I had posted an ad on Craig's list for the sale, but that's it. I noticed several other listings for sales in our area, and then checked and saw that those people had also placed ads in the newspaper. Good enough for me. A Swimbaby made some signs and we sent her to post them at intersections near the other sales. I just listed our street name in the posting because I didn't want "early shoppers." Several years ago we had a sale and had people prowling around our back yard in the middle of the night before.
Interesting. We said the hours were 7am-1pm. True to the garage sale culture, there were people here at 6am, which I always find irritating. Then a couple of them said, "You don't have much stuff," to which I replied, "We will have a lot at 7am." Grrr! And we did have a lot by 7am. We were hauling it all out of the house as fast as we could. It was a very hot day, and most of the shoppers came before 9:30 am.
I let the Swimbabies and The Husband handle the sale for the most part. I gave prices for a few big items, and then went inside and cleaned house and did laundry. I don't usually like being out there because I usually see children from work, and I just don't like to.
The great news is that lots of stuff is gone, and we will have much less to move. It was just amazing. I looked at some of the stuff and had no idea where it had come from or how long we'd had it. People just give us stuff all the time, thinking we'll like it/need it, and we had just been saving it in case we did need it.
The Husband wanted to get rid of stuff more than he wanted to make money. And probably because he works all the time and doesn't buy much, he's pretty unaware of prices. Some things he tried to sell for too much money, but mostly he was practically giving things away! He sold our lawn mower for $15. I started to throw a mini-tantrum, but he reminded me that it had been sitting outside for 4 years, he didn't know the condition for sure (it hasn't been covered or maintained), and we haven't used it in all that time because someone else mows our lawns. So it's not like he was selling something we'll need to replace. Heck, I think my dad handed down that lawn mower to us in the first place. Years ago. Whatever. It's gone, and we no longer have to deal with it. I've got to say that he was probably right. We don't want to have to move things that we won't use/don't need.
One really, really sweet family from France came by at the very end, right before we were about to clean up. They had a darling little child with them, and we had fun picking out things for her. We sent them off with snow boots, mittens, some books, some bath toys and a tutu. We chatted a little (in French! Fun to practice!) and learned that they are graduate students, so we gave them everything for free. It was the highlight of the day.
My best friend is having a yard sale in two weeks, so I think I'll load everything that's left and take it to her house. It will help her to have more stuff, and we might make a few more dollars. After that, it all gets donated. I'll be putting a few things on Craig's list this week and I have a pile for eBay, too.
We did make a decent amount of money. Other than a few $15-25 items, it was a lot of 50 cent or one dollar books, items of clothing or toys. It all added up fast. And it's over. 
Yard/Garage/Moving Sale DONE!
July 22nd, 2012 at 04:07 pm
July 22nd, 2012 at 04:15 pm 1342973725
I just had a yard sale with my sister. My goal was to get rid of stuff -- (she's a shopping addict/ borderline hoarder who never gets rid of anything!_- and mine. Hers was to make money. It was hard to her to let go of things for anything less than top dollar. She doens't grasp the concept of yard sale pricing. So.... I knew she'd be like that so I made it a "Clean House" style yard sale. Anything that was left at the end of the day went right to the thrift store. No moving it back into the house or garage. That motivated her!!
We also have a lot of early people. We were still dragging stuff out and they were coming by an hour early. it's frustrating, because we have to be out watching them at the same time we're trying to go into the house to bring things out.
July 22nd, 2012 at 04:51 pm 1342975894
July 22nd, 2012 at 05:12 pm 1342977153
July 22nd, 2012 at 07:51 pm 1342986716
July 23rd, 2012 at 12:49 am 1343004552
July 23rd, 2012 at 03:15 am 1343013322
I also give just the street name instead of the address, and put signs out only one hour before the advertised sale time. It's effective in preventing the REALLY early (like a day!) visitors.
July 25th, 2012 at 06:55 am 1343199327