Unique Ways To Advertise Your Yard Sale & Tips For Writing A Classified Ad For Your Yard Sale

Here are the best ways to get the word out about your yard sale...

WHERE TO ADVERTISE YOUR YARD SALE:

#1 Paid classified ads. Order a classified ad in your local newspaper (your best bet) and/or other classified papers that may exist in your area. Some areas have a "Thrift Nickel", "Coffee News", "Penny Saver, or similar papers.

Tip: You will probably need to order your ad by Monday to have it show up in Thursday's paper.

#2 Free classified ads. Sites like Craigslist and other "free ad sites" work wonders because the ads are read by people in your own town or geographic area.

Tip: This only happened to me once, but supposedly it happens a lot... If you advertise your yard sale publicly, then people will likely come to your house the day before and ask to see the items you'll be selling because "they can't be there tomorrow". Dealers and collectors are famous for doing this. As are those die-hard yardsalers who are trying to plot their course for the next morning, in an attempt to decide which sale they want to get to first! So be prepared for "early birds" and people asking if you'll pre-sale some things.

#3 Signs. Post signs in various locations throughout your neighborhood and the places that you frequent.

#4 Websites. Regional & community websites tend to have a very loyal following of people who live in the area. Post something about your website on those sites, or simply leave a comment about your yard sale on an existing article that appears on that website.

#5 Message boards, bulletin boards, forums & chat rooms. It can't hurt to start some chatter about your upcoming yard sale in the forums and chat rooms that you visit.

Bonus: If you're lucky enough to take part in a neighborhood yard sale in your community, then you're all set... most of the advertising is done for you. You can pretty much just sit back and wait for the crowds to arrive! If it's a multi-family sale you're having, then you will all want to combine your efforts to put some creative ads and signs in place.

WORDS TO USE IN YARD SALE ADS:

When advertising your garage sale in a classified ad (or in a bulletin board or forum posting), don't just list the date and time of your yard sale. Instead, start with a few key catchy words that aren't typically found in yard sale ads.

These will attract the attention of people who are interested in those items! And, people will generalize, "If they're selling those items, then they'll probably also have some X, Y, and Z for sale, too."

Some examples of catchy phrases for some popular yard sale items:

Scrapbook stuff... everything must go!

Crafts & art supplies

Home office & computers

Lawn care & garden tools

Cameras & phones

Baby things & kids toys

...even if you only have one (1) item in any of the above categories, it may be the one thing that attract more people to your sale!

An example:

GARAGE SALE: Sports memorabilia, Home Interior, kids toys, lawn & garden tools, Baby Gap, auto parts, vintage jewelry, dishes, Craftsman tools, collectibles, and 100's of items priced under $1! Snacks & drinks available. Saturday April 21st from 7a.m.-noon. 1234 Yard Sale Lane, Nashville.