I'm clutter busting my house in a major way, and want to have a big yard sale when I'm done. I noticed with a smaller yard sale I had awhile back, that everyone seemed to already know what they wanted to pay for various items. So my question is, do I bother taking the time to price all of this stuff ... or do I just price some of the better pieces and put a sign up saying 'Make Offers'? Also, do things seem to sell better in lots, or does that tend to turn people off? Thanks! :) 

When I have a yard sale, I will price the items I KNOW I want to get at LEST a certain amount for. all the other stuff, I normally just wing it. Seems to work better that way too. Put some prices on out, but you dont HAVE to do all. PLUS, if you just want stuff gone, you can walk up to someone looking at something and tell them, if you like it, you can have it for ____. Plus......you can do a 5.00 bag. Have stuff you just wanna get rid of on a table and say fill a bag for 5 bucks. That works good too!!! Like for Knick Knacks. 

Things sell in lots ok if you let the customer lump them together. If I want an item and I have to take something else with it that I don't want, I'm liable to walk away. But if I can put a few items of my choice together and get a "bargain price" I'm all for it. And like DaeYY said, the $5.00 a bag for certain items is always a good way to get rid of lots of stuff, especially toward the end of your yard sale. Clothing works very good that way too. 

Thank goodness I don't have to price everything ;) My mom & I have two different views on how to have a garage sale ... and she feels things won't sell if not priced. That's why I decided to ask the experts LOL!

The $5 bag idea sounds great ... I don't have a lot of knick knacks, but I do have a bunch of books & toys ;)

Is $20 too high for something like a big castle play set w/additional pieces, that is in great condition? I don't want to over price since I need this stuff gone, but I can also use any money I can get out of this yard sale... 

I've always priced mine!! I hate to wait around to find the person who the items belong to and have to ask how much!! REALLY upsets me to hear someone tell people different prices for the same item!! If you have it priced and they ask you if you'll take less thats a different story than telling people different prices!!!!!! I'm always in a hurry and want to know how much a item is! 

Honestly I go by the moto..."If I were at a yard sale...what would I be willing to pay for something" It's a good rule of thumb. What would you be willing to pay for the castle at a yardsale? 

Lindy, With the other garage sale I did, I took the time to price each item.

I constantly had people coming up to me and telling me what the 'lady down the street' was selling this for... or other similar stories. Most of these people seemed to already know what they wanted to pay for my items -- which made me feel like pricing was a waste of time. That's one of the main reasons I like the 'Make Offer' approach.

I can understand what you're saying about being frustrated by different people being told different prices. But I also don't want to lose customers because the price is too high for them & they won't bother asking me if I'll give them a discount :(

... not to mention the fact that I have literally hundreds of items to get rid of, since I am helping my grandma clean her house out too. ;)

I just need to find the best method for getting rid of these items, yet making it worth it money-wise. 

Kelly,

That's the other problem... I haven't been to a yard sale in probably close to 20 years. So I'm totally out of touch with yard sale prices.

$20 would seem like a great deal, since I would be comparing the price to store prices. But it maybe considered high for all I know, when compared to other yard sale toys. 

Crafty1 - if you want to get an idea of what something's worth, check it out on WYS or eBay and then you can price it accoringly. I like finding prices on items when I go to a yard sale - I never know what to offer when people say "make an offer", but if I have a starting price I can make a counter-offer. Just remember when pricing items that you can always come down in price but you really can't go up!

Good luck! 

i don't price items at a yard sale. to me, it takes too much time. when someone asks, i just tell them. 

Crafty, yes that would be a problem. For the most part..the prices are pretty reasonable on WYS so there's a good starting point. Of course a lot of yard salers are out to get something for nothing. Indeed, you can always come down on the price, and make sure you price it higher than what you hope to get..it gives them room to talk you down. 

Iif you have a lot of stuff to get rid of....be sure to have a BIG sign that says all items 1/2 price after a certain time.

You'll be surprised at how many will come back to see what is left. 

Thanks for all the input :) I've had out-of-town guests, so I haven't had a chance to get online much.

I think I'm going to go with a mix of priced/unpriced items like DYY had mentioned, then clear stuff out with some of the 'special deal' ideas.

Having extra money would be great, but I keep having to remind myself that the whole point is for me to get rid of all of this stuff ;) LOL!