lvngwell

There is nothing more aggravating than searching for a garage sale only to drive around aimlessly because there were no signs to guide your way. Personally, I won't waste very much time hunting for a garage sale that has inadequate or missing signs. As a rule carelessly marked sales are usually carelessly planned sales that are rarely worth the bother.

There are a few exceptions to this rule though. Some people will carefully plan a great sale but honestly don't realize how important good signs are or what a good sign actually is. They would take the time to plan and execute a good signage strategy if they knew what one looked like. For these people I have compiled a short list of criteria that when met will ensure you will drive the maximum number of people to your garage sale.

Eye catching garage sale signs are:

1) Sturdy - Wire or wood framed signs are the best. Leftover political signs make fantastic garage sale signs. Old "House For Sale' signs work well too. If you know a realtor ask them to save old signs they may have for you. The best garage sale sign we have is a wire frame about two feet high and three feet wide that we garbage picked. We merely slide out the old plastic card and replace it every year with a new cardboard one. If you don't have any of these types of signs several "H" style frames made out of thin strips of scrap wood are easy and cheap to assemble.

2) Freestanding - Whatever you use make sure it is freestanding and sturdy enough to keep your sign from curling up into itself making it unreadable. Refrain from stapling a sheet of printer paper onto a telephone pole - those signs are the most difficult to read. When someone drives down the same road every day they are familiar with the scenery. A freestanding sign that wasn't there yesterday will catch their eye much faster than a sheet of paper pinned to a pole that was. They may wonder if that piece of paper is new or if it was there last week and they just missed it, but there is no question about the freestanding sign.

3) Uniform - In heavily populated residential areas it is not uncommon for there to be more than one family having a garage sale at the same time. I have seen as many as five at a time. To ensure that the crowds don't start following your signs only to be hijacked by a random sign taking them to another sale make all your posters uniform. The simplest way to do this is to use colored poster board to make all your signs. Pick a color a little out of the ordinary yet still light enough to write on. Everyone uses pink, yellow or orange so choose something different like violet or green. The neon version is even better! Any stationary or hobby shop is bound to have a good selection to choose from.

4) Brief - You have precious little time to get your message across. A person driving at 35 miles and hour needs to focus on, read, and understand your sign with time enough to turn into your street without having to slam on the brakes and cause an accident! Say just enough to get your point across without being wordy.

Something like this is perfect:

GARAGE SALE

1524 LEXINGTON

FRI/SAT 7-3
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Anything more and you run the risk of them not being able to read fast enough to decide they want to stop. Finally, and most importantly, put an arrow on the bottom of the sign! A person will instinctively begin to turn in the direction of the arrow even while still reading. This way they know which direction to turn and only need to make a quick note of your address to guide them the rest of the way.

5) Bold - I am constantly amazed at garage sale signs that are made out of huge pieces of cardboard yet contain a few hastily scribbled words crowded in the center of the sign. If you have a large piece of cardboard use it all! There is no such thing as a sign that is lettered too large. Lightly trace your words first in pencil to make sure they all fit then fill them in with thick marker lines. Again, the thicker the better. Bold letters are easier to read than thin ones. Carefully planned and lettered signs will impress your customers and catch their attention the quickest.

6) Abundant - Assume that your customers don't know that Lexington is four streets down from the crossroad where you have placed your sign. Guide them every step of the way. Place a sign at every major intersection pointing them in the right direction and place interim signs along long stretches of road you want them to continue going straight on. You can never have too many signs. Get out a map of your neighborhood and look at the many twists and turns your customers may encounter. Pretend like they have never driven in the neighborhood before and painstakingly guide them from all four directions: North, South, East, and West. Place dots where you will place your signs. You can use this map later to remove them after the sale.

7) Courteous - There is nothing more aggravating than following signs to a garage sale only to realize that the sale is not there. A second look at the poster confirms that the sale was last week and the family neglected to remove their signs! Send someone around to remove your markers as soon as the sale is over and make sure to use your map to get them all!

The best garage sale I ever had was a last minute affair. We had recently moved and had a two car garage full of boxes we planned to sell in a garage sale "some day." We decided at noon one Friday to have a garage sale the next day. We worked for 18 hours straight throughout the night and opened the sale at 7 am the next morning. We had done no advertising. The only thing we had were excellently crafted and meticulously placed garage sale signs - lots of them.

Our signs brought in so many people that an elderly neighbor had an impromptu garage sale just a few doors down from us. They came over later to thank us for the tremendous traffic and to tell us how well they had done. It just goes to prove that when you invest the money and time it takes to make and place outstanding garage sale signs you will be rewarded many times over with droves of happy, eager customers!