When it comes to having a successful yard sale, you should always have a rain plan.
Otherwise, if it rains, you’ve gone to a lot of work for nothing!
In this article, you will find all of my best advice if you’re thinking about having a garage sale, and you want to be prepared in case it rains.
Do People Visit Yard Sales In The Rain?
Yes, people DO go to garage sales in the rain.
For some, it’s a treasure hunting event that simply cannot be impacted by weather. These are your die-hard shoppers. They simply put on boots and raincoats and take advantage of any garage sales that are open during the rain — and they are ready to BUY!
Others make it a point to go to yard sales at any time that they are personally ABLE to shop (because they have the day off, their work hours allow for it, there was a change in plans, etc) — and the rain won’t stop them. These are the opportunists. They make it a point to find garage sales nearby whenever the opportunity arises. (This is my brother… to a tee.)
Still others will choose to shop at yard sales in the rain simply because they were already out & about and they happen to have some extra time on their hands before they head home — so they’ll stop. Maybe they just had a few quick errands to run. Or maybe the outdoor event they had planned to attend (soccer game, craft fair, etc) was canceled due to the weather. Or perhaps they were out for some other reason, and their FOMO (fear of missing out) keeps them from passing by a garage sale — rain or shine.
It’s fair to say that the MOST garage sale shoppers (the browsers) will stay home until the skies are more blue and less cloudy. But true yard sale shoppers are always looking for times when their schedules will allow for yardsaling — especially if they can get the “pick of the litter” at garage sales that others might be avoiding at the moment!
Have A Yard Sale Rain Plan
First and foremost: If you think it might rain on the day of your yard sale and you don’t mind selling in the rain, make sure to state that your sale is rain or shine in your ad (preferably in the title). You’ll definitely get a few more sales that way!
Did you know that you can modify your online ads at any time? Yep. So use that to your advantage for things like rain, valuable items you forgot you were selling, notice that everything’s half-off on the second day, or maybe everything’s free during the very last hour.
Second most important: Make your yard sale signs rainproof. Cover every inch of your signs with clear packing tape. Don’t have any wide clear tape on hand? Then cover your signs in drycleaner bags — you know, those thin plastic, see-thru ones. You could use a glue stick to make the plastic stick seamlessly to your sign. Or use a little glue and a few staples.
This was my personal rain plan recently:
“I’m only having my sale on one day — Saturday. If it rains, I’ll have the sale on Sunday. After that, rain or shine, whatever is left goes to Freecycle, where people will come pick it up from my porch — for FREE. Anything with REAL value, will immediately be sold on eBay.”
It didn’t rain. I made $220. See what I did with everything that was left.
Still, it’s a good idea to have certain items on hand — just in case it does rain at your yard sale:
- Tarps (even if they’re ripped, torn, or have holes in them — a holey tarp is better than NO tarp!)
- Shower curtains and shower curtain liners (they can be used just like tarps)
- Blankets (or old floor cloths left over from painting the rooms inside your house)
- Tables (you can always scoot larger, more fragile items underneath the tables to keep them dry)
- Boxes / Crates (the larger the better, since you’re going to turn them upside down as a “lid” for items on your table or driveway)
- Tents (they make great “sheds” to get items out of the rain in a hurry)
Bonus Tip For Motorcycle Riders (like hubby and myself)… Wear your brightly colored rain gear if it’s raining at your yard sale. Seriously. You AND your yard sale will definitely get noticed by passersby — which means more potential sales for you!
Also, have an evacuation plan for your most precious items (and yourself) in case it rains. Make a plan for grabbing certain items before you flee inside. You’ll want to grab things in a fairly specific order — because some items can literally be destroyed by rain.
It’s best to remove yard sale items from the rain in this order:
- Paper products
- Items in cardboard boxes
- Jewelry
- Electronics
- Cloth items
- Wood items
- Toys
- Metal items
Clever Ways To Take Advantage Of The Rain
Think like Disney World does.
What does everyone do the moment it begins to rain at an amusement park?
They dash into the nearest gift shop to buy a rain poncho!
If you’ve got some hooded rain jackets, windbreakers, rain ponchos, or umbrellas lying around (honestly, I have several of these that I’ve been holding onto for years) then you have 2 good options:
#1 – Make your yard sale rain-friendly by letting shoppers USE your own umbrellas, ponchos, etc.
You could display a bunch of umbrellas (already opened up) along the entrance to your driveway and in your opened garage. Encourage shoppers to grab an umbrella — or a poncho or windbreaker — and shop away! (If you plan ahead, then you could also have a few signs already made and placed inside sheet protectors stating that the umbrellas and/or rain ponchos are “free while you’re browsing.”)
#2 – SELL all of your old umbrellas, rain ponchos, windbreakers, and rain jackets!
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got quite a collection of these items on hand, yet you rarely find yourself using them. You probably don’t need them anymore, right? C’mon how often do you use them? You’d be surprised how many people will stop at your yard sale JUST to buy an umbrella that’s easy to see is “for sale” on a rainy day! Especially if you have some really unusual ones — like oversized golf umbrellas, super-cute kids umbrellas, and colorful options. (Remember, attracting more attention to your sale is the #1 key to boosting attendance and making more money — this is true rain OR shine!)
Good Things To Know In Case It Rains…
Before you start advertising your yard sale, check the weather forecast for the coming weekend. If it looks like a washout, don’t waste your time. Personally, for me, that would be 60% or greater chance of rain/thunderstorms.
If it does rain (especially if it begins to downpour) while people are shopping at your yard sale, just know that everyone will want to seek shelter inside your garage, on your covered porch, and under your trees. And if you happen to have a canopy tent on the property (one year we did), they’ll stand under that too. This is actually a good thing — because they’re more likely to find something worth buying at your sale while they’re waiting for the rain to pass.
The truth is… overcast days are often more successful than sunny, hot days for yard sales. Why? Because people will browse much longer when the sun isn’t constantly beating down on them. And it’s much more pleasant to shop when the temperatures aren’t scorching hot.
You know how I always say to display yard sale items on tarps, blankets, and in boxes, and on tables? Well, here’s another reason it makes sense: All of those items make it incredibly easy to “drag” your items into the garage and out of the rain!
Don’t want to drag all of your tables out of the rain? Just cover everything that’s on top of your tables with a tarp (or large plastic garbage bags or cheap shower curtains). Then, drag other items underneath your tables to protect them from the rain.
If you know ahead of time that the rain chances are pretty good, then I would encourage you to move your patio table (and patio umbrella!) to the front of your house the night before, and use it as your cashier table all day long.
With a little extra effort, you could also rainproof the items you’re selling in advance. (The idea is to cover your items without looking like you’re covering your items!)
Here are some examples:
- Display all of your smaller items inside individual clear zippered sandwich bags. (This is also a great way to keep similar items together — rain OR shine.)
- Most clothing items will fit into gallon-size plastic bags. (You could also assemble matching kids’ outfits inside of these — rain OR shine.)
- You can buy specialized plastic sleeves ahead of time for any collectible paper products you’re selling — like comic books, magazines, and baseball cards. (Just add the cost of buying those protectors into the price that you sell those items for.)
Plus… you can write the prices on the plastic bags themselves, rather than on the individual products!
