Whether it’s a yard sale, estate sale, garage sale, or tag sale; Signs are really important. I suppose this post is meant to help people who are going to have a sale. If you know anyone, please print this off, or forward this information to those planning it.
Addresses are pretty hard to find sometimes. GPS systems have really helped! If you have an address, you can usually find it very easy by listening to the GPS tell you turn by turn. The big problem is the “regular” yard sale signs. If you are planning a yard sale, you may place an ad in the paper, or on Craigslist, or some other favorite local online listing. Always double check it! Realize that a large percentage of people will attend the sale by only seeing the sign, at the last minute! The best possible sign is placed strategically on nearby main roads. The markings must be large and bold to be seen from a moving vehicle. I have seen signs with one inch sharpie letters that you need to get out of your car to read! The ideal lettering should be with the widest most ridiculous sized black permanent marker you can find. If you only have a thin one, thicken the letters! I would hope the letters to be three to four inches high, and the line width to be at least 1/4″ to 3/8″ thick. Don’t put too much information on the sign. Many look like kids wrote them, and they are going to make lots of money that day, so they list all the items mom told them they need to sell. I also like when the seller puts small arrows made from the same color poster board, showing the various turns, and helps you find your way there. I saw a great sign the other day, it just said “In the yellow house on the corner” We found it, and my wife bought something from the sale.
Sellers, you need to realize there are usually some pretty important sales that same day. The diehard pickers and scouts, and dealers head there first. They may stop on the way to the big sale, if it’s clear to them where you are. A good picker will hit all the major estate sales, and then might go “yard sailing” on the way back, that is, finding yours and other sales along the way. Make it easy for everybody.
Important! When the sale is finished, take down your signs! It is so wasteful in time and gas, and frustration, to go the next week and find that you are a week late! Never advertise a yard sale as an estate sale. I have followed signs to some of the lamest garbage garage sales, that claimed they were estate sales. I have been led to “estate sales” that are just junk stores posing as a sale, but hold this same estate sale every week or so.