Organize + Energize:  7 Tips to Prepare For a Yard Sale

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Monday, September 07, 2015

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalPDX Organizing Expert

Once you’ve accomplished a decluttering project in your home, what do you do with the items? Some will donate, some will sell and others will get a dumpster and throw it all away. Everybody has their own way of with dealing with the items they want to get rid of and there isn’t a wrong answer. 

Some find yard sales a waste of time, others love them. It’s a preference. If you have the time to prepare and a free day to spare, I say plan for it and have one. If the money that you think you will make isn’t worth the time to prepare and sit outside for a day, then this may not be the route for you. 

If you choose to have a yard sale, make this process as efficient, productive, and stress free as possible. Here are 7 tips to prepare for your yard sale: 

Choose a date. Take a look at your calendar and pen in a date and a rain date. Once you have a date chosen, you can now begin to plan and have a timeline for your yard sale. You don’t have to tackle all of the following tips in a day. Once you have your date, you can plan and tackle one at a time as to not get overwhelmed. Mark these tasks on your to-do list to keep you on track.

Create a drop space in the home. You will have to create a space in your home to place all of the items you are going to sell. This space could be the basement, garage, or spare room. Be sure to keep it contained to this space.

Declutter.  It’s time to go through every room in your home. Get rid of anything that is no longer aesthetically pleasing to your eyes.  Tired of looking at certain things in your home? Get rid of them! Are there items tucked in boxes in the basement that you haven’t looked at in years? Get rid of them! When was the last time you went through your closets and purged old clothes? It’s time to give your home a once over and declutter.

Sort and price.  Once you’ve decluttered and brought the items to your drop spot, it’s time to sort and categorize items and then price them. Tackle this process days before and it will make the morning of your yard sale a little less stressful. 

Prepare. If needed, it’s time to register for permits and promote the yard sale. It’s time to gather all of the supplies you will need for that day. Are you making signs? Don’t do it the day of, prepare now. Be sure to have pens, a calculator, paper, bags, and some change on hand. Make your table signs and prepare anything else that you will need to make this day a success.

Stage the yard sale. At the yard sale, keep like items together and design the area like a retail store. Make it inviting to your customers and easy for them to shop. Put big ticket items or flashy “show stopper” items out in front to draw people into your yard sale. 

Don’t bring it back in the home. The yard sale is over and you still have items left. What will you do with these items? Make a plan to not bring them back into the home. You can schedule an online pickup with a donation center or get in the car and drive them to one. You can put a FREE sign on them and put them at the curb. It’s up to you what you do with them. You may even want to save them for another yard sale, but do you really want to bring these items back into your decluttered home? 

Regardless of how you get rid of clutter in your home, just make a plan to get these items out! The longer they linger around, the more difficult it will be to get them out of your home. Once you get rid of these items, you’ll feel like a weight has been lifted and you can breathe again.

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on talkstreamradio.com.

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