• Fun
• Meeting your neighbors
• Weekend block parties
• Getting items you need
• Getting items you will soon have in your very own yard sale
• Making money
• Loosing money
• Raising money for charity
• Finding a bargain
• Getting skunked
• Recycling

My diligence at yard sailing has allowed me to furnish the house and back yard at one tenth the cost that of even warehouse prices. This includes transportation costs, but not drive time which varies depending on how you value your time.

While the savings you can make can be significant, I have found the elements of having fun, and meeting neighbors to be the most satisfying part of the experience.

One of the interesting things about yard sales is that it seems to reveal much about the nature of the people who run them — particularly their relationship to material possessions and to money.

Some people take their stuff and dump it in a heap, expecting you to sort it out. Do not marry people like this, unless you enjoy picking up after a partner and like cleaning up a lot.

Others spread all they own in a surrounding circle, as if awaiting the unseen enemy. They have been watching too many Westerns.

There are those who watch every customer as if they are about to steal something. Not a good feeling to be on the receiving end of this. With this type it is fun to find the large suit case they are selling and start sneaking things in it. Make sure you glance over your shoulder every time you put something in the suit case.

Some sellers are no fun. Especially those who cleverly say, “Isn’t there anything here you can’t live without?”

Also no fun, those who are clingers:

• Clingy Seller Variation 1: those who keep telling you how great their stuff is and why you cannot live without it.
  
• Clingy Seller Variation 2: those who tell you the history behind each chafing dish, every velvet portrait of Elvis, and why you cannot live without it. (Here is where those paper bags you get from airlines comes in handy.)

However, the real stars of yard sales are the items themselves. Chances are you will find items you never dreamed you needed so badly. Items with exotic names, or no names at all. You could find the missing pieces of your fine Dresden china, or the missing peice of your HO railroad track. (Hey! The real “missing link.”)

Here are a few (dozen) guidelines to aid the enlightened yard sailor and the successful yard salesperson.

• Make a list of items you want. Include measurements and sizes where appropriate.
• Take the list with you when you go yard sailing.
• Bring money plus a snack. (See First Rule above.)

At the Sale

• Look at the prices in general. If the prices are too high,
  • ask if they are negotiable
  • if they are not, leave right away.
• If the sale items have been stored in a basement and smell musty, chances are, all paper, cloth and leather items will be rotten. Everything else will need to be scrubbed for two weeks to get half the mold off.
• Don’t buy any electronics at yard sales that cost more than $15:
  • yard sales are not the place for fine hi-fi systems, unless, of course, you are fond of eight-track cassettes,
  • repairs on electrical or computer systems start at $85. So you don’t save much on used stuff that will break soon. Yes, it will break soon, if it isn’t already broken.
• Yard sale, or any second-hand, prices should generally be lower than one-third of retail. That is, don’t pay any more for a second-hand $100 table or chandelier than $30.
• Prepare to dicker.
• Don’t take it personally when someone is offended at your ridiculously low offer.

• Only bother placing a newspaper ad if:
  • you are having a (three or more) multi-family sale,
  • you have consulted the Farmers’ Almanac and are positive it won’t rain.
• Use easily removable tags for pricing. Do not use masking or duct tape. Walk lightly on the earth — and on yard sale items — take no paint off, leave no residue.
• Put big signs up on strategic corners:
  • Telephone poles are nice, however, be cautious if local a ordinance prohibits posting on them.
  • Use a posting method that allows complete removal later.
  • Every sign should have big, thick arrows:
    • Most lettering is too hard to see by speeding motorists. Big arrows win.
      
    • Big arrows draw many into a sale, particularly if the address is hard to find.
• If you think an item is worth a huge amount of money, place an add in the penny papers or take it to a pawn shop, do not expect it to sell in your yard sale.
• Make it easy for drivers to see your goods from the street:
  • Sort through and display your junk in an orderly fashion.
  • Hang the clothes, don’t leave them in a pig pile.
  • Wash items, or at least wipe the mold off.
• Put your sale items in the front yard, not in the back, not in the alley, not in the basement.
• Prepare for the early bird shoppers. If the signs or your ads say “9am-4pm” the yard sale vultures will be swarming by 7:30am. The following quote about early birds must be spoken in great, resonant James E. Jones-like tones: “If you build a yard sale — they will come.”
  • put up a sign stating “No early birds allowed!”) — to keep them out of the way, -or-
  • Ask a scarecrow-like friend to tell them “No early birds allowed!” -or-
  • Ask the birds to help carry the furniture to the yard. Put them to work.

Pricing

And to come up with the retail cost, pretend you are a contestant on The Price is Right.

One other way to get a retail price would be to look up stuff on Web sites such as:

www.pricewatch.com
www.pricescan.com
shopping.yahoo.com

• Wear a wide-brimmed hat and long sleeves.
  • This is not a secret sales-promoting tool, this is to help prevent you from getting cancer.
  • You might also consider using a sunscreen.
• Prepare to dicker.
• Don’t take it personally when someone makes you a ridiculously low offer.

After the Sale

• Take your damn signs down. Including the tacks and staples.
• Count your money minus your start-up cash.
• Your profit is the excess cash — plus the junk now in someone else’s hands — plus the fun you had.