Summertime is an excellent time to have a yard sale. Family life is less hectic, the weather is a joy, and your kids are hungry for a creative project to sink their teeth into.
Involving your kids in your yard sale is a great way to teach them some very basic business principles that they can build upon their entire lives. As the world favors entrepreneurial skills more and more, such lessons become ever more valuable.
Before we delve into the steps for a successful yard sale for your family, let’s first define success.
If an easy or substantial payday is what you’re after, a yard sale is probably not for you. Expected price points for basic household items tend to hover in the single dollar or multiple quarter range. Setting up a yard sale requires a good bit of work, as does managing it and breaking it down. You'll be working most of the day and will need to prepare days in advance. Easy? No. Efficient? No.
Declutter
A newly decluttered space is the glorious fruit of yard sale labor. Days and weeks before, go through each room in your house, including the basement, the attic, the long-forgotten closet in the guest bedroom, the backyard shed, and anywhere else you might find items that are no longer serving you.
Encourage your kids to choose items of their own to include if they wish. It may be tough for them to let go of their possessions, and a light touch is probably in order. Marie Kondo, author of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” suggests holding your item in hand and asking yourself, “Does this item spark joy?” This may be a helpful framework to teach children as they examine their things.
Categorize
Price (or Not)
To price or not to price: that is the question. Every business needs to consider its pricing strategy and your yard sale is no different. Labeling each and every item in your inventory can be a time-consuming affair. You may choose to label everything, label each shelf or table (“Everything on this table is $1.00,” for example), make up prices as the day goes on, or ask each customer to “name your price.”Set Up the Kids’ Table
Help your kids decide what their items’ price points will be and what supplies they‘ll need. Indulge in a quick lesson on profit, adding up the cost of the supplies they’ll need and what they'll be required to make on each sale to come out in the black.
Advertise
Online, Craigslist is still the most widely used vehicle for yard sale listings. You may also consider checking out www.yardsalesearch.com or see if you can find a local Facebook group that advertises yard sales.Newspaper classified ads will generally charge a fee. If you think you'll recoup your fee in multiple, this may be worthwhile. Consider how widely read your local newspaper is, and if it’s worth the effort and expense.
Get the kids involved in making signs to post on public bulletin boards. Keep your messaging simple and clear: “YARD SALE, Date, Address, Time.”