Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Sell More with Signs ~ 10 Tips for Garage Sale Signs


Having a successful Garage or Yard Sale is an art form... and so is knowing how to do your signage right. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you make your signs, and when you place them!

1.  Bigger is better...to a point. You want to make sure your signs are big enough to see from the road (i.e. in a moving car) but not so large that they cause a distraction.  I once saw a minor traffic jam cause by a sign made from a full sheet of neon poster board, with tiny lettering. Which brings me to my next point...

2.  Be effective. Use sturdy cardboard and make sure the sign is clearly written, perhaps with big block letters...fill in the big block letters, too. Or use block letter stickers. 

3.  Less is more - Don't clutter your signs with a list of what you have to sell. Just say Garage Sale, day(s) it will be held, times (open to close) and maybe an arrow pointing the way towards your sale. 

4. Location, Location, Location! Hit all of the major intersections nearby, and make sure you have arrows pointing in the right direction (sometimes it helps to add the arrows after you hang the signs). 

5. Some areas have laws regarding the placement of signage (like yard sale signs). Most places have laws that say something like: "It is illegal to post, without a city or county permit, private signs on a Public Right of Way. "Public Right of Way" is commonly defined as both sidewalks on either side of a street and everything in between (including the grassy medians between the sidewalks and gutters, medians, traffic signs and light pole, trees and foliage, fences, etc.". 

6. Do a drive-by test of your signs. After your signs are up, drive past them and see if you can read them easily, because if you can’t, nobody else can either.

7. Place your signs early. When I first started having sales, I would scramble around the morning of, placing signs around town...and get back to the house to a line of early birds, waiting to shop. I suggest that, as long as you are not expecting rain, place your signs out the day before (make sure the day of the sale is on the sign). 

8. More is better. The biggest mistake I have made in the past is to not have enough signs. 

9. If you are planning on having a lot of garage sales, you might want to invest in some nicer, more re-usable signage. I got some for FREE from Vistaprint (you do pay S/H). You can get 1 each, a free banner and a free yard sign. 

Free Banner from Vistaprint

Free Yard Sign from Vistaprint

You can order more flyers, banners and more yard signs by clicking here

10. TAKE YOUR SIGNS DOWN WHEN YOU ARE DONE! If you don't, you could be fined for littering, depending on local ordinances. Plus, leaving up signs is a sure-fire way to make sure you get rained out on your next sale day! Don't tempt fate, remove your signage! 


Creative Commons License
This work by Little Mom on the Prairie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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