Pricing items at a yard sale is quite possibly one of the most important aspect of your yard sale. Your pricing strategy will likely determine how successful and profitable your yard sale will be. Here at YardSales.net, we see a lot of yard sales and time after time see the same pricing mistakes that people make. Below you’ll find a list of eight of the most common yard sale pricing mistakes:
1. Pricing your items with odd numbers
Now it’s tempting to want to price your items using tried and true retail strategies like pricing items at $.99 cents or $1.49, but trust us…that’s not the approach you want to take when pricing items at a yard sale. Because you’ll have to rely on good old brain power to add up the sales & provide change. Pricing your items in $.25 or $.50 increments will make the process a whole lot easier.
2. Not having enough change on the day of the yard sale
In our book, “The Ultimate Guide to Hosting a Yard Sale” we recommend having plenty of change available on the day of the sale. We like to have at least $50 in change (mostly 1s, 5s & a roll of quarters). The worst thing you can do is run out of change during the sale because that can lead to missed sale opportunities!
3. Not pricing anything
One yard sale pricing strategy that is overused is to not price anything. The theory behind not putting a price on anything is that you can determine a price based on what the person is willing to pay. However, this strategy is very annoying to die hard yard salers who do not want to have to ask or haggle on every item at the sale.
4. Not doing Pricing Research
It’s very important to do a little research before having a yard sale. Taking a few moments to research so the going rate for your yard sale items can help you make a more informed decision when pricing your items. You’ll want to check online sites like Ebay and Craigslist and find out what people are actually paying for your items so you can price the item accordingly. There are also a few mobile apps you can use to determine pricing!
5. Overpricing Items
The quickest way to drive away customers at your yard sale is to overprice items. Yard Sale shoppers are looking for a deal and if they hit up your yard sale and find retail prices, not only will they not purchase anything, but they won’t even stay around long to check out all of your items.
6. Underpricing Items
The only thing worse than overpricing items is underpricing them. While this strategy is great for the buyers, it also means that you won’t make as much money as you can. This is why researching your items beforehand is so important.
7. Not advertising your yard sale properly
While this is not directly a pricing strategy, proper advertising will ensure that you get plenty of customers to your yard sale which means you won’t have to negotiate or reduce your prices. If you don’t advertise your sale, you’ll be forced to reduce your prices just to clear out your items and this is not the best way to hold a profitable yard sale. Advertise your yard sale for free on YardSales.net.
8. Not cleaning the item
You’ll definitely want to make sure to clean and fix any items you are planning to sell at your yard sale. The goal here is to show them in their best light and highlight it’s best features. You won’t be able to get top dollar for a dirty lawn toy, but with a little elbow grease and spray paint, you may be able to double the asking price.
Now that we’ve given you the top 8 yard sale pricing mistakes, we’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment on our Facebook page about a pricing strategy that you think is successful!
