Hosting Your First Yard Sale: Tips for Success

After years of storing unused items in several attractive sheds on my property, I finally took the plunge last week and organized my first yard sale. I'd wanted to hold the event for several months now, but the Tucson, Arizona weather had proved too hot to make the idea an appealing one.

Thanks to the helpful advice of several friends who'd previously hosted yard sales, my first one came off - thankfully - without a hitch. I'd like to share their experience and advice with you so that your first (and second, and third) yard sale will go as smoothly and profitably as mine.

The first order of business is to go through your home, cabinet-by-cabinet and room-by-room, seeking items you haven't used for over a year. Separate those items that you can't bear to part with, perhaps due to sentimental value, from the rest, and view everything else as fair game for your yard sale.

Next, systematically go through your garage and any sheds you have and apply the "one year" principal to items there. Clean and dust salable items as you catalog them. I simply carried a clipboard with me as I went from area to area of my home and yard, writing down everything I wanted to sell. If I hadn't written things down, I would have invariably forgotten several things. The information I had at my fingertips was also very helpful in wording my newspaper ad.

Now comes the part where you need to decide why you're holding the yard sale in the first place. Are you selling things to obtain maximum profit for unused and unwanted items? Or are you holding your yard sale to clean out clutter and, at the same time, earn a little cash? Your answer to this question will affect the way you approach pricing your items.