Over the years, we have had quite a few yard sales. Below you will find my top 15 ideas, tips, tricks and hacks to make extra money from home. This is one of the easiest side hustles from home that you can do to bring in some extra money. Even if you don’t have a lot of personal items to get ride of, buy personal and beauty products for pennies on the dollar by using coupons, rebates and coupon stacking and sell them at your yard sale.
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15 YARD SALE IDEAS, TIPS, TRICKS & HACKS TO MAKE EXTRA MONEY FROM HOME
WEEK BEFORE THE YARD SALE:
1. The best way to prepare quickly and efficiently is to have a pack or two of garage sale pricing labels on hand. Â I have found them at the Dollar Tree in the past and they are also available on Amazon. Â Here is a link to what they look like here. Â I keep one pack upstairs and one pack downstairs so they are available at all times.
2. It’s always best to put any item you do not have a use for into a designated box out of the way. Â We use our garage and a spare bedroom closet. Â If you use your garage, make sure the box is elevated off the floor to avoid mildew or water damage. Â Plastic bins are perfect to use for storing items. Â Before storing any fragile items, wrap it in tissue paper or put in a plastic bag to prevent breakage. Â Pick a price from your pre-printed labels and stick it on the item.Â
3. If there are any clothing items, it is best to keep the item on a hanger in the closet. Â I get a piece of paper and make a slit in it, write the price that I’d like to sell the item for and slip it over the top of the hanger. Â This way an item is already priced and ready to go on the day of the yard sale. Â If you do not have extra room in your closet, you can store clothing flat in a plastic bag and slip the paper with the price on it into the bag so that it is ready the day of the yard sale.
THREE DAYS BEFORE THE YARD SALE:
4. Put an ad in your local Craigslist Yard Sale section to announce the yard sale. Â Also, for a small fee, most towns have a Yard Sale listing web page available. Â List your top items for sale to draw people along with your address and the date and hours you will be starting and ending the yard sale. Â Be aware that you will always have people that will come earlier than your specified time, so put the time of the sale to start a half hour later than when you think you will be ready to start. Â Of course, it is always wise to check your local weather before you set your sale date in stone. If you want to, you may put a “RAIN DATE” in the ad so customers will know to come at the new date in case of inclement weather.
5. To avoid any last minute scrambling, I bring all the sale items that I have upstairs down to the garage area so when the morning comes, I just open the garage and arrange all the items for sale.
TWO DAYS BEFORE THE YARD SALE:
6. Go to Craigslist and edit/update your garage sale listing if needed. Â I make a “YARD SALE” sign to hang at the two busiest intersecting roads near my home with our info on it. Â Get all tables ready that you will be using to display the items. Â We use an old door and put it on top of TV trays. Â The TV trays act as sawhorses that hold the door that we use as a table. Â Easy peasy!
DAY BEFORE THE YARD SALE:
7. When you display your items for sale it is best to arrange them into categories. Â Also, to avoid customers having to get down on the ground to dig through items, I find it is best to arrange items in a large basket on the table or laid out separately on a blanket.
8. Make a list of what big ticket items you will display in the front of your driveway so it will draw people to your yard sale when they drive by your home.
9. Display clothing on hangers when possible. Â If you are lucky enough to have a clothing rack like this one, it will be easy to display your clothing items. Â If you are like us and don’t have a rack, hang them on a clothes drying rack or hang a clothing line between two trees and hang the clothing. Â Also, if you have a backyard fence, hang them there and secure the hanger with a clothespin to keep it from falling off the fence.
10. Make sure you have $5 and $1 bills available. Â At the very least, have as many quarters/coins as possible.
DAY OF THE STELLAR YARD SALE:
11. Know the location of your nearest ATM machine.  Many times customers come without enough money and need to get more money to scoop up your items.
12. Most people have iPhones and are savvy enough to check big box and liquidation stores before buying your item. So make certain to price items well below the stores and deal sites. Â
13. We always have extension cords set up so people can check electronic devices. Â If an item uses a battery, make sure to have one available for testing.
14. Â Make certain to bundle all parts of the required components with the item being sold. (Example: cords, cables, batteries, etc).
15. If you have children involve them in the yard sale profiting too. Â Since any toys were a previous gift to our son, he keeps any money earned from selling his items.
ALMOST CLOSING TIME
At the end of the yard sale, let customers know that at a certain time, all items will be 50%. Â Make sure you update your Craigslist ad with this information as well.
If you have items that didn’t sell, use Ebay, Craigslist or try OfferUp or LetGo. Â If items are left over, donate them to Goodwill to take advantage of charitable deductions.
Applying these tips will have you on your way to having your own stellar yard sale and making the most money from all of your hard work.
Do you have any stellar yard sale tips that you use?
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Reggie says
That is a very helpful and wonderful suggestion on yard sales. Thanks so much
[email protected] says
You’re more than welcome. Hope you make some $ and free up some space as well!