The Day of Your Yard Sale
I share with you a few days ago, that I was writing this series on Yard Sales as I prepared for my own. Today, we’ll look at some things to do and keep in mind the day of your yard sale.
Get a Good Start
If you and/or your helpers are coffee drinkers, put on a big cup of coffee. Today’s going to be a busy day. Everyone may not want to eat first thing in the morning, but most will enjoy a nice cup of coffee (or tea).
If you normally do your devotions in the morning, don’t skip those. You’ll need the same soul food to get you through this day, like you would any other. I know for me; I can’t just skip my time with God and in the Word of God and think I’ll just squeeze it in later in the day. It never flows the same way. Plus, when I read, study, journal, or write at night; I find myself dozing a half dozen times or so before I finally give up altogether and apologetically go to sleep. It’s not because my routine is off, but my priorities were off. If I only get to do one thing in my day, I want to sit before my Savior and God. So, even though you have a lot ahead of you, don’t skip your time with God in the Word of God. Pray for all of you and that things will be done decently and in order and that the love of God will shine through.
Stretch, but I do recommend skipping your regular exercise. Dozens of trips up and down steps; in and out of the house; lifting tables, bins, and boxes; stooping down and bending over; are going to give you plenty of exercise. You don’t want to become exhausted too early in the day. I’ve always been thankful for that adrenaline comes along and helps get me through the rest of the day. It’s one of the hormones that release when you’re under stress- even good stress.
Review your checklist. Take care anything you need to attend to, including the following:
Executing Your Event
Put up signs in the neighborhood if you haven’t already done that.
Assign tasks to your helpers as soon as they arrive. To start, everyone who is able to do so, should help setup. Even though you have your items staged at the door, it still takes time to carry tables out and setup your displays so that people can see all the nice things you have. Some items because of size lack of space, probably will have to placed on tarps on the ground. I use plastic shower curtains from the dollar store. They are much sturdier than the plastic table cloths.
Assign someone to keep watch while you setup. If you advertised your yard sale, ahead of time, don’t be surprised if people show up even before the event is scheduled to start. These are the enthusiasts who are looking to score some great deal or beat everybody to some great find. So, you’ll need someone to stand watch while you are start setting up and you’ll need someone to keep an eye out when the event is in full swing. You discuss with them how to handle those pre-start visitors.
Keep like items together. For example, have a table of knickknack, and a table for appliances, a table for dishes; a table for books, a large bin for toys, etc. If you don’t have a lot of something, share the space. Use half the table for dishes and half the table for appliances. Still have more room on that table, add knickknacks, too (if there’s space for them all). Remember, you’re trying to keep like items together. Group and hang clothes by size, categorized by
men, women, boys, and girls. Or put kids items in a separate section: kids clothes, shoes, toys, etc. This will make it easier for customers to browse. Keeping similar items priced the same, makes it easier for everyone to tally.
Ask helpers to greet visitors with a smile and an offer of assistance- like sales associates in a department store. All helpers should also be watching for people attempting to steal and price swap. My very first yard sale, someone stole a never used Michael Kors item, from me. They left and came back and by the end of her repeat visit, she was gone and it was gone. Those are the breaks. It hurts when that happens, but these aren’t things we need, so no reason to get in an uproar. I’m not advocating following people around. Just make sure your helpers are spread out and attentive to servicing potential customers, instead of socializing with one another (the mistake I made). Their presence and attentiveness will serve as a deterrent.
Give several small bills and quarters to your cashier- someone you trust to hold your money and who can make accurate transactions. You might choose to be a second cashier. You probably don’t need more than two. If you are hosting with someone else who is selling their own items, it’s better that you don’t mix money. They should have their own cashier.
Have plastic bags for customers to put their purchases. You may already have dozens from your trips to the grocery store. If you don’t, you might have to get some from family and friends. That was on your yard sale prep checklist, a few posts, ago.
The last couple hours, on the last day of your yard sale events, drop prices to get rid of as much as you can. Even advertise, “Everything must go!” Or “Let’s haggle.” If you know you aren’t keeping this stuff anyway, a few bucks is better than just giving it away to a donation center (even with the tax write-off). Chances are, if you have a lot, you’ll have stuff that doesn’t get sold. But then, again, if you drop everything to a quarter, maybe you won’t (smile). Don’t do this too early, though, because you won’t know what a person may have been willing to pay. Maybe somebody will think $5 is a great price for that item and would gladly pay that. If it hasn’t sold as expected, you still have time to drop it to a ridiculously low price.
If you scheduled a donation center to pickup, schedule it for an hour or so after your event. If you aren’t giving away your bins and totes, you should use paper boxes or clean trash bags for your donations. If possible, keep similar things together, to help them on the receiving end. Don’t forget your stub for tax write-off.
Sell a lot of stuff! And y’all have fun. Let your helpers have something from free- either at the beginning or right before the price drop.
Conclusion
You don’t have to do all these things to have a yard sale. You can grab a bunch of stuff and just set it out. Lots of people just love yard sales and will stop even if you never advertised it, even if things aren’t categorized, polished, and individually priced.
You have the potential to reach a lot more people by doing some of things we’ve talked about this week (search this site for “yard sale”. You can make it easy for your customers to browse, make it easy for them to tally how much they are spending, and make it easy to get help from someone if they have questions or want to process their transaction. If you make it a great customer experience, they may be more inclined to stop when you host your next one, in a year or two.
