How to Make a Lot of Money at Your Yard Sale or Garage Sale

Garage sales, yard sales, rummage sales, tag sales, moving sales ... no matter what you call them, they can be a great way to clean out those closets and make some extra cash at the same time. Our homeowners association has neighborhood garage sales twice a year, and I try to participate each time.

Below are a few tips and tricks to help make your sale a success, proven methods to make more money, and some words of caution to prevent potential problems.

1. Be sure to get the word out about your sale. If no one knows, how can they come? In the area where I live, there are always a lot of sales so people tend to troll the area looking for sales, so I generally don't have to put signs up. But if you're in a remote location, or hard to find location, be sure to ads in the local papers and put up plenty of directional signs with the date(s) and time of your sale. Use large clear writing and bold vivid colors when possible. After the sale, be courteous and take the time to remove any signs you put up on street corners. It's also a good idea to check the local ordinances in your city about where you can or can't post signs and whether or not you need a permit to have a sale.

2. If you are selling electrical appliances, have an electrical outlet handy or a long extension cord. Word of caution: pick the cord up out of the way when it' not in use so you don't create a tripping hazard. If you're selling something that needs batteries, have some batteries on hand so people can see the item works.

3. Do not allow strangers in your home for any reason. If they need to use a restroom, give them directions to the nearest fast-food restaurant or gas station. If they want to try on an article of clothing, tell them you're sorry but you don't have a dressing room, unless you've sectioned off a place for that purpose. I don't suggest letting people try items on, but if you're selling higher priced items such as designer clothing you might want to provide a private area for people to slip things on. I would not do this without a trusted helper watching people going in and out of the area though.

4. There's a rule of thumb when pricing items that the price should be "a third of what it costs new", but that is only a guideline. The price should be on top of an item when possible, not on the bottom. Make sure the price is written clearly and use colorful stickers to make the price easy to spot. It's a lot of extra work, but it will save you the hassle of having to answer questions every few minutes of "how much do you want for this?"

5. A lot of your buyers will expect you to bargain with them, especially those early bird garage sale "pros". If it's early in the sale and you don't want to bargain, just say "I think the item is worth that price but I may lower it later in the day if it doesn't sell". Trust me, people will come back later in the day if they really want the item. Or they will just go ahead and pay the price you're asking.

6. Have plastic grocery bags available to put sold items in. If you're selling breakable items, have newspaper available to wrap them in. It's that little extra touch that will keep people coming back to your sales time after time. I've had neighbors leave their own sales and come to mine just because they see people walking away with bags full off stuff and want to know what it is I'm selling.

7. Having a calculator handy is very helpful when you're totaling up purchases. Using a calculator is probably quicker than trying to add everything up in your head, especially if you are letting family members or friends sell some of their things at your sale and you're trying to get the price stickers off everything so you can divide up the money with them at the end of the day. I personally get stressed out when there are a lot of people waiting to pay, and using my calculator cuts down on one less thing to think about.

8. Having family members or friends available to sort and bag items is a great idea and will cut down on stress as well. It's too overwhelming trying to do everything yourself, especially if a lot of customers are roaming around at once.

9. When you are making change for a large bill, leave the bill out in view until after you have given them their change. If you don't, you're setting yourself up for potential problems. A dishonest person could say "I gave you a $20, not a $10" and it would be your word against theirs.

10. It's hard to know how much money to start off with, but here's what I usually do. If I have a lot of small, low priced items, I start out with about $50 (one $10 bill, two $5 bills, 20 $1 bills, 1 roll of quarters ($10). If you have a lot of stuff priced lower than a quarter, you might want to have about $5 in nickels and dimes. If you have a lot of furniture or higher priced stuff, you should probably start out with more money. It's never a good idea to accept checks unless you know the person.

11. Guard your money! Have plenty of coins and small bills available to make change. If you don't, your first customer will probably be someone trying to buy a 50 cent item with a $20 bill. Do not leave your money lying around in a box. I recommend wearing a fanny pack so you can strap it on and always have your money with you. But be careful when making change and try to avoid pulling out a big wad of bills. If you're using a fanny pack, try to use one that has a lot of zippered compartments. Then you can keep your larger bills in a separate compartment.

12. Make sure any items you don't want to sell are put away and out of sight. It's a good idea to hide or cover up things of value that you aren't selling so that would-be thieves don't come back later for a snatch and grab. I've used tarps to cover large items and hung sheets on rope to section of spaces in my garage. Hanging tarps or sheets helps create a barrier to let people know that space is off limits.

13. If you are trying to sell something that is fairly high dollar, it might help to cut a newspaper ad showing the item in it, and then tape the ad to your item. This tactic helps the buyer realize that spending $5 for an item that normally sells for $30 new is a good deal. You should also keep the higher dollar items close by so you can keep an eye on them. Even people at garage sales can have sticky fingers.

14. You may get a customer who tries to tally up their purchases ahead of time and give you the total owed. While most people are honest are truly are trying to be helpful, there are some out there who are trying to get away with not paying for everything or trying not to pay the full amount for something. If this happens just say that you need to go through everything one by one to make sure all the price stickers are off because some of the items aren't yours and you need the price stickers so you can divide the money up later.

15. Did you ever notice there are more women who actually get out of the car, leaving the men setting in the car or hovering near the outskirts rushing the woman to hurry and leave? To help lure the men in, set an old lawn mower or something similar that would be interesting to a man close to the curb and in plain view of anyone driving by. If the "lure" items aren't for sale, put a "sold" sign on them. You can also set up an area that are full of "man-things" like jars or boxes full of nuts, bolts, screws, nails, electronic parts, plumbing parts, handy man tools, paint brushes, etc. This gives the men something to occupy themselves with while the women browse and find the good stuff.

16. Yard sales are more relaxing if there is some soft background music playing. Soft and relaxing music is the key here; like light jazz music or something along those lines. Creating a relaxing atmosphere can keep your customers there longer. The longer they're there the more digging they will do and the more likely you are to make a sell.

17. Put some effort into your sale and and make sure the items you're selling and the setup area the most attractive they can be. A lot of people will just drive by slowly and take a quick look to see if they want to stop, so you want to grab their attention quickly. Sweep out the garage or mow the lawn. Use plenty of tables or shelves to display your products. You can make a table out of plywood stretched between two saw horses, or turn cardboard boxes upside down and put a board between them. Dust and clean cobwebs or dirt off of all items. As things start to sell and your inventory gets low, take time to rearrange your items in an attractive manner. The easier it is for people to spot your goodies, the more likely it is your items will sell.

18. Try to cluster similar items together in the same area, especially if you have a lot of seasonal items. Put all the seasonal items together and sort them by season. I've found that the closer it is to the season, the better the items will typically sell. Most people don't want to buy Christmas decorations when it's 100 degrees outside! But they'll be in the mood to browse your cute stocking collection or Christmas tree decorations when the weather starts to cool off.

19. Hang up a "Not Responsible for Accidents" sign and an "All Sales Final" sign in a prominent location. It's never happened to me but I've heard stories about customers returning the next day wanting to get their money back on items or customers faking falls and then trying to sue the property owner.

20. Go through any items you're going to sell and make sure nothing of value is in them. Check the pockets and zippered area of jackets, clothes, and old purses and wallets to be sure there is nothing in them such as money, credit card receipts, or papers with information that could lead to identity theft.

A little work before and during the sale can mean the difference between failure and success. Good luck with your sale!