Yard sales can be a perfect fundraising tool for charities, medical funds and nonprofit organizations.

As you know, yard sales can be a huge money maker if you do it right.  Since that’s the case, you often see yard sales that benefit a charity.

With that in mind, some suggestions on setting up a fundraising yard sale:

• Recruit multiple vendors: You shouldn’t be the only vendor at your fundraising sale — you need plenty of sellers. This helps ensure variety for your customers since word will get around about your big event. It also means shoppers will stay longer, and likely spend more too!
• Or … Gather lots of donations: If you’re sure you want to stick to being the only vendor, then cast out a wide net for donations. Send out a mass e-mail to everyone associated with the organization and ask them to pass it along to their friends too, then see what comes in!
• Get space: If your fund-raiser event looks like it’s going to get bigger than your front yard, then you might want to rent out a room or banquet hall. Check with your local schools, churches, fire halls and businesses for the best opportunities. Since it’s a fundraiser, you might actually get space for free.
• Sell space: You certainly can give away space at your fundraising yard sale to a few vendors, but also consider selling spaces as well. Space fees should go to the charity and then allow those vendors to keep their own profits.
• Sell shopping time: An alternative (or addition) to selling spaces is to sell shopping time. Let shoppers know their entrance fee is going to charity, and they will be happy to pay.
• Advertise (Part 1): A month or two before your sale, start recruiting those paying vendors mentioned above, and the best way to do it is to advertise. Be sure to include all the appropriate contact information.
• Advertise (Part 2): Once you get your vendors recruited, let shoppers know about it. Aside from the usual classified advertising, send out a few e-mails to the local media. Invite shoppers with special posters at grocery stores, churches, schools, day-cares and other organizations.
• Advertise (Part 3): Make sure to include info on who’s benefiting and what percentage the charity is getting. Likewise, be prepared to fully explain the charity for those who aren’t exactly sure what it is.
• Get some props: Since you are doing a fundraiser for a charity, consider asking that charity to donate some signs, or even bring a few “props” to your event. Sure, maybe the Red Cross will send out its Bloodmobile, but more likely they’ll give you a couple of shirts for your staff to wear.
• Legal concerns: Be aware that there might be some legal issues concerning fundraisers. Check with your benefiting organization, or even the local United Way,  for some guidance in the matter before you get started.

Image by HAM Guy via Flickr.com

Make sure your sale items are clearly visible from the road, and (in our opinion) put a price on everything.

The new year is upon us, and we’ve already started to think about yard sales for the upcoming season.

In particular, we found this article fairly interesting.

The interviewee, Aaron LaPedis, says he’s earned more than a million on the garage sale circuit, and wrote a book on the subject. We tend to agree with him on most of the points he makes here (bring a smart phone, be an expert on a few things, make great signs), but we vehemently disagree with his suggestion to “not price anything” at your yard sale. We often walk away from yard sales where things aren’t priced, so this is a case of “seller beware!”

In fact, even several of the comments at the end of the article say the same thing.

As for Yard Sale Secrets, expect us to get back into the swing of things in late March or April, but keep checking back for occasional blitzes in posts from us between now and then.

According to the Washington Post, and several other sources, a lawsuit has been filed by Dave Hester, one of the stars on A&E’s “Storage Wars” series.

In the suit, Hester explains that a lot of the show is faked, and the producers go so far as to plant items in lockers and rig the bidding.

We were particularly amused by Hester’s claim about the episode where a stack of Elvis newspapers were found. He says they were planted in advance by the show’s producers. When we first saw the episode, we laughed at the assumption that all those newspapers could be sold for more than $10,000.

Likewise, we are always bothered by the show’s estimated sale prices on the recovered items — most are ridiculously inflated. Further, the show suggests that the wheeling and dealing of storage unit auctions is a get-rich-quick moneymaker, which like the yard sale scene, is more “miss” than “hit.”

Once again, the Yard Sale Secrets team wants to point you to the YouTube comments of Glendon007 as too he talks about rumors swirling around the “Storage Wars” franchise.

We know a lot of yard salers enjoy the “treasure hunt” aspect of the show and those like it, so we thought it was worth pointing the article out to you.

Glendon, who claims to have made a lot of money in the storage unit auction business, offers some interesting bits of information and insight based on his experience in the business.

(And just to clarify, we in no way endorse the purchase of Glendon’s books and infomercials. We don’t know much more about him than you do.)

(Also, he does swear quite a bit in this video, so it might not be “Safe for Work,” as they say.)

http://youtu.be/pzU59_9zg44

Fans of the “Storage Wars” television shows have learned about the cut-throat nature of the storage auction world.  Every unit has some hidden gems inside, according to the show. That may or may not be true, but we urge you would-be moguls to check out the Glendon007 YouTube channel.

Glendon says he is a now-retired storage unit buyer who is sharing his experience, knowledge and stories of success and failure in a series of regularly produced videos.

Yes, Glendon is also pitching a few self-published books, but they might actually be worth checking out.

His videos are long, but they are quite interesting.

Here we learn about dirty Air Jordans and a bag of coins. http://youtu.be/fe5Lbdxzbsg

In this video, Glendon talks about packing crates he bought and how he was pressured to sell them. http://youtu.be/fh3Wbi0Tza4

A giveaway event went horribly wrong in Georgia when an advertisement was misread by yard-sale goers.

We like to talk a lot about the best way to word your yard sale ads, and with good reason: You don’t want to promise something you can’t deliver.

Case in point: A Woodstock, Ga., family who advertised an “everything must go” giveaway. Not a sale, but a giveaway of their belongings as they prepared to move away.

Here’s what the advertisement said:

Fairly large, free yard sale. Moving and we want everything to go for free. So come over and take whatever you want and how much you want. Here are a couple of items that will be there: Couch, chairs, lots of household and kitchen items, appliances, a wardrobe, desk, recliner, movies, lots of books, lamps, women’s and teens’ clothing, etc. And also a box of free food with lots of cans. Please take only if you need it. We’re starting at 10 a.m., October 24th, and we’ll finish when everything’s gone.

Unfortunately for the family, crowds showed up early to empty out the place, and rather than do it in an orderly fashion, the family’s house was gutted of practically every item inside — even stuff that wasn’t part of the giveaway.

Read reports of the incident here and here.

This is not at all typical behavior of yard sale patrons, who usually are good natured. Instead this can be attributed to the frenzy people whip themselves into when the word “free” is tossed around.

With that in mind, the Yard Sale Secrets team has a few suggestions as the result of this incident.

• FREE STUFF: If you have a large selection of free items, don’t bother with a yard sale at all. Contact your nearest Goodwill, Salvation Army or similar agency. Many of these agencies will offer free pick-ups of large quantities of goods. Additionally, these items will then be redistributed to those in the greatest need or sold at low prices to benefit the non-profit.
• CROWDS: If a large crowd gathers at your yard sale, don’t hesitate to call the police and ask them to come to your house. They would rather disperse a crowd than investigate a crime scene. It should be noted that some criminals have been known to “mob” yard sales in an effort to distract and confuse the yard sale hosts.
• ADVERTISING: Be mindful of your advertising and how it can be read. By all accounts, the above advertisement was just begging for trouble. It offered no restrictions to shoppers. Don’t be afraid to impose restrictions or cancel an event all together if you realize something be interpreted improperly.
• FOR BUYERS: Most of all, anyone attending a yard sale needs to remember to respect the wishes of the host. If something seems wrong — you know, like ransacking a family’s house — then don’t do it.

When yard sales stretch into the colder months, whether we’re talking about those held in the early spring or late fall, the mornings can be cold.

Yard sales and especially estate sales happen all year long. Just keep watching the classified advertisements.

We were thinking about this last week on just such a morning and decided the yard sale world needed some tips on how to hold a yard sale on a chilly morning.

1. SEEK OUT THE SUNLIGHT: When you know it’s going to be cold, set up your yard sale where the morning sun can heat you up. Don’t set up under a tree or behind the house, you want the sun to blaze on you (as best it can) in those early hours.
2. PLAY SOME MUSIC: If it’s cold, chances are no one will be outside doing stuff — not even the birds. You’ll want to keep things lively by turning on some music, preferably something upbeat. Not only does it keep you moving, but it will break up the funeral-like stillness of the morning.
3. OFFER A HOT BEVERAGE: While it’s likely that you’ll have coffee, tea or hot apple cider for yourself, offer it free to your customers. It will give them another excuse to leave the warmth of their car and shop. Even better, put “Free Coffee!” on your signs and in your classified advertising.
4. START A CAMPFIRE: If you have one of those portable fire pits, bring it around to the front yard and get it started. You can guarantee people will see that from a long way away. If you don’t have a fire pit and don’t mind scarring a spot on your lawn, you could just set up your own little campfire. Marshmallows are optional, but an added bonus.
5. ADD TO THE ATMOSPHERE: Since it’s cold out, and your shoppers will be thinking about cold weather things, be sure to add some of that type of merchandise to your sale. Ice skates, hockey sticks, hunting gear, blankets, Christmas decorations, gloves, boots and “poofy” jackets are just a few ideas.

Photo courtesy of the amazing YardSaleBloodbath website!