I won’t do that again and you might check into the local ‘laws’ (not laws really) about doing it if you ever move!
Be aware,
Pam Hoffman
http://seminarlist.blogspot.com
26. August 2008 at 10:51 am
Wow Pam. Your experience was terrible! I helped run professional flea markets as a kid, much different than a garage sale.
Honestly, I don’t know why people have “neighborhood” yard sales. The goal is to get your neighbor to buy YOUR stuff!
California seems to be a place of really rich people– that’s this NYers opinion. Why spend big bucks on a used dress when a CA lady can afford a new one? Maybe that’s the problem. Yard sales don’t do well in more affluent areas.
However, here in Upstate NY, the yard sale is very important to our economy. We like to buy used things, we like to save a few bucks, and we buy things like clothing and furniture, not luxury items like scuba gear or ATVs. So you have to have an idea of what your own neighborhood is like, not just plunk down some junk and signs and reap in the cash.