If you have alot of smaller items, be sure to have alot of plastic bags to offer the customer. If someone is looking at books, offer a bag to hold them in.

Have newspaper or packing paper available to wrap fragiles for the customer.

To deter early birds, I put a sign out front that reads, “Sale starts at 8am. Early Birds pay double of marked price”. Sounds mean, but I think early birding is rude! One person actually bought from me…at double the price…lol.

Having water and soda is a nice idea. Having a child have a lemonade sale is fun for the kids, but don’t let them get obnoxious or loud.

Clean your items. Nobody wants to pick up anything dusty, dirty, sticky, etc.

Don’t smoke at your sale. Some people will walk away, and nobody wants to buy clothes that smell like an ashtray. Take a break and go in the house to light up.

Media: CDs are worth a buck, tops. Less if the artwork is missing or jewel case is trashed. Same price for VHS (as another poster mentioned). I’m hard-pressed to want to pay more than $3 for DVDs, as pawn shops sell them for around this price and they have better selections. Vinyl albums $1 and only if in excellent condition with sleeve intact. More if they are collectible, of course. Cassette and 8-track tapes – you must be joking, right?

Electronics: Make sure the stuff works and provide a means to prove it. That means the game console, computer, CD or DVD player needs to be hooked up to demonstrate. Computers only if less than a couple years old. Nobody wants to buy your 386 PC from 1991. Recycle it instead.

Don’t try to pass off worthless stuff. Analog TVs and other obsolete electronics, non-working appliances and old-style propane tanks that can’t be refilled are a common sight at sales. Recycle them.

Price to sell. Just because you paid $40 for it doesn’t mean you’re doing us a favor by selling it for $35. If the item means that much to you, maybe you should just keep it.

Greet people, say “hello.” If we don’t feel welcome, we won’t want to hang around and look at your stuff. Don’t follow me around or hover. You can prevent shoplifters just fine by arranging your stuff so that it’s within line of sight from where you’re sitting.

Don’t let your kids write signs. Nobody can read their sucky handwriting scrawled on a paper plate. Don’t use mystery meat navigation by posting signs with “Garage Sale” and an arrow and expect us to drive around looking for the next one to guide us. Put an address on the sign. Big letters on a big hunk of cardboard or plywood. Better yet, place a well-marked sign at each turn, as we don’t all know the layout of your neighborhood. You pulled me off the busy highway. If you want me to follow your convoluted route, tell me where to turn. You want people to find it, don’t you?

When it’s over, take the signs down right away. If I follow signs for blocks off the beaten path, only to see a closed-up house that probably hosted the sale last week, I’m tempted to throw things at it.

I’ve also heard about bookoo.com, which is kind of a cross between craigslist, ebay, and freecycle. You can set up your own site ala Freecycle, but instead of just a mailing list, you get a very local (covers one community) online classified ads site where you can post items for free (and advertise your yard sale, too). We have one in our area, and it’s fantastic–since almost all the listings are within a few minutes’ drive, it’s really convenient. If there’s no bookoo in your area and you’re planning a yard sale in the next few days, it won’t help much, but if you’ve got time, or if one is already established in your area, it’s awesome.

Don’t price VHS tapes at more than $1. Customers don’t care if it’s Disney or how much you paid for it. It’s a dead technology.