Successful Yard Sales

How to Plan, Promote and Execute a Spectacular Sale

By Tenna Perry

Got lots of junk piling up in the basement? Or a student about ready to hit college? Now may be the perfect time to unload your home of unneeded "stuff," and what better way to do it than a garage or yard sale?

With a little planning and some insider tips, you can have a successful sale that's fun for the whole family – and you just might make a few dollars while you're at it.

"The first thing to do when throwing a yard sale is to take a deep breath!" says yard sale veteran Mary Waggoner of Norwalk, Conn. Then, according to "The Garage Sale Guru," Jean Callum of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and author of the soon to be released The Garage Sale Guru: How to Go and How to Throw, start planning at least two weeks ahead to allow time for sorting and pricing your items. "You also need to consider your advertising time frame for the local newspaper," says Callum.

What's the best day for hosting a yard sale? "While you will find some areas that seem to consider weekdays the 'norm,' sale days should run together, and remember, Saturdays are the day for garage sales," says Callum.

To make sure you get lots of activity at your garage sale, be sure to take advantage of advertising tools. While the actual advantages of newspaper ads may vary according to area, signs are an absolute must-have to get customers to your sale.

"Place signs from the nearest busy intersection to your door," says Callum. "Basic directions are all that is needed. Never put what you're selling on a sign! Not only do you immediately lower your chances of having someone come to it (nope, not what we're looking for), it is annoying to drivers to have to stop and read the fine print."

Want to see more?

• Budget Wise: Money Management Techniques From Stay-at-Home Moms
• A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place: Tools and Techniques to Attack Home Organization
• Yard Sale Savings: Bargain Buys for the Entire Family
• Talk about it!