Yard Sales?

Discussion in 'Chatty Pad' started by bbymks5, Apr 27, 2017.

  1. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    I've had ONE yard sale in my life, and that was 10-11 years ago now...I swore I would NEVER have another one as long as I lived!! I'm now about to eat those words because I'm beyond behind in moving.

    How much money should I start out with and in what denominations??? I don't think I'll have anything priced over $20.00 - $40.00 (I have a stroller that was maybe used for a year that has the attachment to use with Greco (sp??) infant seats and the stroller seat itself that can either face you or face the front, a high chair that has a booster and can have the seats removed and used a "bar stool" type seat and a table with 6 chairs) and I think I'll just price everything else out as a $1.00 because I just want everything GONE!

    I know most people start their sales at the crack of dawn, but do you ever wish people would start later in the morning and end later in the afternoon? I'm awake early...but I'm certainly not functioning that early anymore. I'm lucky if I can drag myself out of the house at 9:00 am most days. I'm more of a night owl!!!

    What about Sunday's??? Does anyone wish people would have yard sales on Sunday's and not just Friday/Saturday? I think I might be the only one who wishes this since we do not go to church, we don't have family to get together with etc.
     
  2. MandaKay

    MandaKay Loyal as they come.

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    Good luck with your sale! I am prepping for one towards the mid-end of May! We just sold our home and bought a new one, and I am SO ready to downsize. My husband LOVES to hold a garage sale (what we call them here in MI usually), so I am thankful to have his help in manning it and getting it ready! Here is what I found as a suggestion online for the type of cash to have on hand:

    "Plenty of cash. Get two rolls of quarters, a stack of 50 $1 bills, 10 $5 bills, and 5 $10 bills." I always keep track of what I started with so that I know how much I made of course!

    Hope that helps! I am not much help on days of weeks that are best - it probably varies by region!
     
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  3. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    @MandaKay Can he fly out host mine LOL!!!

    This definitely helps!! I wouldn't have thought about having any $50.00 on hand!! I was trying to remember back to my retail days which was 19 years ago now to remember what our tills started out as and was drawing a blank!!
     
  4. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    One thing I like to do is wear an apron and keep cash in the pocket. I don't keep ALL the cash, but like enough to make change for a $20 and a few quarters in my pocket. I go inside to grab more money (or to leave big bills that people paid with) when needed. This helps me not worry about leaving a cash box unguarded, which also means I'm more mobile to answer questions. Plus wearing an apron makes it very obvious that I'm the seller.

    And I don't price stuff. I read once that people are going to lowball you anyway, and they tend to actually offer more money if they have to come to you with the initial price. Plus it saves sooooo much time not putting those dang stickers on everything lol. This worked really well when we had a moving sale a few years ago. A women with a DD 2 yrs younger than mine saw my big bins of girl clothing and just went to town. Then she saw my (very expensive but never going to fit me again) jeans in another bin. I was kind of tallying how much she had set aside and then she offered me $50 more than the figure I had in my head! I didn't want to seem eager so I just stood there for a sec, as if I had to think about that amount! Like, ok. Take my stuff! Take more so I don't have to bring it to goodwill lol! Now you mentioned some expensive stuff you want to sell, but just remember that garage sales are a chance to get rid of stuff, not to make millions. But if you really clean the stroller and other "big ticket" items, then you're more likely to get more money for them.

    Good luck with the sale! I want to have one soon. I'd love to do a Sunday morning sale but people around here are either at church or sleeping off Sunday night. So Saturday it is! And the early shoppers are the die hards, so they're more likely to actually buy something, ya know?
     
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2017
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  5. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    @Tree City I love the arpron idea!!! So much easier than a cash box, which is what I did last time!

    The stroller is like brand new knock on wood, so I can just slap a tag on it and be done! I will need to clean off the high chair, it's been in the garage for a year and one of kids spilled something on it and didn't tell me...but I took all of the fabric inserts off once she started to feed herself so those are all super clean. Phew!!! The chairs that go with the table I'm going to take the seats off of those, we picked the set up used and my jerk cat clawed ONE of the seats up pretty bad...was just going to price the set at $20.00, I'm sure a furniture flipper will grab it right up!!

    I do like the idea of not pricing anything! It's such a pain!! And I don't like to wheel and deal...
     
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  6. amien1

    amien1 I do enjoy a good exclamation point!

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    We're having a community one in May- so these are great tips! My kids have also made cookies &/or lemonade in the past & sold for like $0.25- people are suckers for kids! ;) I really like the not pricing anything idea- that would save SO much time! I know for our area (eastern WA) Friday/Saturday are the busiest- I did Sunday at ours last year as well & in my opinion- it wasn't worth the time for the handful of people who stopped by. Also- we advertise our community sale on fb & on craigslist, as well as put out plenty of signs throughout the neighborhood to get people here! Good luck!
     
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  7. IntenseMagic

    IntenseMagic Some grannies cuss a lot. I'm some grannies.

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    We have a big community yard sale every year. Sometimes I participate, sometimes I don't. I would rather do one on my own. It seems like people don't spend as much money in one place when they are spreading it all over a subdivision haha. I don't mind doing yard sales, but I hate the setting up and taking down. In my experience, the biggest crowds are early in the morning. I think people like to get out, shop, and try to find the good stuff first. Also, the first of the month is the best time. I usually set up most things the night before and cover it in tarps. I see quite a few yard sales on Sunday around here, but they don't draw as many people because of church, although I do see some shopping going on after church time. I don't price everything. I will usually put prices on the big stuff and then have little areas that say like "everything in this area 50 cents" or something like that. I don't like to haggle, mostly because I'm just there to get rid of stuff. My hard and fast rule is "If it goes out of the house, it doesn't come back in". When the sale is over, I either pitch or donate what's left.
     
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  8. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    Amen to that!
     
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  9. Karen

    Karen Wiggle it, just a little bit!

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    We are planning to have a garage sale this spring also. We have a pile of stuff in the basement that we've been setting aside for months... our problem is finding a weekend that we are actually going to be home! Grrr. We wanted to do one in April or May and seriously don't have one single weekend that we could do it.... so June it is!

    I know from the past that you definitely need lots of change because people go to the bank and get $20 and then buy one 50 cent item. Annoying! I also love doing a whole table of items for one price. Makes it so easy! I usually do all clothes for 50 cents or 1 dollar etc too. Furniture is usually a big hit for people who like to buy and paint and re-sell.
     
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  10. Juliestcyr

    Juliestcyr Grammar nerd and proud of it

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    Two great things we have in our neighbourhood:
    (1) A community garage sale weekend. They've divided the subdivisions up between Saturday and Sunday and even staggered the start and finish times. Some community centres are hosting multi-family garage sales for people who live in apartments or condos, or who just don't want to set up at their house.
    (2) Community gifting groups. There are three operating in my area, all are on FB. If you want stuff gone, but don't care about the $$, this is the way to go. Plus, some of the things other people post are hilarious, my favourites (both were picked up):
    - "20 frozen black bananas. I just don't have time to bake."
    - "homeopathic hemorrhoid cream, unopened. PM me if you are interested but are too embarrased to comment on this post!"
     
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  11. michelepixels

    michelepixels A pun is not fully matured until it is full groan.

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    We're having our neighborhood yard sale tomorrow! I don't usually participate because I've never had enough to sell to justify the hassle. Last time I did was around 2009, I think. I remember selling my kids' high chair then.

    But now I've got a lot of books and games and stuff I had for homeschooling that my kids have grown out of, and a few household items, and we could use some extra money, so I decided to go for it.

    Good luck to us all! :stash
     
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  12. Scrapping with Liz

    Scrapping with Liz Crafts for days.

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    I used to have one every year when we lived in town. I haven't had one in 2 years. I usually got about $50 in change (quarters, ones, 10s and 5s). Most people seemed to be prepared with exact change.

    I like the apron idea, but I kept everything in a zipper pouch.

    No matter what time you say you are going to start people will show up at least 30 minutes early. I would try to be set up as much as possible the night before. I tried to be super strict and start right on time...but people don't like to listen. In my experience you aren't going to get many people after 12 or 12:30pm. The earlier the better...that's just how garage sale people are.
     
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  13. bbymks5

    bbymks5 Where oh where can it be?!?

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    @amien1 We missed our community sale...it was in March and we didn't expect to find a new house so quickly, that we wouldn't have been ready at all...but those seem to be a LOT easier! I was afraid I was the only one out there that thought Sunday was a good idea LOL!!

    @IntenseMagic Ugh...yes!! The dragging everything out and setting it all up is such a pain!!! Since it's the last weekend in April is it close enough to call it the first of May LOL!!! Dangit!! Another nixay on the Sunday! What ever doesn't sell will be going to Goodwill for sure!

    @Karen I wonder if people do that in hopes someone will just say take it and not bother with change?? That is like going to pay for a meal in all pennies!!! Just NO LOL!!

    @Juliestcyr OMG ROFL!!!! Homeopathic hemorrhoid cream!! I. Die!!! I don't know if we have any pages like that here, but I know there are local swap pages that I've had better lucky buying than selling! So many flakes and no shows!

    @michelepixels Same here...we either don't have enough to bother or we're not remotely ready to participate! There's a lot of mental preparation too!!

    @Scrapping with Liz *sad panda* why can't people listen or be afternoon bugs like me LOL!!! Dangit!!!

    Ugh...since I HATE pricing stuff...would it be a bad idea just to have it be a donation sale, minus the three big items I have?
     
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  14. AJK

    AJK I plead the 5th ...

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    You know, you could always have a general price area(table, box etc)IF you are wanting to price. But the story about the $50.00+ gain is a good point.
     
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  15. Teri

    Teri You bought a used lion?

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    We just had one about a month ago. I am super organized with mine and either price everything or put it in price groups(like kids clothes in a box marked 50 cents a piece)...mostly because I hate asking the price of every single thing at a garage sale. I did price my big items (couch, treadmill, dresser, area rugs, bed frames) a little higher than what I actually wanted for them, knowing that most people would want to haggle on the price. We did Friday evening (not a great turnout) and Saturday morning. After about 10am on Saturday I just told people to make me an offer on things...because I didn't want to have hardly anything left. I wear a fanny pack type thing (it is a hiking bag for a water bottle and has a zipper pocket) to keep money in. That way the money is always with me. Saturday morning from 8-10am was by far our busiest. Even with that start.....we still had people trying to go through things as we were pulling them out into the driveway....even after I asked them to give us just a few minutes to set up. I organize everything in my garage the days leading up, but then pull it all out of the garage for the sales, blocking off access to the garage with tables...even then we still had ladies trying to get into the garage to take stuff from there....you just kind of roll with it. We are also lucky that our church cub scouts are doing a garage sale this weekend for fundraising and were asking for donations...so they got our garage sale leftovers.
     
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  16. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    As a garage sale (yard sale) goer: I hate when people don't price things! It's such a pet peeve of mine, and I will offer $1 or less. You put stuff out and want me to buy, at least let me know what you want me to spend. Ugh. Even if it's just a sign that says "All clothes $2", "This table/box $0.50". Plus, if you price I know whether to waste my time at your yard sale or move onto the next one because I can see whether you are overvaluing your stuff. I'm sorry if that sounds rude, it's just a total pet peeve of mine.

    As far as what day to have it, check your local ads. Around here, I see a lot of Saturdays, and Sat/Sun sales. When I was in Utah, Sunday sales were rare, and slow; I saw more Fri/Sat ones. Most of them end by 2pm - think heat in your area. If you don't want to be sitting around in the sun, your buyers probably don't want to be browsing in the sun.

    Make sure your signs are big and bold. Day/time/address. If I can't read it from the car, I'm probably not coming. After that, if you have room, note a few of the big ticket items. Surprisingly, what worked well at our last sale was a kids easel that faced the oncoming traffic and we changed what was advertised as the big things sold.

    Have change. I found the thing I needed most at my last yard sale was $5's. I also would go into the house during a lull and drop off money. It made me more comfortable not to have a lot onhand, even though it was on my person. And I wasn't afraid to tell someone that I didn't take the big bills ($50, $100) especially if it was for a less than $10 purchase. Mostly, because I think like a criminal, and think a yard sale is a great place to launder money. :eg9If convenience stores can refuse big bills, so can I.

    Good luck on whatever you decide!
     
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  17. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

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    I totally agree. I also get irked at Farmers' Markets when things are not priced. I'm not going to stand around and keep saying "How much is this?" How much is this? etc etc. I've never had one but I've considered hiring someone to go through my house and set one up though they call those 'estate' sales even though we wouldn't be dead - yet!

    Most people here who have yard sales have one person strictly handling the cash and one who can answer more questions and walk around the yard keeping an eye on stuff. I agree with the $50 bills/change though it depends on what you have for sale. I like seeing tables set up for children with items under a quarter. A bit of a pain for the yard sale seller but a great way to occupy the children and help them learn about money.

    When my son and family moved South, they priced everything but had lots of stuff as bulk pricing...$1 for any dvd/vhs tape etc. I never saw how much they started out with but I know there was over $300 taken in because when I arrived late in the day, we 6 all went out for sushi! That's one way to get reluctant teenagers to stand outside all day. My grandson was quite the salesman!
     
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  18. amandac

    amandac Read, or Run? Hmmm ...

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    My Mum had a garage sale recently as she is downsizing to move into a unit closer to me (yay!) and we did price things but we did so that each table of items had a sign saying "everything on this table is $....). It made it easier for me as cashier :giggle ! She also had over 40000 books (it felt that way anyway haha) so I had a great time taking people inside to browse and I got to chat about books with strangers so I personally had a great day :giggle.
     
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2017
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  19. cookingmylife

    cookingmylife Pizza would be my last meal, except ...

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    @amandac If we didn't consistently donate books to various book sales, we'd have a collection of books with the occasional bed or chair spread amongst those books!
     
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  20. NancyP

    NancyP All you need is a little bit of pixie dust

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    So enjoyed reading all your responses. Sales are a big thing here in little Alpena, Mi. Everyone pretty much waits for that last snow to melt away and the sales begin. Saw a few signs around town today. Since we are a tourist town; our big weekends are Memorial Day and Labor Day. People drive up here just to spend the holiday weekend so there are sales EVERYWHERE!!!! This year, the Chamber has decided to have a Community Garage Sale sometime in July. Kinda like our holiday weekend sales where everyone who wants to, can have a garage/yard sale. They also set aside two Saturdays during the summer at the flea market where you can rent a table; or how many you want, and bring your garage sale stuff to sell. Those are fun to go to!
     
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