Making Extra Money with A Yard Sale – How to Get Started

Yard sales are a fun way to interact with your community and get rid of some things that are just taking up space, but they’re also a way to make a bit of extra cash. After all, if you’re going to take the time to make everything look inviting and presentable, it can be a lot of work to end up with no revenue! There’s more to hosting a successful yard sale than just setting up a few picnic tables, however. Luckily for you, as the world’s (self-appointed) foremost leading experts on yard sale etiquette, we’ve got a few golden tips to make sure your yard sale earns you a bit more than just some extra change in your pocket.

Know when to set up

As much as we’d love year-round yard sales, unfortunately, that’s just not how they tend to happen. Spring and summer sales tend to be more popular than winter sales, and even then, some spring and summer dates might be off limits. The first nice weather day of the year, for example, might be a tempting time to set up shop, but most people will probably rather be enjoying the weather than looking through used items.

Checking your community for yard sale trends can be a great indication for the right time to set up. Maybe your community already has a few weeks designated for neighborhood yard sales, or maybe incoming students to the nearby university are going to need some furniture and kitchen appliances for cheap. Either way, knowing when to set up can be the difference between having a packed house and just sitting around waiting to pack everything back up.

Let people know

If you build it, they will come…as long as they know where to go! If your community has a designated time laid out for yard sales, you probably won’t have to do much advertisement. If this isn’t the case, however, how are people going to know that there’s a sale going on if you don’t make it common knowledge?

There are quite a few ways to spread the word, fortunately. Setting up signs that lead to your sale is a tried and tested method that never fails. If your community has some sort of social media page or group chat, you might be able to post about the event and get some attention. If you can post flyers at a local coffee shop or library, that can be another great way to get some visitors to your yard. Any way you can, letting people know about your yard sale is a crucial step in making sure anyone shows up at all! Sure, some people might be wandering past and find their way to you naturally, but you certainly don’t want to go through all of the trouble of setting up just to catch the attention of a few passers-by.

What sells?

So, you’ve chosen the perfect date for the yard sale, you’ve put up signs, you let people know plenty of time in advance—what do you actually sell? True to tradition, the point is to get rid of things that you aren’t using anymore, so don’t be too picky about what makes the cut and what doesn’t, but if turning a profit is a priority, there are a few things that tend to sell better than others.

Video games, for example, can be a goldmine. Despite so much nostalgia being wrapped up in old video game titles, the games (along with the consoles) are discontinued quickly and often. If you have old consoles and games that still work well, they’re almost guaranteed to be a hit. Big winter coats are another great seller, since they’re usually less worn in than other clothes and often tough to come by (for a good price). On top of these, some of the best sellers are just random items that people fall in love with. Since these are unpredictable, the best advice is to keep a variety on display, since that increases the chances of people falling in love with a unique item that they aren’t going to find at the yard sale next door!

Remember, the magical part of the yard sale is all about the community, so don’t get too bogged down with sale optimization. That being said, if you do want to make sure you get a pretty penny out of your effort, these are some great guidelines to follow. Know when to set up, let people know, know what sells, and long live the yard sale!