If you’re looking to sell off some stuff for extra cash, your neighbors probably are, too.
Yard- and garage-sale season is in full swing. And while many homeowners go it alone, hosting a communitywide sale can save money on advertising, attract more shoppers and help divide the workload.
But keep a few things in mind before hosting a neighborhood sale, including the necessary permits, parking issues and getting as many neighbors involved as possible — even those who aren’t secondhand-sale junkies.
Chris Heiska has been offering secondhand sale success tips since 1997 at . She says communitywide sales are ideal for unloading family- oriented items such as toys, outgrown clothes, bikes and household goods. To attract more neighbors and shoppers and give the event a fun atmosphere, she says to sell refreshments.
Heiska has fond memories of one garage sale at which the proprietor sold slushies and nonalcoholic margaritas.
“As a customer,” she says, “I just wanted to hang out there all day.”
Annette Nusser can relate. She’s the fundraising chair at Community Montessori in Boulder and recently helped organize a garage sale for the school that included donated items from about 200 households.
“As much work as it was,” Nusser says, “it was really fun to spend so much time visiting and talking with people from around the community.”
The event included food and entertainment. When all was said and done, the sale raised nearly $5,000 for the school.
The power of a permitRegardless of whether a community garage sale is as large as a shopping mall or only includes a few families, a permit might be required.
Most cities regulate how many times a year an address can have a yard sale. Some also have rules about signs. It’s a good idea to check with neighborhood associations and city officials about when, where and how long yard-sale signs can be posted. And if you want to sell food, a special permit usually is required.
In Aurora, for example, only four garage sales are allowed per address per year. No actual permit is required, unless you want to hang a large banner. And signs can be up for only 72 hours. When signs are improperly posted — on traffic-control devices or street medians, or in other people’s yards — city officials will tear them down and issue a fine of up to $1,000.
“My staff is mandated to go out every Monday and pull off signs that are inappropriately placed,” says Ron Moore, Aurora’s manager of neighborhood support.
Look to your neighbors
Face it, not everyone on the block is a “yard sailor,” to borrow a phrase from those in the know about secondhand sales.
Many people can’t tolerate the extra traffic, and they might not care to sit outside all day. To boost participation in a communitywide sale, ask neighbors to help out in ways that interest them.
You’ve got to “help people find their niche so they are more willing to contribute,” says Roseanne Ashley, a parent volunteer who helped coordinate the Community Montessori sale.
She says some people who worked on that event were great at organizing and sorting items, while others helped with publicity. Those who didn’t have time to work the tables donated food.
While some people donated only four or five items to the sale, other people brought dozens of things. Plus, there’s always a need for people who simply help with set up and tear down.
“The community yard sale was more volunteer intensive than any of the other events the school has held,” Ashley says. “It takes a lot of people just to set up for it.”
Prepare for parking
Nothing angers neighbors faster than having strangers’ cars block them in, take their spot or park on their grass. So rope off zones where sale visitors can’t park, then designate “police” to direct traffic. It might also help to choose a nearby parking place such as an unused field or a business parking lot.
You can also prevent gridlock and useless roaming by printing maps that pinpoint the houses participating in the community sale.
Sort, store, sell
To keep from getting overwhelmed by stuff, Community Montessori asked participants to drop off items at the school before the event, rather than bring them to the actual sale. Dozens of volunteers sorted everything by size and type, then added labels and prices. Everything was then placed in a truck and carted to the sale site — an open field near the school.
After the sale, coordinators arranged to donate the unsold items to the Hospice Care and Share Thrift Store, which sent a truck to pick it all up.
Cash and carry
Decide beforehand whether the profits will be pooled, or if it’s every seller for himself.
Community yard sales can be great for raising dollars for a common cause. But the Yard Sale Queen, Chris Heiska, generally cautions against pooling cash. She says to avoid confusion, it’s better to have everyone be in charge of their own sales and profits.
Otherwise, “It can be confusing for customers to know who to pay,” she says, “and there could be disagreements if someone sells an item for less than expected.”
At the Community Montessori event, volunteers wore bright yellow T-shirts to identify themselves as cashiers.
Another option: Have one person handle the money at the house, Heiska says.
Sheba R. Wheeler: 303-954-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com
