Yard Sale: Concerns vs. Reality

This past weekend we held our first yard sale together, not exactly sure what to expect. Let's just say that our concerns were blown out of the water and we couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Since we're a big fan of lists, let's go through our Concerns vs. Reality.

Concerns:

1. Lack of Traffic- The sale was held at Kyle's house and he lives on a cul-de-sac, set back in a subdivision. We were a bit concerned about whether or not people would even know that there was a sale going on.
2. Weather- Just two days prior to our sale date, the 50 degree weather dropped suddenly and we got about an inch of snow.
3. Advertising- We are both procrastinators so buying an ad in the paper, and plastering the town with posters did not happen. We decided to go with Craigslist, but often times on that site, there are so many postings that your ad seems to get lost in the shuffle.
4. Having desirable items- We knew we had a LOT of stuff, we just weren't sure whether people would actually want any of it. 
5. Keeping finances separate- We decided beforehand that whoever owned the item being sold, that person would get the money. Easy as pie, right?

Reality: 

1. Overwhelming stream of customers- Our set sale hours were 10am-4pm and by 9am people started arriving even while we were still setting up. This could have been frustrating, but we just let them know that we were still putting things out but they were welcome to look around in the meantime. Never ever did we expect to see so many people show up!! At one point it was a bit overwhelming, but thank goodness we had family come out to help us interact with customers, collect money, and price some items.
2. Perfect weather- Saturday was beautiful and the weather was perfect for a sale! Luckily we had none of the "few showers" that were predicted earlier in the week. It was sunny, but not hot, and a bit breezy. Plus, it was one of the first nice weekends of the season so people were probably itching to get out of the house. Lucky for us, that meant yard sale hopping!
3. Craigslist is awesome- Since the whole point of having this sale in the first place was to make money to pay off our debt, the last thing we wanted to do was spend money on advertising. We did buy one "Garage Sale" sign to put on the main street to direct traffic, and a couple of stakes to add to our own handmade neon posters to post around the community. In total we had 4 signs. Other than that, we just had two Craigslist ads. The first ad was posted on the Tuesday before the sale and was simply a long list of almost everything we intended to sell. The second ad was just a copy-paste duplicate of the first, except this one contained four pictures of our most desirable items (furniture, electric guitar set, weight bench). We also made sure to include the fact that we could accept credit cards (Megan has a ProPay account that she uses for her art shows), and we had a catchy title, "GIANT YARD SALE Sat. 10-4. We are selling EVERYTHING!!" We are pretty sure that a majority of our customers came in after seeing our ads, some requested specific items (e.g., "Do you still have the Insanity DVDs for sale?"), and one man actually said that it was one of the best Craigslist ads he had ever seen (maybe we should have been marketing execs?)
4. "One man's junk..."- As more and more of our stuff began to sell, we realized that just because we didn't want these items anymore, that didn't mean that others wouldn't want them. We had a lot of items that people seek out to buy, such as living room and dining room furniture, XBOX systems, and TVs, not just knickknacks to stumble upon. 
5. What's mine is yours- The whole "keep our finances separate" idea went out the window about 20 minutes into the sale. The overwhelming amount of people, along with the fast-paced sales, and the extra helping hands, made it difficult to keep track of whose stuff was whose, especially when people would buy some of Megan's and some of Kyle's in one transaction. We decided that it was all going to the greater cause of us, as a couple, getting out of debt so it didn't really matter who got what money.

Overall it was unbelievably motivating for us, not only to make so much money in one day, but to see the amount of clutter whittle down to almost nothing as the day progressed. By the end of the sale, we were drastically lowering some of the prices on things and practically giving stuff away because the feeling of freedom that came from eliminating the extra "stuff" we didn't need was worth more than the money we were getting for it. Let us repeat that very important concept:

The feeling of freedom that came from eliminating the extra "stuff" we didn't need was worth more than the money we were getting for it. 

So, to recap, what did we learn?:

1. Craigslist is better than the paper! Be as detailed as you possibly can, take good, appealing-looking photos, and post it more than once.
2. Get back-up reinforcements. We could not have done it without the help of Megan's mom and two aunts. We are certain that if there weren't extra people to answer customers' questions and take payment, some people may have gotten impatient and left without buying a thing.
3. Be flexible. If people want to negotiate with you, be open to it. That doesn't mean you have to lower the price more than you feel comfortable with, but if someone wants to by six DVD's at two bucks a piece, give them all six for $10. People are more likely to purchase if they think they're getting a deal. Our flexibility also helped make a sale when a customer who lived nearby wanted to buy a piece of furniture, but it wouldn't fit in her car. Megan's mom used her truck to deliver it for the customer. Again, we wouldn't recommend doing this if it is completely out of the way but if it isn't a big hassle, it is worth the $150 they are paying for the item. Another option is to have the customer pay for the item now, and you can leave the item outside for them to pick up later with a better-equipped vehicle.
4. Be friendly and social. Say hello when customers come up to the sale. Ask them if there is anything in particular they are looking for. Tell them a bit about the item they are looking at. Don't follow them around the sale though. Give them space, but make yourself available to answer any questions.
5. Stock up on plastic grocery bags. Luckily, we had a bunch of these all stocked up for poop-control purposes while walking the dogs. People will buy more stuff if they don't have to worry about transporting it. 
6. The sale doesn't end after the sale. We are now in the process of putting some of the larger pieces that didn't sell back on Craigslist. We've already gotten rid of two pieces that were just taking up space by listing them individually in the "Free" section in Craigslist. When we got a response for these items, we simply sat them outside, responded to interested parties with our address, and told them they could come pick it up on a first come, first served basis.

The grand total made for the sale (not including any items sold post-sale): $1,123.68!!

Not bad for one days' work!