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Sometimes items don’t have to be listed on the internet to get sold. A yard sale is a great way to liquidate, consolidate, and get rid of stuff while making some quick cash!
Today I’m going to share how we made $976 at our recent yard sale along with useful tips for how you can hold a successful yard sale!
$976 for two days of work. For us, that was a success, and we decluttered a bunch of stuff while bringing in some extra money.
The Benefits Of A 2-Day Yard Sale
We did a Friday and Saturday sale so we had two days for people to potentially see our signs and come to our sale. We got a late start on Friday and opened around 11 a.m., which we normally don’t do. Usually, we’re up and open around 8 a.m., but this time we were running behind so we did 11-2 on Friday and then opened earlier on Saturday.
Another great benefit of a 2-day sale is that you can keep looking through your house that first day and evening for stuff to put out the next day. I didn’t get as much stuff cleaned out of my garage as I had been hoping, but I did have time on Friday night to pull out more stuff that I put into the sale for Saturday.
Some people stopped by on Friday and we told them we would have more out on Saturday, and they came back. We also gave them a heads up that we might do another one next month.
Post Some Items On Facebook Marketplace
One thing that we did that was super helpful, which we didn’t do until later, was post some of the items on Facebook Marketplace. Choose the higher dollar items, take a quick picture, and get them listed.
We had a rug cleaning machine that had a broken handle, but otherwise functions great, and I didn’t want to mess with it and decided to sell it as is. We got that posted on Facebook Marketplace and we had a couple of different messages right away about it.
In hindsight, we would’ve posted items on Friday and had people showing up all day on Saturday to pick them up and shop the rest of the sale.
Don’t Do Holds At Yard Sales
Ideally, you’re not doing holds at a yard sale. The goal of a yard sale is to get rid of your stuff and make money. You’re trying to declutter and get rid of stuff. It’s recommended not to hold stuff, but if you decide to, only hold it for 20 minutes or some sort of set time frame that way you don’t miss out on another potential sale if the buyer decides not to show up.
Hutch Update
On our last podcast, we talked about a hutch we found on the side of the road that we picked up to see if it would sell at our yard sale. It didn’t sell, so we put it back on the curb and somebody else grabbed it.
So it did not go to the landfill, somebody else grabbed it and they’re either trying to sell it at their yard sale this weekend, or they’re actually using it in their house.
Add eBay Signs
One thing I wish I would’ve done that I thought of after the fact was add eBay signs to items. You can look up an item on eBay for what the price is currently going for, or what an item recently sold for, print it off, and tape it to your item.
“This is how much it’s worth on eBay. We’re asking half of this or a quarter of this. You know that it’s worth this because people are selling it for this price on eBay.”
This is another option that would be good for higher-value items at a yard sale.
Post To Facebook Groups
Look up different Facebook groups in your area. There are a lot of reselling groups that will allow you to post about yard sales, or even some groups entirely dedicated to pointing people in the direction of yard sales. Some groups don’t allow pictures because the people start asking for holds. Research the groups in your area and post about your yard sale a couple of days before leading up to it.
Use Bright Signs And Attention Grabbers
Bright signs are key to drawing people in. Melissa actually takes fluorescent neon cardboard paper and uses a bold marker to write “huge yard sale” and puts them out on major streets directing people to our smaller street.
This past weekend we used an inflatable REMAX in our front yard to draw attention. We’ll be reselling that later, but thought it’d be a good way to grab attention.
Another way to draw people in is to put interesting stuff near the road, like antiques or anything that people would see and instantly want to stop to check out.
Make sure that whatever you’re doing is okay with local or HOA regulations so you are abiding by the rules in your area.
Let The Kids Get In On It
One other thing we did was allow the kids to bake cookies and sell water.
It’s just a fun way for them to make extra money while selling their toys. One family came up and bought probably $20 worth of cookies from the kids!
Just think outside the box of how you can make a little extra money. One year we had a cotton candy machine, another time we did snow cones. Have fun with it and start planning your yard sale!
FURTHER RESOURCES
Download These 47 Household Items To Resell TODAY!
FREE Workshop How To Turn Your Passion of Flipping Items Into A Profitable Reselling Business
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