Effective Yard Sale Set-Up

One of the biggest annoyances with yard sales is early bird buyers, those who ignore your start time and try to get there early for the best deal. Two of the best ways to handle this are either to impose a double-price penalty on any items they try to buy before your starting time, or to just outright refuse to sell beforehand.

Arrange your items on tables, workbenches, blankets and tarps to avoid just scattering things on your lawn. Try to group similar items together such as house wares, clothes, toys, and books/games. You want to make it easy for shoppers to look over all the items you have to offer and not make them dig through unorganized piles.

If your kids have items of their own to sell, give each one his or her own blanket or table space. Older kids can manage their own money, and younger ones can have their own space in the family cash box. Make sure to keep a running tab on who's sold what so the profits can be fairly distributed at the end of the day.

Place large, attractive items like good condition furniture, lawn equipment, and children's play equipment near the edge of the road to attract drivers. Many people don't even consider stopping for a yard sale until they drive by and see something they like!

The Essentials of a Yard Sale

Make sure you have plenty of small bills and change on hand as most customers will probably have larger denominations. The money should be handled by one person at a time and kept secure in a box or zippered pouch. Keeping a record of what sold and for how much is a good idea to make sure no one is shorted their share.