If you’ve ever had a yard sale, then there is a good chance you’ve met some of the characters I’m about to describe: The 6 types of people you meet at every yard sale. Without fail, if you hold a yard sale you will encounter all of the following types of people at your sale and the best way to deal with them, is to be aware of what their motivations are.
The Early Bird
Who are these people? These are the people who will be creeping and tip toeing around your yard way before the sale starts. If your sales starts at 8am…these early birds will be doing the slow drive past your driveway at 6:30am. They are looking for first dibs on the good stuff.
Most yard sale hosts do not like dealing with early bird shoppers, because they generally invade their set-up time. If you aren’t willing to deal with the early birds, kindly put out a sign in your driveway that says NO Early Birds. Also, this is when having a garage comes in handy, you can shut the garage door until the sale starts.
The Haggler
There are some people who go to yard sales strictly to haggle. Haggling is part of their everyday life and they get a thrill out of it. Be prepared to negotiate on each and every item this person purchases because they want to feel like they are getting a deal.
In order to best handle the negotiating type, tell them that you’ll consider a lower price once they’ve collected all the items that they are interested in purchasing. This way, you don’t have to barter on each individual item and can instead give them a bulk discount. This way everyone is happy.
The Creepers
The creepers are a little different than the early birds, in that they don’t come early, but they do perform the slow drive by of your house, quickly gauging whether they should stop the car or continue on. You can try to engage these shoppers by giving them a wave. But the best way to get these people to stop at your sale is to have your best items prominently displayed out front, closest to the street.
The Flippers
These people know exactly what they are looking for and can quickly figure out if you’ve got the stuff they need in a matter of minutes. These people are looking for deals, antiques, collectibles that they can turn around and sell at a profit online on sites like Ebay & Craigslist.
If you spot these people, be sure to point them to your valuables, your antiques, whatever you got that might be worth some money to them.
The Inspector
These people will find something wrong with just about everything you have laid out and they won’t have any problem telling you about it either. These people love to complain and unfortunately, today you’re going to get the brunt of their criticism. The only way to deal with these people is to kill them with kindness. Don’t try to engage with these people about the woes of the world, just smile and nod and work your way through the crowd.
Last Call Shoppers
These are the type of people that will roll into your sale 10 minutes before closing time to try to snag some very or deeply discounted stuff. Most yard sale hosts love it when someone comes in at the last minute to help them get rid of stuff. The only thing you need to know about last call shoppers is that you better be prepared to give them some hefty discounts and or free stuff because that is exactly what they are looking for.
