Comments on: Adventures In Selling Your Old Stuff http://jamiestar.com/cupcake/archives/2008/05/11/169 Yummy! Sleepy! Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:02:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Jamie http://jamiestar.com/cupcake/archives/2008/05/11/169#comment-2161 Jamie Sun, 18 May 2008 17:54:04 +0000 http://jamiestar.com/cupcake/archives/2008/05/11/169#comment-2161 All answers lie in White Noise. Annoying, huh? I started describing the major, yard-sale-specific purge here: http://jamiestar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=64809#p64809 A few things that made a big difference, selling wise: <ul> <li>Books did much better than I expected. I priced them at a dollar each, 6/$5. If someone only had one book, I made recommendations based on that book. One guy had five, and I encouraged him to find his sixth "free" book - while he did that, his wife ended up finding some other stuff she couldn't live without. A bunch of books sold for 50 cents, as well. </li> <li>Jewelry was probably my biggest money-maker, even crappy costume stuff. I had a little "display," and whenever anyone looked at it, I said, "Some are costume, some are real, if you have any questions, just ask." Sometimes I'd take the initiative to point out real stuff - that definitely worked.</li> <li>I actively sold. I know that's hard for a lot of people, but I had two main approaches. If someone was looking at a single item, I'd say, "I'll come down on the price on that, just let me know if you're interested," or if someone seemed to be considering a bunch of stuff, I'd say, "If you find several things you like, I'll give you a discounted group price." I also priced things on the high side, with the mindset that I'd take a lower offer - but this ONLY works if you actively sell. Otherwise, high prices will just make people walk away. </li> <li>We hung whatever clothing we could fit onto our rack, then divided the rest into $1, $5, and $10 boxes. Fuck that - it was stupid. Everything got all mixed up anyway. If I had it to do again I'd fold everything on a card table (knowing it'll be messed up after the first hour) and tell people to pull together whatever they want and then we'll talk money. I do have to brag that I sold a suede jacket with a fur collar in 90 degree heat. Clearly I am a yard sale ninja. If I had baby clothes, I'd consider selling it by the bag, or by the pound, if I had a scale. I will tell you, though - clothing and shoes were probably our highest-quality stuff. We had Armani, for god's sake. And it still didn't sell well. No one really wants to buy used clothes at a yard sale, I don't think. I wish we'd given them a run-through at a consignment store, first.</li> <li>I purged to the point where I had furniture pieces to sell - bookshelves and cabinets and chairs, and I was active about ALL of them. My partner had a table and desk that didn't go because she didn't try. You just have to try with that stuff. </li> <li>A bag of old grocery bags. It's another opening line - I can't reiterate enough that I think talking to people really helped. If I saw someone with a bunch of stuff, I'd offer to get them a bag while they shopped and that opened up the line of conversation. </li> <li>We borrowed server aprons from our favorite bar, the kind with multiple pockets. Sarah and I both agreed they were key. </li> <li>Sarah put the free box in the front, to attract. I'd have put it in the back, and pointed people to it, so they had to walk through the for sale stuff to get to it. </li> </ul> Any more questions? This is my new obsession and I love talking about it because I'm a giant nerd. And there's another tip I know I'm forgetting, so I'll come back and post it when I remember. All answers lie in White Noise. Annoying, huh?

I started describing the major, yard-sale-specific purge here:
http://jamiestar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=64809#p64809

A few things that made a big difference, selling wise:

  • Books did much better than I expected. I priced them at a dollar each, 6/$5. If someone only had one book, I made recommendations based on that book. One guy had five, and I encouraged him to find his sixth “free” book – while he did that, his wife ended up finding some other stuff she couldn’t live without. A bunch of books sold for 50 cents, as well.

  • Jewelry was probably my biggest money-maker, even crappy costume stuff. I had a little “display,” and whenever anyone looked at it, I said, “Some are costume, some are real, if you have any questions, just ask.” Sometimes I’d take the initiative to point out real stuff – that definitely worked.

  • I actively sold. I know that’s hard for a lot of people, but I had two main approaches. If someone was looking at a single item, I’d say, “I’ll come down on the price on that, just let me know if you’re interested,” or if someone seemed to be considering a bunch of stuff, I’d say, “If you find several things you like, I’ll give you a discounted group price.” I also priced things on the high side, with the mindset that I’d take a lower offer – but this ONLY works if you actively sell. Otherwise, high prices will just make people walk away.

  • We hung whatever clothing we could fit onto our rack, then divided the rest into $1, $5, and $10 boxes. Fuck that – it was stupid. Everything got all mixed up anyway. If I had it to do again I’d fold everything on a card table (knowing it’ll be messed up after the first hour) and tell people to pull together whatever they want and then we’ll talk money. I do have to brag that I sold a suede jacket with a fur collar in 90 degree heat. Clearly I am a yard sale ninja. If I had baby clothes, I’d consider selling it by the bag, or by the pound, if I had a scale. I will tell you, though – clothing and shoes were probably our highest-quality stuff. We had Armani, for god’s sake. And it still didn’t sell well. No one really wants to buy used clothes at a yard sale, I don’t think. I wish we’d given them a run-through at a consignment store, first.

  • I purged to the point where I had furniture pieces to sell – bookshelves and cabinets and chairs, and I was active about ALL of them. My partner had a table and desk that didn’t go because she didn’t try. You just have to try with that stuff.

  • A bag of old grocery bags. It’s another opening line – I can’t reiterate enough that I think talking to people really helped. If I saw someone with a bunch of stuff, I’d offer to get them a bag while they shopped and that opened up the line of conversation.

  • We borrowed server aprons from our favorite bar, the kind with multiple pockets. Sarah and I both agreed they were key.

  • Sarah put the free box in the front, to attract. I’d have put it in the back, and pointed people to it, so they had to walk through the for sale stuff to get to it.

    • Any more questions? This is my new obsession and I love talking about it because I’m a giant nerd. And there’s another tip I know I’m forgetting, so I’ll come back and post it when I remember.

    ]]>         By: Blossy http://jamiestar.com/cupcake/archives/2008/05/11/169#comment-2150 Blossy Sun, 18 May 2008 03:18:59 +0000 http://jamiestar.com/cupcake/archives/2008/05/11/169#comment-2150 $400?! That's AWEsome! What did you sell, though? I can't imagine making that much at a yard sale, even with lots of baby stuff to advertise. (BTW - my yard sale's coming up in 2 weeks, so I'm VERY interested in this) $400?! That’s AWEsome! What did you sell, though? I can’t imagine making that much at a yard sale, even with lots of baby stuff to advertise. (BTW – my yard sale’s coming up in 2 weeks, so I’m VERY interested in this)

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