Garage Sale Advertising Tips – 7 Best Places to Advertise Yard Sales
Garage sales are a staple around where I live. Every Saturday and Sunday (and often Friday, too) here in Southern California sees a seemingly unending amount of people selling their belongings in their driveways or front yards. Whether they need the extra money or are just looking to clean out their attic, one could spend 10 hours each weekend day perusing used goods at these sales. When I was a kid, my family had them as well, but the only way that anyone found out about them was from a couple of signs posted up in our neighborhood. Since there was no internet, interested parties had to drive around looking for these signs in order to find out where the sales were. But nowadays (man that makes me sound old) there are plenty of ways to advertise your own garage sale and thus ensuring that you get a crowd — that hopefully takes away all your unwanted “stuff”. Let’s take a look at a few of these methods.
- Craigslist – If you don’t use Craigslist at least once a day for something, you are most definitely missing out. From job listings to For Sale items to dating, Craigslist is an amazing 100% free online classified service for almost all metropolitan areas — and their outlying communities. Putting your garage sale listing up on Craigslist almost guarantees a good turnout.
- Local Newspaper – Your hometown may or may not have its own local newspaper, but if it does you should also put your listing there too. While the internet is most definitely the most popular place to look for garage sales today, a lot of shoppers are still used to checking out the back of their local paper. Don’t overlook the power of print.
- Community Boards – Have a favorite sandwich shop that always seems busy? Be sure to put a posting up on their bulletin board! People waiting in line for a sandwich love to have something to read, so why not also provide them information with something to do next weekend?
- Church Bulletins – If you attend church (and really, even if you don’t) this may be a good place to advertise your sale. Call up local churches to inquire about putting a classified in their church bulletins.
- The Lowly Cardboard Sign – This is what I mentioned at the beginning of this article and it still works today. What better way to make your kids do some exercise then have them jump out of your car every 50 feet to nail a sign onto a telephone pole?
- Tell Co-workers – You never know which one of your co-workers is going to be interested in your old Matchbox car collection, so be sure to mention it in the lunch room at work.
- Facebook – Sure, not everyone you are friends with on the social networking site lives in your area, but I bet a few of them are. By posting your garage sale on your Facebook page, you let your friends know about it and they in-turn can let their friends know about. Pretty soon you will be having a Facebook-themed garage sale!
Well there you have it — a few ideas for promoting your next garage sale. What could you add to the list? What have you done in the past that has made a difference? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
(photo credit: John Beagle)