Garage Sale Attention Getters
In order to have a successful yard sale, one of the most important things you can do is get more people to simply notice that you’re having a sale.
It’s a numbers game. The more people who:
- A) See your sale
- Then, B) Choose to slow down when driving by your sale
- And finally, C) Actually get out of the car to have a look around your sale
…The higher your garage sale profits will be!
So, try to think: “What can I do to bring attention to my garage sale?”
Following are several clever things you can do on your property during the yard sale itself — to make sure people notice your sale.
In this article, I will share with you all of my BEST ideas:
- Beginner Level Garage Sale Attention Getters
- Advanced Level Garage Sale Attention Getters
- Where To Hang Pennants & Party Flags
- How To Display Something “Fascinating” At Your Sale
- Ways To Use Brightly Colored Items To Your Advantage
- Attention-Getting Yard Sale Signs To Consider
Beginner Level Garage Sale Attention Getters
Peripheral vision is a great thing. Especially when you’re having a yard sale and people are driving by with absolutely NO intention of stopping at a garage sale!
The more you can do to bring attention to your yard sale the better. Period.
This is especially important if most of the items you’re selling are INSIDE of the garage — hidden from street view. In that case, you will need to do everything you can to encourage people to physically stop at your sale, in order to see the items you’re selling.
Crowds of people attract even MORE people. That’s why it’s always good to have a crowd (large or small) looking at the items in your sale. If someone drives by and happens to see NO ONE looking at your stuff, it gives them the impression that you probably haven’t got anything good left — and they’ll simply drive right on by.
The easiest way to attract attention is to hang decorative items that will move around in the breeze and catch someone’s attention.
Here are some good ideas:
- Flags (decorative ones that you already have or regular ol’ American flags)
- Balloons
- Streamers
- Tinsel Garland
- Signs
- Caution Tape
If you’re going to use caution tape to attract attention at your garage sale, my best tip would be to watch for Halloween caution tape specials. Remember, it doesn’t really matter what it “says” — because banner tape is attention-getting all by itself. And you don’t always have to use it to tape ACROSS a space either. You could cut it into strips and make your own yard sale streamers from it!
Another simple idea is to place signs, balloons, and/or streamers on the sides of your mailbox, as seen in this photo:
Advanced Level Attention-Getters At Yard Sales
Next up are the things that you don’t see very often at garage sales. But it’s clear that these things will bring in more traffic to your garage sale.
Hang Pennants
I always like to hang “party flags” — pennant shaped plastic flags that dangle from one long plastic string. (Also called pennant garland.)
These types of attention-getting pennants come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. You can even get these banners with letters to spell out whatever words you want. (Here are some customizable banners that would also work well at garage sales.) Since each individual flag moves randomly in even the slightest breeze, this definitely attracts attention — whenever someone catches a glimpse of one out of the corner of their eye.
The budget-friendly option is to buy whatever style of pennant flags happen to be on clearance at your local party supplies store. What the pennants look like (or what they say on them) really doesn’t matter — because they serve their purpose without anyone intentionally looking at them or reading them. That’s right, whatever logo, design, or saying appears on the party flags doesn’t matter one bit. Because people rarely notice (or care) what’s ON these flags… they simply notice that you have items for sale!
Display Something “Fascinating” At Your Sale
Want people to linger a little longer at your garage sale… and make passersby think your sale is something special?
Then display one or more really unique items at your sale — that EVERYONE wants to see. Some examples are:
- Puppies – If you or someone you know recently had a dog give birth to puppies, having the little puppies “on display” is definitely an attention getter. I’m sure the same would be true with baby chickens, baby rabbits, etc.
- Face Painting or Balloon Twisting – If you know someone who is good (and quick!) at this, ask if they’d be willing to do it for even just 1 hour at your sale (Plus… If your yard sale ads state that you’ll have “free whatever,” some people will make a point to visit your sale JUST for that! So yes, including it in your ads does help.)
- Kids Selling 25-CENT Drinks – A small cup of freshly made Lemonade or Sweet Tea served by children is endearing to most adults. And for 25 cents, who wouldn’t buy one? Even better if you make a fun little display area just for this. Having them sell up close to the curb might bring in some extra shoppers!
- A Vehicle That Many People Haven’t Seen Up Close – At one yard sale, we parked our bright blue Harley Davidson CVO motorcycle in the driveway — it was a conversation piece for sure. (And it attracted the attention of men who were driving by and might not otherwise have stopped at a yard sale… but they stopped just to see and talk about the bike!) Does a friend of yours own a Tesla? What about an old Willys Jeep? Or another vintage vehicle? Classic cars and motorcycles attract a lot of attention.
One of our readers (Sunny Jenny – in the comments here) mentioned the benefits of displaying some Mexican Jumping Beans on a table at your yard sale. What a great idea!
I remember being fully entertained by Jumping Beans when I was a kid. (They were kind of like the “pet rock” of the 1970s.) It was fascinating to hold a couple of the beans in the palm of your hand, and watch as the beans jumped around on their own. Trust me, kids AND adults will be amazed if you decide to have Jumping Beans at your sale!
I found this video about why Jumping Beans actually jump VERY interesting:
Places that sell Mexican Jumping Beans:
- Beans That Jump (live jumping beans, guaranteed)
- Mexican Jumping Beans on Amazon
I realize that thinking about the actual caterpillar larvae inside of each bean may seem a little “odd” at first. But it’s just nature! And they’re absolutely fascinating to watch.
Display Brightly Colored Items
The more colorful or oddly shaped your attention-getting items are, the better!
Neon orange things — like hunters’ vests and traffic cones — work great. As do neon green and bright yellow items.
Somehow we acquired a bright orange traffic cone — one of those rubberized parking obstacles. The only time we’ve ever used it is at our yard sales! Every time we have a garage sale, that neon orange cone gets placed at the tip of our driveway. (Sometimes I’ll strategically place it to make an area “off limits”, if necessary.)
Even something that’s brightly colored but seems to have no place at a yard sale will work.
For example, I also have a bright orange parking attendant vest. Sometimes I simply drape that vest over our mailbox whenever I’m having a yard sale.
Display Large Items Close To The Road
Place your largest, most expensive items closest to the street — NOT inside your garage.
Yes, this means if you actually want to sell that big computer hutch or a 3-piece sleeper sofa set, you will need to drag them out of your garage and strategically place them close to the curb in front of your house.
Doing so will ensure that: A) More people will stop at your yard sale. B) Those items will sell much faster. C) Those items will generate a lot of interest in your sale AND in the item itself — which may even start some competitive bidding!
Large items that are good for attracting attention at garage sales include:
- Appliances (refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, microwave)
- Camping gear (tent fully set up, bonus if you have other camping gear for sale and placed all together — like a cook stove, camping chairs, lantern, etc.)
- Exercise equipment (treadmills, trampolines, weights, workout benches)
- Furniture in GOOD condition (sofa, loveseat, upholstered chairs, beanbag chairs, kitchen table, makeup table, large mirrors)
- Games (ping pong table, foozeball table, dart boards)
- Lawn equipment (lawn mower, pressure washer, live plants, garden tools)
- Musical instruments (kids these days seem to have a desire to play every instrument under the sun. So if you’re displaying an instrument that someone wants to “try” — it’s likely to be a sale!
- Outdoor toys (kids ride-on vehicles, wagons, tricycles, sleds)
- Sports equipment (everything from bicycles and golf clubs to items every player needs for team sports — baseball, football, soccer, etc.)
Hang Signs In An Attention-Getting Way
#1 – Use Your Fence For Signs (And More)
If you have a fence near your driveway, then by all means, USE IT to your advantage.
Not only could you hang or drape items over the fence to display them, but you could also turn that fence into a huge sign for your sale!
Or, to entice more people to stop at your sale, you could use that space near the fence to advertise the garage sale items that you’re giving away for FREE (as pictured above).
If you don’t have such a fence (or a long line of hedges or shrubs) to use for advertising your freebies, then just place a big sign in front of items that are FREE for the taking. I do this at each of my yard sales. Not only are freebies attention getting… they’re also a “feel good” item. Everyone likes getting something for nothing!
#2 – Use Your Vehicle For Signs (And More)
One way to “make use of what you’ve got” is to make some brightly colored yard sale signs and attach the signs to (or prop them up on the roof of) your parked vehicle. Then, park your car somewhere that you think a lot of people will see it. You could do this with as many vehicles as you have access to (hello, friends and family!), parking several vehicles on several different street corners near your yard sale location.
You could also use your SUV or pickup truck (parked on the grass next to the driveway, or on the very end of the driveway itself) to display any car-related items you’re selling. Or, just use that space in the back of a pickup truck or SUV to display larger and heavier items!
Don’t overlook the most obvious… Use shoe polish or windshield paint to “write” on the front, rear, and side windows of your car. Just like they do on the wedding car when someone is “Just Married.”
You could even use the empty space in the back of your pickup truck to display an item that you’re willing to deliver to the buyer’s doorstep — because not everyone has a way to get large, heavy items to their home! If you tape a sign that mentions you’re willing to deliver that particular item, you may get some extra offers.
Display “Special” Items In A Unique Way (Create FOMO)
Don’t forget to call attention to individual items that people might not realize (or might be surprised) that you’re selling.
One idea is to place small signs on (or above) specific items that you’ve got something unique to say about — like the Mexican Jumping Beans mentioned above. By placing a small sign that explains what makes that item so unique, you will naturally gather people around the item AND the sign. People will become intrigued to see what’s going on “over there” and this will create an even larger group of fascinated people gathering around something you’re selling!
Another idea is to put very bright and very obvious “sold” stickers on certain items. For example, solely for the purpose of attracting attention at my sale, I placed “SOLD” stickers on any item that I was NOT selling in my garage sale that was visible from the road — this was to attract the attention of drivers and encourage them to stop.
Next, to attract the attention of the people who were shopping (on my driveway and in my garage), I tossed a “SOLD!” sticker on anything that might have looked like it was included in the sale — but it wasn’t. Not only did this keep people from asking about those items, but it also drew attention to the sheer number of items I had at my sale. It was attention-getting for sure!
You see, showing items as sold not only increases the perceived value (of your items AND of your sale as a whole), but it also plays on “that FOMO thing” we all have! Everyone wants to see what they might have missed out on. (And it’s human nature to want what you can’t have.)
Ways To “Call Attention” To Your Sale & Move Items FAST
#1 – Red Light Sale
One way to attract attention and sell items quickly is to have a ‘red light’ sale every 20 minutes or so.
Simply have a flashing red light handy, and every 20 minutes turn it on while announcing that for the next 5 minutes everything is available for HALF of the marked price!
This might also encourage people who were hesitant about buying an item to actually purchase it.
LED lanterns and car emergency kits usually incorporate these types of flashing strobe lights. Think of it as you’re not just buying these for your sale, but you’ll also have them for the rest of your life to stay safe in your home and/or vehicle.
At the end of the sale, I was marking down things to insane prices just to get rid of it ($1 for a box of books, $5 for a box of DVDs), mostly because I didn’t want to move it again! At the end of the sale, there were a few young families that came up that I was giving away baby stuff to.
~ Wholefully
#2 – Fill A Bag
This next strategy is great for garage sale hosts who aren’t super organized and/or don’t have time to make all the pretty signs and price all of the individual items…
Simply toss a bunch of random items into boxes. Literally FILL the boxes with these random items. Then, write on the box (or put a nice sign in front of the box) that says: “Each item $1. OR… Grab a bag and fill it full for $5!”
If they’re items that you definitely don’t want back in your house AND you’d just have to take anything that doesn’t sell to a charity location anyway… then you can look at it as everything’s being removed from your home for free, and you’re getting $20 or so (per box) for your simple effort of letting people have it for CHEAP if they really want it. That’s a success in my book!
Many people get excited when they learn that they can fill up a bag for one low price.
People love fill-a-bag sales. How you structure it depends on what you’re selling, but when I do clothes I just price them at $5 for a plastic grocery bag. Someone who was only going to buy a piece or two for a couple bucks will suddenly decide they need 3 bags full.
~ Angsty Toddler
#3 – Everything’s $1 Sale
Now if you REALLY want everything gone from your yard sale, then call your sale an “Everything’s $1 Sale!”
Make this the focus in every yard sale ad you publish (online and locally). And be sure to put it on your directional signs throughout the neighborhood as well.
You can rest assured that this WILL attract more people to your sale!
Not only that, but you also won’t have much left at the end of the day to cart off to a local charity.
I just do “Everything’s $1!” sales to get rid of stuff. When I buy storage units, there’s always a ton of good but worthless for resale household items. At the end of the day, I put what’s left on a local FB group, and they come pick up everything that’s left. Made $350 last time for a couple hours worth of work, and the people clean up all the mess for me.
~ thefriendly_ogre
The only downside with an “Everything’s $1 Sale” is…
For any items that you are genuinely hoping to make some money from selling, you will have to sell them a different way:
- The easiest method is to simply have a “regular” yard sale (where everything is NOT just $1 this time) at your follow-up yard sale the very next weekend.
- Or, to get the most money from these items, you should probably sell those specific items online.
There will be some things that end up in your “sell pile” that aren’t a great fit to sell at a yard sale –expensive jewelry, brand new designer clothing, nice DVD box sets, etc. No problem, just think outside the yard! Extend your “yard sale” online to websites like eBay, Half.com, and Craig’s List. We sold an additional $378 worth of items this way before the yard sale even started!
~ Wholefully
This video points out some of the things you should do toward the END of your yard sale:
Sell Food & Drinks At Your Garage Sale
I’ve done this at a few of my yard sales.
The idea is to attract attention to your garage sale AND keep people at your sale longer by providing food & drinks for sale.
The food & drink items that work best at yard sales include:
- Fresh-baked cookies & desserts (If you love to bake, then why not show your shoppers a little bit about who “you” are? And you will feel great because you’re able to share something you love with your community!)
- Donuts (At Publix, you can get 6 fresh glazed or chocolate-covered donuts pre-boxed in the bakery section for $3.89. That’s 65 cents apiece. If you sell them for 75 cents, you’ve made a dime on each one.)
- Coffee (This obviously sells best in the mornings, rather than in the heat of a summer day. Coffee also pairs well with donuts, cinnamon rolls, and other fresh-baked items! TIP: If you happen to have a bunch of coffee mugs in your sale, put a sign next to them stating, “If you buy a mug, we will fill it with fresh made coffee!”)
- Hot chocolate (This works best for early Spring and late Fall yard sales, as well as on rainy days.)
- Storebought single-serving snacks & chips (At Costco, I can buy 30 bags of assorted Sunchips OR Lays potato chips for $21. If you sell them for 75 cents apiece, you’d make a nickel on each one.)
- Cans of soda (At Costco, I regularly buy 35 cans of Coke for $16 — that’s 45 cents per can. So if I charge 50 cents for each can of soda, I’m making a nickel on each one.)
- Bottles of water (We pay $3.99 for a package of 40 16.9oz bottles of water when they go on sale at Kroger. If you sell them for 25 cents each, you’ve made 15 cents per bottle.)
- Popcorn (It’s quick and easy to make a large amount of popcorn before your sale. And everyone likes munching on something while they’re browsing — which might keep people at your sale a little longer. TIP: Try using Flavacol Popcorn Seasoning — a little goes a long way!)
- Ice cream sandwiches (Store brands are typically very affordable, compared to name brands.)
- Freezer pops (This is even easier to do if you happen to have a freezer inside your garage!)
- Fresh made lemonade or sweet tea (I think this is the most “common” attention-getting way to serve refreshments at your yard sale. Immediately the “lemonade stand” comes to mind.)
- Garden-fresh fruits & vegetables (If you happen to grow any food items yourself, then it only makes sense to sell what you’ve got a lot of. Along these same lines, I’ve also seen people selling flowers, plants, and seedlings at their yard sales — usually when they’re trying to thin out their garden and flower beds. Think about how attention-getting a little farm-stand would be at your yard sale!)
I was thinking this year about maybe selling coffee, or bottled water and canned sodas. I had also thought about selling some of my baked goods, like cinnamon rolls, cinnamon raisin biscuits, banana bread, coffee cake, cookies, etc. Or even just hot dogs. I wouldn’t make all of that, of course, I’d just pick 1-3 things.
~ via Reddit
Remember, your goal is NOT to make a fortune from selling (or re-selling) beverages and snacks.
Even if you simply “break even” and charge your customers exactly what you paid for those items — that wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. But the point is you could actually make anywhere from 5 cents to 15 cents per refreshment that you sell.
It’s LESS about the money you make from selling refreshments and MORE about the effect that having refreshments at a yard sale have on your profits. At the same time that you’re selling cheap refreshments, you’re also providing a service to your customers. Plus, you’re attracting a bit more attention to your sale because people are lingering longer — which helps to create FOMO (“fear of missing out”) from people who are driving by.
The absolute best option, in my opinion, is to get some kids to sell the food & drinks on-site during your sale. (So you can focus 100% on the sales in front of you.) Just set up a little “refreshment station” for them — a small table, small cups, a simple way for them to collect all of the quarters — and let the magic happen!
The more noticeable (and fun) you make your yard sale refreshment stand, the more people you will attract to your sale. Easy peasy.
My 13-year-old brother and one of his friends ran a lemonade stand complete with cookies, sweet tea, and free kittens. It was amazing how many people bought lemonade. I think they made over $50! I think the heat was on their side which made selling lemonade and other treats quite easy.
~ My Blessed Life
This video jumps right to the part where she’s talking about selling food items at your garage sale:
Other Garage Sale Attention Getters
If you have any other odd-shaped or unusual items lying around your house, put them to work for you out at the curb on the morning of your yard sale!
Items that will definitely attract attention:
- Life-size cutouts of people (famous or not, it doesn’t really matter). Even better… Tie a balloon onto the wrist of the cutout, or put a floppy hat on the head. Don’t be bashful. Remember, you’re trying to draw some attention! (Who knew?… You can actually order lifesize cardboard cutouts on Amazon. Looking at the examples online, my tip would be to use a picture where there’s only WHITE SPACE between any “gaps” — like between the legs or arms of the person being photographed.)
- Bright neon colored poster board signs (neon pink & neon green are best). Don’t “junk it up” with a lot of handwritten words. Simply “STOP HERE!” or “FREE STUFF!” will work wonders.
- Colorful balloons on both sides of the driveway announce your yard sale from a distance.
- Think outside the box and utilize something you have that others would love to see OR try for themselves OR learn more about during your yard sale. Things like painting or woodworking or repurposing old furniture… whatever your hobby is. Hey, you might get a few orders from people who want whatever it is you make!
- Bright neon colored tablecloths (neon green and neon pink are best). Patterns and checks are too “busy” and will make your items harder to see on the tables.
