Ever Done a Yard Sale?

Biggest waste of time ever. We got talked into doing a neighborhood one. When a woman actually tried to negotiate from 50 cents to 25 cents on a brand new Dr. Seuss book, I was done. What kind of craziness is that. Not worth my time. We take the donation deduction - my time and energy are more valuable than that.

Been there, done that. Completely NOT worth it in my personal experience. My time = $$ I don't like my home being checked out by strangers.

Our neighborhood HOA puts one on in the spring and fall and I ( along with the majority) lock everything up because there's lots of traffic in our quiet, nice neighborhood and some people using the "sale" to check out the homes.

Take into consideration that no matter how almost new or good condition something is...... people want it for nothing. If you ask $1 they want it for a dime.

I found it insulting and I shut my sale down because I came out better to donate to someone I know appreciates it vs someone trying to get me to just give it to them. Ex: Abercrombie jeans new with tags $50, I asked $15, I was offered $2. No thanks. I told the people to leave my property.

Not to mention the safety issues of having your house cased out by people who aren't really shopping the sale.

IF you do it, make sure your set of eyes is not the only set watching nonstop. It's amazing how crappy some people truly are.

We had a couple of neighbors who live in the center section area of the neighborhood try it out to get extra money and they ended up wiped out within a couple months. Police believe it was from garage sale posts.

Be careful whatever you choose.

Personally... I say no. I don't mind taking my things to the women's shelter, goodwill or having goodwill pickup so I know my things are appreciated elsewhere.

Yes, I did a garage sale a couple years ago right before moving. A neighbor joined me so we did it together. I slowly made piles of stuff in the garage over a couple weeks. The night before I labeled everything with round stickers and put the stuff on tables and tarps. I made 5 brightly colored garage sale signs. At 7am my husband drove out and put the signs out. I dragged out the tables and tarps and sat in a camping chair. I had a thermos of coffee and my husband picked up some doughnuts. Even though the start time was 8am I was surprised that there were people there at 7:40. I sat and chatted with my neighbor and collected money. I thought it was pretty easy. At noon I pulled everything back in the garage and shut the door. That afternoon I donated what was left. Ask your neighbors if any of them have any furniture, bikes, or large things they want to sell. Have fun!

Just went through this before Christmas. Yuck is all I have to say. Not worth my time. Some people are really rude and don't want to pay anything.

I usually make between $200 and $400 when I have garage sales.

IT's TIME CONSUMING. You need to ensure you have cash on hand, advertising (Craigslist), signage, etc. if this is the only time you're going to do it? NO. I wouldn't do it.

I would see if there is a local yard sale group on facebook and take pictures and post there. Meet the person in a public place and let people know WHO you are going to meet and where.

I have signs already made up with arrows and such. I use ebay and craigslist regularly and I use my local facebook yard sale groups.

Good luck!

I have done many a garage sale at my old house. We would take a couple of pictures, mention some of the things we were selling, and post them on craigslist.
Some pointers....
1. Think of what price you WANT to sell something and label it for a couple-$5 more. People ALWAYS want to haggle. It's part of the garage sale experience. I don't know why people get so bent out of shape about it. Yes...there's always going to be someone that wants to pay $1 for something that should go for $5. Remember...we don't know what anyone's life story is. It's simple to just say, "no, I would like to sell for $5." no need to think they are deviant and horrid people. They are just trying to stretch a dollar like everyone else.
2. Don't take bills over $20.
3. If you DO have expensive things (watches, jewelery) put them back by you. We had someone lift a watch from us. Jerks.
4. Have plastic grocery bags available (if you have them in your area) for people to pack up their stuff they want to buy.
5. When you close just take your stuff you didn't sale directly to a consignment shop or donation place.
They are exhausting, but for me? We always made between $300-$500.

Yes, many, many sales. Most of my profitable sales were at mom 2 mom sales.

A lot of work pricing items, prepping signs, tables, etc. Sometimes we had a lot of people, sometimes we had a few. The best time to have a sale is early in the spring, and the first of the month when people receive their checks. Be prepared for low ballers who want free stuff.

We were robbed of my cell phone at our last yard sale, so I am not holding any more at my home. You have to watch your items carefully, watch people (some will case out your garage items not for sale -lawnmower, leaf blower, etc. and ask to use the "bathroom" to case out inside your home.)

I agree with TF...totally not worth my time, effort or frustration. I have had two garage-yard sales. You would think I could have learned after just one! I was repeatedly shocked when no matter what price I had on the sticker..it was always met with, "well, will you take" (insert more than 1/2 of whatever the price.)

I was even more shocked when a man, total stranger, after looking over the items for sale, actually asked if he could go inside to use our restroom! I am not kidding!!

Donating to a worthy cause or to family or friends is so much easier..and you get rid of everything all at one time.

We did one when we moved from our flat to our first home. We sold things like futons, so it made sense. We had people bidding on things - we lived in an area with students walking by, so it generated a lot of attention. That time it was worth it because we didn't have a vehicle to haul it all off - so made sense.

Did another one - even in our area where everyone was doing yard sales that day - wasn't worth it. I just found it to be a pain and waste of a morning. Some people love it and think it's worth it. I do not.

My friend does one twice a year and makes about $300. So what I do is take a bike, etc. over to hers and stay and have a coffee - the bikes go. For small stuff, no.

Definitely not my thing. Never have and never will. We donate and take the tax deduction.

Yes, I did them for a few years in a row when the kids were little and going thru clothes and toys all the time. Homes in my neighborhood always had them going on Spring thru Fall too. I always asked family and friends if they wanted to join also - just use diff color price tags. Makes the sale bigger and attracts more interest imo. On the flip side, I always went to yard sales too for toys and clothes and books etc for kids when little. Kid stuff in sought after at sales, here anyway, I can only assume that's normal other places too. It is a lot of work, so prepare for that. Organize and price tag everything! And make sure the day of you have change - $1, $5 and quarters.

I have a friend who does one every year, and typically makes over $100. I have no idea how she does it, because I've tried twice, spent a lot of time organizing, and made less than $20 each time. Not worth the time.

I have had somewhat better luck on Craigslist with individual things that are in perfect or near-perfect shape. It's less of a time commitment than a yard sale - snap a pic and post it with the price you want, meet in a central location to exchange the item for cash.

I don't have the patience for it.
My neighbor did it a few years ago.
They had everything out, had signs up everywhere, got rid of a lot - but not everything.
AND what ever didn't sell was carted off to donation right after the end of the last day of the sale.
The deal according to my neighbor was "we're getting rid of this stuff one way or another and it's NOT making it's way back into the house.".

If you are in it to raise money you will be disappointed. If you are in it to get rid of things then put a quarter to fifty cents on everything and get rid of it.

People will pay a quarter or fifty cents on things at a garage sale but they won't pay much more.

i only ever did a garage sale once. i used a firends garage, and just added a pickup truck load of my things to her sale. (there ended up being 3 of us that sold stuff out of the one garage)
if its your garage i wouldnt do it for the burglers scouting thing. that scares me
if you don't hav anything big ticket then its probably better to donate. ( i had table, chairs, and complete kitchen sets gently used and put back in their original boxes. kitchen appliances never used still in the boxes. so i was able to price decent and sell a bunch. sold most everything and made about 200$ but i was selling my appartment cuz i moved to a house with my new hubbs who had it all and we didn't need 2 of everything)
i will never do it again.