My Yard Sale Display Hacks: How To Set Up A Successful Yard Sale + Clever Ways To Display Items For Sale

I’ve held a TON of yard sales and garage sales in my time. And in several different states too: Indiana, Texas, Florida, and Tennessee.

My most successful was the time I made $1,013 in less than 5 hours!

One of my favorite things about continuing to have yard sales to this day is the process I go through each time to fine-tune what works and what doesn’t. I’m just detail-oriented like that. And I never want to lose track of a good trick I’ve learned along the way.

So I always jot down my favorite yard sale tips in the same notebook each time — and when I come up with enough of them that I’ve personally tested out and found to be true, I share them in an article here for others to use and enjoy at their own yard sales.

What follows is my latest collection of yard sale hacks that fall under the topics of “How to set up your yard sale space” AND “How to display yard sale items.”

In this article, I will cover:

• The Best Way To Set Up Yard Sale Items On The Driveway
• Why You Should Hide Anything You Don’t Intend To Sell
• How To Find Unique “Props” For Displaying Your Items
• Tips To Prepare For Morning Dew & Afternoon Sun
• Clever Ways To Group Items By “Theme” 
• Ways To Display Clothes At A Yard Sale
• Reasons To Have A Yard Sale, Instead Of A Garage Sale
• How To Make Your “Best” Items Easy To See

#1 – How To Set Up Yard Sale Items On The Driveway

As for the best way to set up yard sale items on your driveway, there are 2 good yard sale layout options:

1. You can place items for sale directly in the CENTER of the driveway — leaving the right and left sides of the driveway as clear walkways around all of the items being sold in the center. This garage sale layout pattern makes it easy for people to access all of the items you’re selling on the driveway AND the ones you’re selling on the grass that’s on both sides of the driveway.
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2. You can place items for sale along the EDGES of your driveway — bumping up to the lawn, but not actually on the grass. This garage sale layout pattern leaves the center of your driveway open for people to walk around and browse all of the items you’re selling on both sides of the driveway.

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Another thing to think about is whether you want to keep people from entering your garage or not. Here are your options:

• Place a LOT of items for sale directly in front of the garage door — so people would literally have to jump OVER the items in order to get into your garage.
• Put your “checkout table” in front of the garage — along with large pieces of plywood on either side to keep people from entering the garage.
• Close the garage door completely — so no one can even see inside the garage.

#2 – Hide Anything You Don’t Intend To Sell

Anything you do NOT want to sell should be moved as far away from the yard sale area as possible.

Or, cover those items with blankets and tarps.

I can’t tell you how many times people have wanted to buy items that were simply being stored in our garage.

These are just a few of the strange things that people have wanted to buy at my yard sales:

• “I see a garden hose over there in the corner, are you selling that?”
• “Is that bike for sale?”
• “The footstool that you’re using to display items… is that for sale, too?”
• “What about the magazine racks that are holding all those magazines… are you selling those?”

#3 – Find Unique “Props” For Displaying Your Items

Take a walk through your house and your garage — even glance through your attic and basement storage spaces…

You’re looking for items that have flat surfaces or unique hanging “areas” that would provide clever display spaces for your yard sale items.

TABLES are the absolute best option — but they’re not the only option. If you don’t have enough yard sale tables and you can’t find any to borrow, then you can easily make some. Here’s how: Prop anything that is long and flat (like a piece of plywood OR narrow wood boards OR a full-size ladder itself with a tablecloth over it) across two same-sized sturdy items (like sawhorses, crates, trash cans, ladders, or cardboard boxes).

You can use ANYTHING STURDY that has at least one “flat” side as a makeshift table-top (it doesn’t have to be a full-size buffet table):

• Card tables
• TV trays
• End tables — basically, any small tables you’re using in your house right now
• Upside down cardboard boxes — sturdy ones are best, and the taller the better
• Plastic or wooden crates — these can either be placed on their side (so you have a “shelf” to put things on AND a “top” to put even more items on) OR you can turn them upside down and make a taller “table” out of them.
• Cardboard boxes from liquor stores (with dividers to separate the individual bottles) AND wooden crates (that were used to ship glass bottles) are perfect for displaying yard sale items! They can be used to organize breakables, tall skinny items, or groups of similar items by category.

LARGE FLAT ITEMS like blankets (of various sizes), rugs, sleeping bags, sheets, old bedspreads, even beach towels can be used to display items on the lawn. My personal favorites are camping tarps and old shower curtains. These allow you to place items of a similar “theme” together on top of them, and they give a nice backdrop for your yard sale items. (Items randomly strewn out on the lawn don’t capture one’s attention very easily.)

I like to use wood or plastic SERVING PLATTERS & TRAYS (with or without handles) to display items on. They’re great because they usually have 4 high sides – so things are likely to stay put on the tray. I also have a few large wooden bowls and plastic bowls that I use at my garage sales. My advice is to use solid color ones — they make the items you’re selling easier to see.

If YOUR VEHICLE will be parked on-site during your yard sale, then use it to your advantage in these ways:

• Post signs on it.
• Dangle lightweight items you’re selling (like a garden hose or blanket) from the side-view mirrors
• Place lightweight items that could be attention-getting on the roof of the vehicle (like a child’s ride-on car, Sit & Spin, etc).

I like to use CLOTHES DRYING RACKS to display yard sale items (NOT just clothes though). Yes, you can easily hang baby and toddler clothes on hangers from these. But you can also drape blankets and bedding from drying racks. If you happen to have one like I do with a small shelf in the middle – then you can use it to display lightweight items. Maybe hang items on hangers from the sides and put related items like gloves, hats, scarves or shoes on the flat shelf area.

Your PORCH and nearby STEPS can be used to display yard sale items at various levels. Displaying things at various heights makes it easier for people to “notice” those things when they’re glancing around at everything you have for sale.

Even a RETAINING WALL makes a great place to display items from! At one of my sales, we used the side of the front porch itself (that was closest to the driveway and garage) to display flower pot arrangements we had for sale. After those flowers sold, we moved another “featured” item there to sell.

The bottom line…

You want to get things up off the ground as much as possible. Card tables and upside down cardboard boxes are better than blankets and other ground-level displays.

The general perception is that items placed on the ground have a lower perceived value.

Plus, older folks have a hard time bending over to reach items that are placed lower than card table height.

Whenever you’re using cardboard boxes, plastic bins, or even wooden crates, be sure to clearly label the OUTSIDE of the box/bin/crate with what is inside. That way people won’t have to dig around on their own just to find out the type of things that you’ve put inside each box. 

#4 – Prepare For Morning Dew & Afternoon Sun

Since the grass is usually wet from dew in the morning, I recommend using a double layer of blankets on the grass, rather than a single layer — IF you use the lawn to display your yard sale items.

You’d be surprised how quickly the water seeps through a single blanket or bed sheet… even when the grass doesn’t appear to be that wet!

Wet spots not only make your displays look tacky to the early morning visitors, but they could also damage certain items that should never come in contact with moisture (books, papers, magazines, cardboard, and some electronics).

On the other hand… in the afternoon, the sun’s rays could make some of your items on display become very hot to the touch. And if people can’t pick up an item to examine it, then they’re not going to buy it.

This is a little weird, but I saw it happen: it was a hot sunny day and the seller was trying to sell a make-up mirror – the reflection of the mirror caused a nearby cardboard box to catch on fire! 

~The Yard Sale Queen

Along those same lines… some items (candles, vinyl records, blow-up plastic items like air beds & pool floats) could even melt in the hot sun! Yep, this has happened to me.

So, in the afternoon, be sure to examine any items that have been setting out in the sun. You may need to move fragile items into shadier areas, underneath tables, or maybe into the garage to permanently cool down.

#5 – Group Items By “Theme”

I’ve found one thing that seems to work really well is to include items of the same “theme” on each table or blanket space.

Wondering how to display necklaces at a yard sale? And other pieces of jewelry?

I love this idea… First, wrap a piece of cardboard in a piece of fabric. Then, stick some push pins, sewing pins, or small nails into the cardboard to hang necklaces, earrings, and bracelets in a fashionable way! Any lapel pins or brooches that you’re selling can be pinned directly to the fabric.

Have any old suitcases or trunks?

These old vintage items attract a lot of attention — especially if they’re in good condition. One way that I like to use old suitcases is to display jewelry! Just open up the suitcase and dangle items from the “lid” portion. Place larger items in the bottom portion of the suitcase. Vintage suitcases also look great when stacked upon each other — so maybe place the larger one on the bottom and keep it closed, then display jewelry in the opened one on top.

Another good idea is to bundle several related items together to sell as “a packaged set.” One way to do this is to use those zippered see-thru bags that bed comforters and sheets come in.

Bundle, bundle, bundle! Get a bunch of different size clear bags and bundle items. We bundled grab bag toys together, PJ sets, holiday decorations. People are way more likely to buy a bundle of stuff for $1 than a single item for $0.25 — it feels like a deal!

~ Cassie from Wholefully.com

#6 – Ways To Display Clothes At A Yard Sale

These are some of the best ways to display clothes…

Open up the garage door, and then tie a piece of rope (or a clothesline or long bungee cord or PVC pipe) from the rafters on both sides of the garage door tracks. This is also a great way to keep people out of your garage — because the hanging clothes create a barrier to the garage’s entrance.

If you have tons of clothes, put several tables together to make a big enough flat space for shoppers to examine them easily without bumping elbows. 

If you like to DIY (or have a handy spouse who’s good at it), you can make reusable clothing racks from 2×4’s  and round dowel rods. These would store small whenever you’re not having a sale, and they make things neat and tidy when you’re displaying clothes at your sale.

I’ve seen people use 2 shepherds hooks (that you hang bird feeders from) with a sturdy curtain rod or pole placed between them to hang clothes on hangers. (TIP: I recommend using the ones with multiple prongs that go into the ground – because single prongs aren’t that sturdy and your clothing display will lean and sway whenever someone shuffles through the clothes.)

You can run narrow boards between two ladders, propping the boards on the steps to make a flat “tabletop.”

Ladders work great as clothing display racks. You can place an old shower curtain rod or a piece of PVC pipe between the ladders — and hang your clothes on hangers that way. You could also use the ladder steps themselves as tiered racks to put hangers on.

If you can afford it (or if you would regularly use it on the days that you’re NOT having a yard sale!), then by all means get a metal clothing rack for about $20 to display clothes that are on hangers. If you get a clothing rack with wheels, which I DON’T recommend, just make sure there’s a way to lock the wheels — otherwise, you’ll be “moving the rack back to where it belongs” all day!

You could even hang a clothesline between two trees to create a large yard sale clothing display.

If you can’t think of a good (safe!) way to hang clothes at your sale, the next best option is to arrange them on a table – in neatly folded piles.

The only time it makes sense to display clothing in boxes or bins is when you’re having a “Fill-a-Bag” clothing sale — as I talk about here. In that case, you would first separate clothing by gender and/or size into separate bins. Then, on the outside of each bin, write: “Fill a Bag for $5… Otherwise $1 Each.” BONUS: If it starts to rain, you can quickly toss the lids on those bins to keep the clothes from getting wet!

Don’t overwhelm people — especially with items that are hard to move like adult clothing. Pick out some of your highest quality and nicest items, mark them up higher, and sell those — donate the rest. Chances are, if you pick out 10 outfits and display them nicely, you’ll be able to sell them for $5-$10 each (and sell all of them!), but if you have rack after rack of clothes, you’ll be lucky if anyone even flips through them for a quarter. I’ve heard that adult clothes don’t typically do well at yard sales, but between our three families, we had maybe a total of 25 to 30 adult clothing pieces that we displayed, and they almost all sold! They were well-labeled, easy to see, and people gobbled them up — even at “premium” yard sale prices.

~ Danielle at Wholefully

#7 – Have A Yard Sale, Not A Garage Sale (If Possible)

In some areas people call them ‘tag’ sales, but here in California we mostly call them garage sales. Weird, though, most are held in driveways and not in an actual garage. In addition to typical garage sales we also have ‘rummage’ sales which are generally put on by a local church or some other non-profit group.

~D. Hentsch

Whether you “call” it a garage sale or a yard sale doesn’t really matter. But what IS important is that you treat it like a yard sale and put as much stuff OUTSIDE of your garage as possible.

By displaying more of your items out in the open, you will naturally attract more attention to your sale.

Also, people are often hesitant to enter the “personal space” (garage) of someone they don’t know — even when invited to do so. Unless someone is a seasoned yard sale shopper, it can be intimidating to march right into someone’s garage. Especially if there’s no one else in there at the moment.

Plus… the lighting is better!

I think those are all good reasons why “garage sales” tend to be less profitable than “yard sales”.

It’s a numbers game…

The more people who: A) can see the types of things you’re selling, then B) choose to slow down when driving by your sale, and C) actually get out of the car to have a look around your sale… the higher your profits will be.

#8 – Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

Most people won’t dig through or step over stuff to get to an item that looks interesting. Nor do most yard sale shoppers look UP really high or DOWN really low. That’s why the majority of your yard sale items should be placed directly within eyesight — and on tables rather than on the ground, if possible.

You want to make sure that everything is easily within REACH and easily within VIEW — especially for the more expensive items that you’re counting on to sell.

The goal is for all of your best items to be viewable from the center point of your driveway. If a person can’t see the most important items you’re selling, chances are those items won’t become sold by the end of the day.

So, if there’s anything you really want to sell that’s hidden from view, move it INTO view! If that means creating a whole new space for displaying this and/or other items, then by all means, do it.

All throughout my sales, you’ll find me constantly moving items from one table to another table and “fluffing up” anything that I think SHOULD sell — but relatively few people have even noticed. It’s up to you to make sure people can see these things.

Yard sale items don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. You get one shot — so make it count.

It’s a fact… if someone has to get out of their car JUST to see the type of items you’re selling, about half of them will skip your sale and drive on.

So make it easy for shoppers to see the “best” items you have.

The more items that you place up close to the street, the more likely you will entice more people to stop at your sale. Also, larger items (whether they’re valuable or not) are just good attention-getters!

Some sellers prefer to be stationed at the end of their merchandise, closest to the street. It prevents people from “forgetting” to pay for an item and they can also easily answer someone who drives by and asks “do you have any LP’s?”

~The Yard Sale Queen