Yard Sale Pros and Cons to Know Before Hosting Your Own

When it comes to yard sales most people have a love hate relationship. Maybe they love going to sales, but when it comes to hosting their own, they’re not much of a fan. Either way you feel about it, a yard sale has both pros, such as decluttering your house, and cons, like rainy weather.

Learn a few other yard sale pros and cons before you set up your tables.

Pro: You can practice your negotiation skills

Even if you think you’ve priced your items as cheaply as you can, you’ll have a buyer try to negotiate with you. On items you’re just looking to get rid of, take the time to practice negotiating for a higher price.

If you aren’t willing to drop the price on certain items, write it on the tag or make sure you clearly state you won’t go lower right when a buyer asks.

Con: Loss of money

If there’s an item you paid a ton of money for, such a  60” flat screen television, and you’re hoping to make most of the money spent back, you’ll have to decide if getting it out of your house is worth lowering the price.

More often than not, you’ll want to sell your bigger ticket items online on sites such as Craigslist.

Pro: You can set up outdoors

It’s summer and who doesn’t love to be outdoors? If you set up your yard sale outdoors you can enjoy the beautiful summer weather and soak up the sun you miss out on during the week.

Con: Inclement weather

The downside of hosting a garage sale outdoors is the chance of inclement weather and unless you have a backup plan, such as moving your stuff inside and letting people browse, your yard sale is pretty much cancelled.

Pro: You get to meet new people

When you host a garage sale there’ll be a lot of traffic coming through your neighborhood and up to your house. It’s a great time to chat with new people or with your neighbors you don’t get to see very often.

While organizing your sale, make sure to move around and chat with the people who’ve stopped to look at your treasures.

Con: Traffic jams

Depending on where your yard sale is located, you may run into potential traffic jams.

Give your neighbors adequate notice you’ll be hosting a garage sale so they know people will parking near their driveway and causing delayed traffic.

Pro: Decluttering your home

Perhaps the biggest pro of all, even more so than the extra cash, is the chance to declutter your house.

You can finally get rid of those toys and clothes your children have outgrown, the games you don’t play with, or the printer you no longer use.

What other yard sale pros and cons have you heard?