A yard sale – a sale of domestic goods outside the front of your home – is a quick way to declutter and make a little bit of cash, without the hassle of driving to a boot fair and paying for a pitch.

Should I advertise my yard sale?

If you live in a street with lots of passing footfall and you pick a sunny Saturday or Sunday for your yard sale, you can probably get away without advertising. But if you are tucked out of the way, a few signs will make all the difference. Make use of neighbourhood groups on social media to let people know you’ve got domestic goods for sale.

Some communities will have an annual yard sale event, where lots of households all hold yard sales at the same time, like this one in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

What do I need to hold a yard sale?

You can hold a yard sale by stacking your goods for sale up outside the front of your house – it’s as simple as that. But a few tables will make the browsing experience more comfortable. Make sure you have plenty of change, or some way to pay electronically.

Why hold a yard sale?

It’s good to have an aim in mind for your yard sale – for example, you may just want to shift some unwanted goods. Or you might want to make a bit of cash. Knowing what you want to achieve with your yard sale will help you when buyers want to negotiate, as you will be more confident in getting what you want. Some people use a yard sale to raise funds for and awareness of a charity. If that’s your plan, be ready to answer questions about your chosen cause. Introducing new donors to a charity can be just as valuable as raising funds.

A yard sale is also a good way to meet the neighbours – people will often come and chat with you, and even if they don’t buy anything, you are building useful community links and sharing a communal experience, which is great for your wellbeing.

What goods sell well at a yard sale?

A quick check of your storage unit inventory could reveal all sorts of saleable items, as our blogpost reveals.

Valuable items like antiques and collectibles are probably better off taken to specialist sellers. But media like CDs, DVDs, books and video games are popular with yard sale browsers, as is anything that would do well at a boot fair, like baby clothes and equipment and small electricals.

Another good candidate for a yard sale is plants. If you grow from seed, you may have more plants than you want. Passing gardeners will happily snap them up.

Toys also sell well at yard sales. Take a tip from big stores and put a box of toys low down to encourage children to take a look. Small toys priced at 10p or 20p will give a huge amount of pleasure to younger buyers with pocket money to spend.

After the yard sale…

Before your yard sale, make a plan for your unsold goods. Some people head straight to the recycling centre, while others prefer to store their things in the hope that they will find a new owner at the next sale.

Then it’s time to count up your profit, and enjoy the lovely space opened up in your home.