What Items Never Sell At Yard Sales?

The yard sale: a decluttering wonder. Whether you’re about to move across state lines, about to graduate college, or just need to make some space in your house, the yard sale is a great way to quickly let go of lots of items, and make a pretty penny while you’re at it.

That being said, not every yard sale item is made equally. There are many tried and true favorites that tend to fly off the displays, but what are the items that never sell at yard sales? We’ve got the scoop.

Overpriced items

Nobody pulls up to a yard sale to spend a lot of money. Many people don’t even particularly plan on spending money at all, unless they find something that catches their interest. This means that even great items in good condition aren’t going to sell if they aren’t marked at a bargain price. Don’t expect books or movies to sell for more than a few bucks, or jewelry to sell for more than a dollar or two.

One rule of thumb for what to sell at a yard sale is, if you’re hoping to make a lot of money (back) on a special item, the yard sale is probably not the place to be selling it. You might think $10 is a more-than-reasonable price for your mint-condition limited release of your favorite novel, but it probably isn’t going to go for more than $5 in your yard sale. Check nearby sales and online used item listings to get an idea for prices, but don’t expect much more than what you see.

Expensive items

On the other side of things, expensive items are not going to sell for expensive prices. While jewelry you had on display might not sell if it’s marked a few dollars too high, actually expensive items are not going to sell for a lot of money, even if the marked price is an incredible offer. A practically new fridge, or a sofa that cost $400, probably aren’t going to sell for more than $50.

Again, people aren’t showing up to drop a lot of money, so this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. At the same time, if you’re in desperate need to get rid of these items (like in an urgent move, for example), then you also aren’t necessarily being ripped off. Sure, it’d be nice to make more of your money back, but if the fridge has to go by tomorrow, at least you’re getting some spending money out of it.

Already inexpensive items

Yard sales are, predominantly, for used items. For guests, this means worn items that are still in good condition at a great price. If the original item was already inexpensive, however, it might not make a lot of sense to purchase it at a yard sale.

You can pick up a college-ruled notebook for less than a dollar at most retail stores, so it wouldn’t really make sense for people to be buying used notebooks at a yard sale. Regular pens, particularly cheap headphones, etc. If they’re items that you need to get rid of, a popular strategy is having a free box.

Used underwear

This is pretty self-explanatory, but we can also expand it a little bit further. Any item that needs to be particularly sanitary will likely be avoided by visitors. Underwear, bras, socks, etc. Even if they’re sealed, intimate items like tampons and condoms probably aren’t going to fly off the shelf, either.

Tupperware is a good example for judging whether or not an item will sell. There’s plenty of inexpensive Tupperware available in plenty of stores, and you don’t have to think twice about the cleanliness of the Tupperware if you’re buying it brand new. Is your item inexpensive enough to not be considered a bargain at any price? Is there a reasonable doubt of cleanliness that will keep visitors away? If so, then it might be something you want to keep off of your displays for now.

Of course, the golden rule of yard sales is that the best items are the ones we don’t expect to find. Even if a particular item is a hard sale for most visitors, you might run into one happy stranger who takes the item off your hands gleefully. As long as you don’t fill your yard sale with these ambiguous items, there’s no harm in setting them up and taking them back down at the end of the day if nobody ends up taking them. Long live serendipity, and long live the yard sale!