These Tips On How To Run A Yard Sale might come in handy as you Spring clean your home. Instead of throwing out things you have outgrown/grown tired of – put them in a yard sale. Gently used toys, furniture, household items can find a new life in someone else’s home. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to get the kids involved in re-purposes, recycling, and learning about money. Check out these handy yard sale tips…
Tips On How To Run A Yard Sale
Get the kids involved. From making signs to sorting stuff to “working” the sale itself (more on kid jobs at yard sales below) there are lots of ways kids can participate in garage sales.
Aside: Do you call it a yard sale or garage sale?
Don’t yard sale bad stuff. Is it broken? Garbage/Recycling bin. Missing pieces? Garbage/Recycling bin. Past it’s safety date? Garbage/Recycling bin. Is it food? Garbage/Compost.
Turn on the music and go through your stuff. Music because everything is better with music. Go through your toy box, bookshelf, closet, basement, shed, kitchen and pull out gently used (or new stuff you’ll never use). For my kids we do a KEEP or GIVE pile. And we’ll talk about “do you use that?” and “are you too old for this?”.
What sells at yard sales
- outdoor toys
- baby gear (ensuing it’s within safety time frames)
- games/puzzles
- books and magazines
- cds and dvds
- toys
- kitchen items (clean of course)
- wood furniture
- wood frames
Kids jobs at garage sales. The favourite job is being the “banker” – they person who takes the money and gives change. Think: it’s also a learning opportunity for math! I might hold the yard sale wallet in my pocket for safekeeping but I’ll let the kids be the bankers.
Related: ECO ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
Kids can also help with the heavy work. Bringing the items out of the house or garage. Setting it up. Taking the stuff to the car to donate after the sale (because we certainly aren’t bringing it back into the house…the whole point was to declutter!).
And personally, my end goal in yard sales is to get stuff out of my house. So split yard sale proceeds amongst the kids equally. That is the kids who helped. Anyone who didn’t help doesn’t get money. It encourages them to work towards an objective. And gives them a little pocket money.
Price areas instead of individual prices. $10+ area, $5 area, $3 area, $1 area. Keep it simple instead of putting stickers on things or bartering with people (seriously, a woman once tried to barter a $3 princess dress down in price with my daughter…I get some people like to bargain…but when it’s a kid…just give a flat $3!). We decide the things along the fence are $10 and above (bikes and bigger items). Everything on the table are $5 each. Things on a blanket are $3. Things on the grass are $1. That way the kids can keep straight prices and areas. No haggling. Plus, no counting cents when making change.
Great tips, nice weather for a yard sale. I did one a long time ago
Yard sales are one of the funnest things for kids – Mine just LOVE a chance to make a little money and I love ridding our house of things we no longer use – plus it entertains the kids for the day!