Planning and Prepping For Your Yard Sale

Once you commit to having a yard sale, it’s time to start planning and prepping. Chose a date for your event. I like two-day weekends because you increase the time you are “open for business” to make sales. You already have everything pulled out. Plus, it gives people who may not be available one day to come the other. You can even have two-weekends in a row.

You have a lot to do, so let’s get started. Also see, my FREE Yard Sale Prep printable. 

Major To-Dos

Do it quickly. Use the momentum of pulling out items for your yard sale and have it quickly. For many people, if you drag the process out over the course of several weeks or a couple of months, one you will run into cold weather and/or your motivation will run cold and you may give up. Plus, that means you have totes and piles of items, in the way; that you now need to find a space for. So, use your current momentum and motivation and finish what you started. Chose your date(s) and rain date(s).

Who can help? Even for a small yard sale, you will need help. If you have a sizeable amount of stuff, you’ll need even more help. It’s good to have someone to bounce your plan off of and to keep you motivated. If you can find a couple other family members or close friends to have one, too. Then, you can do that for each other. You can bounce your plans off one another and keep each other motivated and on course. You can have your yard sales the same day and even at the same home, in your own little sections. If you are moving quickly, you may need help preparing items for the sale and will to assign duties for the day of the sale.

Prepare your items. You have a greater chance of selling your items if they are clean and fresh. That means making sure clothes are washed and spraying them with something like Febreze if they smell stale. That means washing or wiping off knickknacks, toys, appliances, and other things that may be dusty or dirty. Hang as many clothes as possible and sort by man, woman, boy, and gift. Sort by size, too. Put similar items together (clothes, shoes, 

toys, dishes, appliances, gadgets, books). This process could take several hours if you have a lot of stuff like I did, so get some help.  

Decide on pricing? Price things to go. They should be less than what they would go for at a local thrift store. I had a lot of clothes, so sold most for $1 per items. Some dresses and suits, sold for $3 or $5. Coats $7. Leather, named brand, motorcycle jackets sold for much more. If you have a lot of stuff, the more similarly valued items that you can put into a bin, on a table, or on a rack and sell for the same price, the easier it will before you. You could have a $5, $1, or 50¢ bin, table, or rack. For purposes of making change, I don’t recommend anything less than a quarter. For small toys, pens, pencils, you could sell 5 for 25¢ or 25/$1. Other items like appliances, techy things, art, designer clothes and bags, you can be priced individually. You can buy pre-priced stickers at your local dollar store. You get about 100 for a $1 but may not be able to use some the prices. You can also use your own stickers or tape homemade prices, yourself. Things that you don’t want to sell for yard sale prices concerns Facebook Marketplace, Craigs List, eBay, Offer Up, or Posh, etc. People may be willing to pay a bit more.

Other To-Dos

  • Save your grocery bags for sales.
  • Get a bunch of $1 bills, and some $5 and $10 bills, and quarters, too.
  • Start announcing your yard sale to family, friends, neighbors, community forums, and yard sale/garage sale sites.
  • Borrow tables, so everything isn’t on the ground.
  • Keep helpers motivated (plan breakfast, lunch, coffee, water, and/or snacks for them).

Conclusion

 Hopefully you’re exited about your decision to have a yard sale. It’s a lot of work, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it. Preparation is going to be your friend, but no matter how much you plan, unexpected things will come up. This is a tool to help you in your planning. You can do other searches, on my site, for yard sales, for other ideas. See my FREE Yard Sale Prep printable, as well. 

In an upcoming post, we’ll talk about executing your event. As, always, if you find this helpful, please share it.