Confessions of a Yard Sale Snob

I love yard sales, I really do..........when they are done right. Kinda like that box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

However, if you are having one, please help a girl out.

1. PRICE your stuff! Nothing more aggravating than having to ask about each and every item you have. I won't and will keep on looking. You missed a sale because you were lazy.

2. One man's trash, is not necessarily another man's treasure. 8)

3. A card table with a couple tired looking knick knacks and a rack of clothes so out of date my granny wouldn't wear 'em does not qualify as a yard sale.

4. Put your address on your signs.

5. Put up plenty of signs, large enough to read. I have 20/20 vision, but if you need a maginifying glass to see it, I can't read it while doing the speed limit.

6. Clean it! If your small kitchen appliance is encrusted with several years of dust and grease, I ain't going to even pick it up, much less buy it. :ack:

7. Your stuff is not more valuable just because YOU owned it. It's a yard sale, price accordingly! Oh, and those of you in the higher end subdivisions, this means you!

8. Parking for yard sale patrons: For the love of all that is good and holy, try not park on both sides of the road, blocking all traffic. You are going to cause an accident. And don't slam on your brakes on a major road. Go up and turn around, chances are that item you didn't know you couldn't live without is still going to be there.

Ok, that is your PSA for the day! :jester:

 

Amen to that sista, preach on!

 

And please, the word you are looking for is "Huge" not "Hugh"

 

Thanks for the tips, KDC. I'm thinking about having my first yard sale in several years!

 

I'm sure you have quite a collection.....

 

Are you THAT bored with your life that you have to turn a yard sale thread into something political?

 

Oh good grief......that was a joke. Lighten up honey.

 

I am a little light today ... i lost a couple pounds :mrgreen::mrgreen::jester:

 

I have as well...need to lighten up a little more though.

 

I'm trying! Geez Richard Simmons give me a break! :lol:

 

LOL....I was talking about me.

 

I priced everything and washed everything, my stuff that I couldnt price was in the free bin the signs, however, I didnt do :lol:

 

kdc, you are so right about these things. We had a yard sale last year after "settling" into our new place. Planned it for weeks. Made great big signs-6 total, and worked our tails off making sure everything was set out nice, clothes were hanging between two ladders easy to browse thru, and everything had a nice round sticker tag with pricing. Quickest 600 bucks I ever made!!! Cars were rolling in at 6:30am, we were ready to answer questions and my hubby sat at a "checkout" table with the cash box. Everything was gone in 2.5 hours so the planning really does pay off.

 

and one more thing to add to your list...

Please take the yard sale signs down when you're finished. If nothing else, you can store them and reuse them next time. We bought laminate paper from Staples to cover our poster board and next time we'll just tape the new date over the old date on a piece of paper.

 

Thank you for your great tips. I'm planning for my yard sale soon.

 

ONe more question: would it be okay to have a yard sale on Sunday? I asked this because I work on Saturday. Just wondering..

 

I know I've seen yard sales advertised for Sat/Sun. I would just make sure you bold sunday when you advertise on craigslist, 4042, etc. and also plan to make a day out of it maybe for the after-church crowd. ALso, make sure your signs say SUNDAY. If not people might think they are just left over from a saturday sale:lol::lol:

 

I went to a few this morning, til I got disgusted and went home, can you tell? One was a supposed "community" sale, it wasn't until I got out there at approx. 7:30 am, that I noticed their sign said they weren't starting til 8:00. That's all well and good if that's what you want to do, but by 8:00, I'm ready to go back home. At 7:30 most of them were still just beginning to set up. I didn't wait around. The norm around here is start by 7:00. You actually better have your mess out by 6:30, because that's when the early birds start trolling. And "community" yard sale doesn't mean two whole houses in the neighborhood. Hello! :lol:

 

I love yard sales & go every chance I get. Only thing, I have to be at work at 8am on Saturday so I usually go to nearby ones or early ones. I have been to a couple of Sunday sales. I went this morning & loaded up at 1 sale on bunches of Boyd's bear thingies. In past 12 years(since 1st grandson born), I have purchased crib, car seats, toys, lots of clothing(from newborn to size 10 boys), ladies' clothing, purses, books, furniture, & lots of things to sell on Ebay as well as for personal use. Why pay $75-$100 for a nice purse when I can buy a Liz Claiborne for $1! Just just have to look & pass up things if they are not quite what you are looking. And I do not buy at every sale-usually just takes a few minutes to size up a GOOD Yard Sale from a pile of JUNK. I usually check craigslist & 4042 for postings as well as local paper.

 

I'm surprised there aren't more Friday evening sales. I used to stop by a bunch between 6pm and 8pm on my way home from work up North. I know that not as many women work full-time here, but I would think there'd be enough to generate a decent amount of traffic.

As far as the overpricing goes, I have to say that there's an idiot born every day. I was at Island Creek this morning just hanging out and studying while their yardsale was going on. One lady had a toy priced at what a bunch of us thought was WAY too high. But someone actually bought it, full price. I'm starting to rething my asking price for toys at this summer's kids exchange.