Ultimate Guide to Throwing a Yard Sale

The Ultimate Tag-Sale Guide
Everything must go! What you need to know to throw a successful yard sale
Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Why and When to Throw a Tag Sale
For most people, getting rid of unwanted clutter is reason enough to hold a tag sale. "It's a quick and simple way to declutter your home," says Peter Walsh, a Los Angeles–based organizational consultant whose clients have included several Fortune 500 companies. A few guidelines:

Set out your discards at the beginning of the day and by midafternoon you'll have much less stuff and (with luck) a lot more money. (Want to share the wealth? Rent a table or space at a fund-raising tag sale hosted by a local church, school, or civic group. The charity benefits from the entrance fee, while you benefit from lots of traffic. You keep the proceeds.)

Tackle the job between June and October, which is the most popular period for tag sales nationwide. People's schedules tend to be more flexible in the summer. "If you live in a college town, the moving months of August and September can be particularly profitable," says Harry L. Rinker, author of Garage Sale: Manual and Price Guide (www.amazon.com). If you're worried about rain, however, you might choose October, the month with the fewest storms in most parts of the country, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The first Saturday of the month usually works well because it's the day after many of your hardworking neighbors have been paid, but follow local customs if they are different.
August 2005

How Long Should a Tag Sale Last?
The duration of your sale is up to you, of course, but:

One-day sales are best in most cases. A full day in the sun (or shade, if you can find it) — say, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. — is plenty of time to get rid of your wares, and shoppers shouldn't feel as if they have all the time in the world to haggle and browse. So don’t let your sale drag on until dusk or the next day.

A two-day schedule is most appropriate for an estate sale, in which an entire household of inventory needs to be moved, Rinker says. Estate-sale goods tend to be upscale; if your items fall into this category, an auction may be a better solution. To find a professional appraiser where you live, go to www.isa-appraisers.org or www.appraisers.org.

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