What do you think are the most popular items at a yard sale?

Question

What do you think are the most popular items at a yard sale?

Answer 1

Furniture and home decor usually do well along with toys and such. Try advertising a little more. Put up large, noticable signs the with the word's "Garage Sale" and an arrow. That's all the information passer-bys need. If possible strap some balloons to them and have the same at your sale so they know they're at the right place. Even better, have some kids with signs directing traffic to your neighbourhood street from the nearest major intersection. Also, if you get neighbours involved, people are more likely to stop to check out the big selection. For example, my family always lines up our garage sales with the school across the street. They always draw a huge crowd and we double up on advertising.

Answer 2

From my experience, baby clothing ranks #1!!

#2 would be furniture.

Books never do well, I usually end up having to donate them to the local resale shop. The only way to make ANY $$ off books is to specialize in only one or 2 genres at a time. And, once again from my experience in having garage sales, you have to sell them at a super-cheap price (like 25 cents each). You'll probably end up paying more for them than people are willing to pay at a garage sale.

And one prob is you may be selling stuff at too high of a price. I see that all the time w/garage sales.

A garage sale should really be for getting rid of your junk, not making money. When $$ becomes the motivator for a garage sale, it never does well.

Answer 3

The problem with books is that you have to have them to sell them and people at yard sales will pay $1, for a $29 book. Paperbacks often sell for .25 cents. What gets the most money is "antiques" which people want because it is a one of a kind. That 1956 kids lamp is a treasure in 2012.

Answer 4

Lynn has good advice. Men like tools...good ones...name brands and such. Some nick knacks are good and costume jewelry is good. I used to get some misc. things at auctions with things that I would buy, so to the garage sales they go.

Children's clothing is good.

I don't see books as popular, maybe a cook book once in a while or maybe books from a series. I read a lot but don't get books at garage sales.

Make sure things are clean.

Answer 5

Books in my area sell for only a quarter, so you would need to sell

a heck of a lot of books for it to be a second job. I see furniture,

kid's equipment (stroller etc), toys, baby clothing, antiques, etc. as

best sellers. Estate sales do good. Clothing can almost be given

away as no one buys them).Bakery items sell. Golf clubs do well

if in good shape. Music items go good. Electronic items are very

popular. Men like tools and/or fishing equipment. Hope these

suggestions help. If you are good at repairs, that would be a good

suggestion for a second job (clock/tv/radio/computers/and odd jobs

such as cleaning out gutters, mowing yards, shoveling snow, un-

stopping drains, painting,etc.)

Answer 6

I used to think of myself as a specialist in garage sales, I had so many. And it was always

to raise some money on things I wasn't using. The brisk sales would begin within minutes

after opening. There seem to be regular sales shoppers that hit the neighborhoods

early. Men are always looking for tools of all sorts. They also look for sports and

fishing equipment. Book sales are mainly paperback novels, that are of interest for

less than a quarter. Linens and housewares are of interest and they will haggle on the

prices. Jewelry set near the seller to watch, is of interest also, and people will try to get

something for nothing. Childrens clean clothes and toys are always in demand. And

t shirts with patterns in average to large sizes go quickly. Collectibles go, only when the

prices are cheap. CD's and video tapes always get looked over and draw interest. Pet

supplies go quickly and bedding for them. I always had a 'free box' that emptied quick.

Kitchen pots and pans and kitchen tools are sold quickly if they are polished and

attractive in appearance. The same with dishes and extra bowls.

I hope my info has been of help. And I hope you have a profitable sale.

Answer 7

Books, all depends on your area. where I am from , books go very cheaply. Around here , books would get you very little money, not worth the lugging of them or the storage.

Go to sales in your area and observe what the people are buying and what they ask for.Also observe the prices on the merchandise, we have one woman in town that scour garage sales, then she has her own, The prices she charges is outrageous, I won't even go to her sales any more , Sometimes she charges more for a used item then you can buy it new in a store. Like a fan , you would pay $10.00 new and she was charging $20.00.

Answer 8

The price of books is way down these days. I would say baby items, DVDs, jewelry, antiques, vintage collectables, and useable items such as tools, kitchen items, gardening items, and so forth. Everyone wants a bargain of course and some who never shopped at thrift stores or yard sales are doing so now in an effort to stay within their budget and not use credit cards. Some people have strange things that they request. I heard one lady ask for 8-track tapes of a specific band, she had bought a player and wanted to use it.

Answer 9

You could do books on the side. I'm with you, I love books. But it's not the way to make money. Baby clothes, as they still look pretty nice after you're done with them. And good quailty house goods.

If you sell clothes, be sure to display them by size. So many don't, and I get a lot of my clothes second hand. But if the sizes are all mixed up, I won't even look.

Answer 10

baby things, followed by tools and clean usable household items for the kitchen.

We once started our own import-export business just after the changes in eastern Europe.

Our friends backed us up with cash to purchase merchandise lots and cars from police sales, we also bought from importers in downtown LA, Calif. new items.

We had everything, including a cu-cu clock and toilet seats, anything and everything that was usable, good quality and cheap enough for us to fill a shipping container.

We couldn't fit everything into the container that we had so when we moved to New Mexico, we took the extra items with us to sell at the Albq. swap meets.

We had many baby items, socks for babies, t-shits and little pillows, they sold like crazy, I have a few nice American Indian jewelry pieces that I even did trades with as some people didn't have the cash but had brought extra jewelry to use as trade, like that idea.

If we had known how fast and hard those baby items would of sold, we would of just kept them all in the US and did a business selling just baby items.

It may also be a good idea to know your neighborhood too.

Some communities are adult only, meaning they may not be wanting baby itmes but something else.

books are too heavy to move around and pack up all the time and you can't ask much for them.

We also sold silver jewerly as a side item, the more varity you have the better but it is a good idea to specialize in one thing.

We knew a guy years back that just sold rattan furniture at swap meets, he only worked on the weekends and made a good living.

Do your homework and find a cheap source to supply you.

Again, know your community, we moved to Las Vegas and still had some items but the swap meets in this state are not very good, not like in Calif. or New Mexico, we also sold things in Hawaii, not to good there in Hilo, have to stick to Honolulu at the large arenas to get enough buyers walking through to see you stuff.

The last at home yard sale we had in Vegas we were surprised we had so many people drive up.

I first went around the whole neighborhood posting flyers for every neighbor to take there goods out and clean their garage on a set weekend.

I also told every neighbor I met on the st. that we were having a big sale coming up and they were welcome to sell too.

I though since the neighborhood was sort of off the beaten track, it would be great for everyone to tell their friends about it and give everyone a chance to sell, the more sellers there are, the more buyers will show up.

Don't give up some days and some hours are really slow but most times everyone shows up at once and buys everything in a frenzy.

some days at the Albq. swap meet we would make over $300. in 6 or 7 hours only paying for the rental space for the day.

Check out your local sawp meets, it might be worth spending a few bucks on a space there just to get the people walking through to see what you have, find something not too bulky or heavy as moving and packing it up is a drag.

Also know the tax laws for selling at swap meets, some states don't tax you on sales and other do, NV taxes and everyone is rather cheap here, not wanting to pay what things are worth, think the free things given away in the casinos have spoiled people here, they want a freebie on almost everything.

Know what your stuff is worth, give a fare price and stick to your price, if someone really wants or needs it they will buy it.

Answer 11

I hate garage sales that have almost all cloths and books. Old tools are good. guns,fishing equipment,go good too. Guitars etc, are good

Answer 12

Furniture

Tools

Antiques

Toys

Good clothing

Nice wall decor, pictures, sconces, etc.



The first item to go was when I created a box and labeled it 'man box' with a flat price on it I put every thing from electrical tape to a box of nails, electrical cords,fishing lures tools, any odds and ends, switches and even a drill one time. They just cannot resist and never haggle about the price.

Answer 13

At Our House it's the Jewelry. When I go to tag sales it's the item I look for the most. I also love collectables, water globes, magazines, and antiques.

Answer 14

books, baby clothes, and serviceable housewares.

Answer 15

I was going to say books too. Toys and sporting equipment, also musical instruments, tools. One thing if it is in an original package it can go for more. Just be careful I watch Antiques Road Show, people buy stuff for $5 or $10 bucks and it can be appraised for hundreds or thousands.

Answer 16

When I go, and I don't go often, I look for books, clothes, CD's odds and ends for the kitchen, some furniture but only if it is a real bargain and is in good condition..Guitars if they are certain brands and styles, (Be careful about guitars, some vintage guitars are worth thousands) Sometimes tools And sporting goods.

Answer 17

Good used furniture and child items such as highchairs and toys, if priced right, are going to sell.