You've probably thought about these things before, but we'll pull them all together in this quick list for you.

Spring is right around the corner, so if you're planning on having one, now's the time to start planning!

6 FANTASTIC TIPS For Your Garage/Yard Sale:

1.) Make sure ALL of your signs LOOK the same! Obviously, the arrow may change, but if a prospective shopper is driving around your neighborhood LOOKING to find your house, they are subliminally looking for the SAME sign--- thus one is neon, make them all neon. If you put a balloon on one, put a balloon on ALL of them. That way, as they are driving through a neighborhood and trying to find the "next" sign marker, your next sign will stick out to them. Remember... the GOAL is to get them to your driveway, so do as much as you can to help them get there!

2.) Put a START and END time: By the end of the morning, when people see signage, they are often thinking that you are probably all wrapped up at that point, especially if you wrote a start time of, say, 7am. By 11am when parents are driving back from soccer practice, they likely assume your signs are out but you aren't, thus they are less likely to come looking for you unless you put an end time. The good news is, if you write "8am-1pm", if you DO decide to close up shop, earlier, just go out and snag your signs (for proper disposal, more on that later). No signs, no directions to your house, no worries!

3.) REALLY CONSIDER YOUR PRICING: People are there for a deal. It is very unlikely that a $100 baby swing will sell, in your driveway, for $75. Did you get $50 of use out of it? Maybe even the full $100? Price it WELL BELOW what people may "consider" paying. If they don't like the price as soon as they see it, they are very unlikely to come back "after thinking about it". There are too many apps and online opportunities to buy things second-hand. If they are in your driveway, you want them to buy your stuff. Price accordingly! $50 in your hand is better than $0 hoping someone was going to pay $25.

4.) Keep the JUNK to a MINIMUM: Yeah, maybe you have a special collection of teacups that were "all the rage" back in the day, or thimbles from your great aunt who passed away a few years back, you never know who may have been looking for those things. But when it comes to random unmarked, mismatched coffee mugs, a single glass leftover from a set that otherwise broke, a measuring set with only 3 of the 5 from the set... You get the picture. Some thing are just clutter that adds to the overwhelming appearance of JUNK at a home-sale as it is. If you're set on putting those things out, you can put them on a separate table with a similar price for it all "$1/each, 6 for $5" etc. But definitely do NOT let these items infiltrate the rest of your sale tables, if you can help it!

5.) PLAN, PLAN, PLAN... and consider the questions! This sounds obvious, but you can forget how much there NEEDS to be done until the morning of. You should have sorted items, planned out what tables will hold what, and whether you need blankets (and what time of the year it is, if you should use tarps instead if the grass is damp?). Are you using stickers or a pricing gun? Are you willing to deliver larger items if someone pays there at your driveway, first? Would you be willing to hold an item (if they paid) for them to later come back? Do you have "ENOUGH" change (you will need QUITE A BIT in case someone breaks your bank in the first sale or two- think of getting $20 and they only bought a $1 item). Ask one of your neighbors to come buy and glance over your stuff to see if there's anything they would ask if they were the buyer or otherwise if they can think of anything you may have forgotten.

6.) Schedule a Goodwill/Salvation Army (etc) pick up for the same day: That way you aren't sitting on all that stuff you KNEW you wanted to be rid of--- you already KNOW their chariot will be arrive to whisk them away at x-pm!

(BONUS TIP:) REMOVE ALL SIGNAGE WHEN YOU ARE DONE: But what does that have to do with having a successful sale?  First off, besides being the RIGHT THING to do, it will keep people from later coming up to your house... in particular, annoyed neighbors who have seen your signs half-hanging for the past week or 6, littering your neighborhood!

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