Turn Your Unwanted Items into Cash

Yard Sale Portal
yardsaleportal.com
Saturday, June 24, 2006

Read from the Source

If you're spring-cleaning the garage, basement, attic or closet, you will be able to make a little money in the process.

Yard sales and agarage sale are popular venues for the items you have. However, what you can typically sell and how to get the most for your items are not trivial questions to answer.

If it works, you make some money and clear some space by having a yard sale or garage sale. If it doesn't, you can put in a lot of work for very little return. As with real estate, success sometimes comes down to location, location, location, says Carbone. If you have lots of cars going by your house on the weekend, you've got a great garage sale spot. One friend holds a successful yard sale at her beach house every Fourth of July weekend, Carbone says. That's one time she knows there will be "tons of traffic going by."

One trick to draw foot traffic: Display a real show-stopper prominently, says Carbone. "A nice piece that makes not only women stop, but men."

Garage sales also take some preparation getting organized and tagged. One winning technique: carefully hang clothing on a portable rod or even a swing set, rather than throwing it in a box or on a table.

Try to present small objects to their advantage, she says. One relative who's good at the garage sale game arranges sale items on a table with a velvet cloth.

It doesn't hurt to recruit a few extra people to help on sale day in case someone has questions or needs help loading an item into a vehicle.

What items hould be sold at yard sales and garage sales? Items for which you know the value (and don't mind dickering); things you don't want to move yourself or ship (think washing machine; lawn mower, weight set), or items where the real value is in clearing space rather than a profit. Typical garage sale fare: used clothing, tools, sports equipment, furniture, knickknacks and costume jewelry. What you don't want to sell: anything valuable. If you've got antiques, jewelry or anything even possibly rare or valuable, you're going to make more selling it in another venue.