Keeping Your Money Safe During Yard Sales

Common Sense is the Key

Rodney Southern
Keeping your money safe during a yard sale seems almost like a silly notion. The truth is that it can be quite dangerous. Some criminals seek out yard sales because it represents an easy mark - most people do not secure their money earned at a yard sale properly. There are a number of simple fixes to keeping your money safe and they should be considered golden financial rules for all yard sales.

The first tip is to never have a yard sale without at least three people working it. Trying to have a yard sale by yourself is nearly impossible to do safely and should never be done. At a minimum, you want to have one person handling all the money and two people working the yard sale. More is better, but three is the minimum to run a yard sale safely.

The person that handles the money should always be stationary at a yard sale. They should set up a table specifically to take money. This will allow the person taking the yard sale money to concentrate on what they are doing and not be distracted by potential thieves. They should not keep the money in their pockets. Instead, they should have a box or some other way of securing the money.

Another key way to keep your yard sale money safe is to make sure you keep the money box at a small amount. As you earn, you should take the money inside and deposit the overage in a safe place. This will prevent criminals from temptation, as a small amount will only be seen at a given time. Keeping larger amounts of money can trigger a criminal to attempt to grab your money and run. While it is rare, it is something that happens every yard sale season across the country.

Another important part of keeping your money safe during a yard sale is to have the sale in a contained area. If a yard sale is spread out across a very large area, the criminals will have a much bolder approach. When a yard sale is in a very contained area, the likelihood of theft is much smaller. Criminals do not want to be watched or noticed.

Keeping your money safe during a yard sale is actually quite easy if you just use common sense and follow these simple rules.

Published by Rodney Southern - Featured Contributor in Sports

My name is Rodney Southern and I have a lovely wife, Julie, and two beautiful twin daughters, Brooke and Valerie. Also, I was the 2008 Ultimate Call for Content Winner, and awarded a Top 100 badge for Associ...  View profile

  • Always have at least three people run your yard sale.
  • Have one person handle the money and do nothing else.
  • Reduce the money as you go.

4 Comments

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  • Ali Canary4/7/2010

    Very good advice--yard sale season is here!

  • Linda StCyr3/27/2010

    good info!

  • Vonda J. Sines3/26/2010

    Good, practical piece - advice almost everyone can use.

  • Carly Hart3/26/2010

    I'm a big fan of fanny packs. That way, if you have to go it alone or take a quick potty break, the money goes with you.

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