is generally a fun experience. You get to hang out with friends, drink coffee in the sunshine and meet new people who want to buy your old, worthless stuff.
However, a yard sale can get cutthroat really fast. Seriously.
Some people are experienced yard sale patrons who are dead-set on getting deals at your yard sale. They want to haggle; they want to abuse your ignorance. For an inexperienced person, a yard sale haggler can be a real killjoy. However, they need not be. Here are three tips for managing yard sale hagglers:
1. Use price stickers – stickers will at least provide a starting point for a haggling interaction, and most people will simply pay the sticker price.
2. Over-value – price all of your goods a little bit above what you hope to get. This will give you leeway to haggle a bit.
3. Write down the positive qualities of your goods – come up with a sheet that details the positives for each good (this record is in good condition / no longer in print / my cousin bought it in New York, 1974). Keep the sheet with you. It will help you argue that a higher price is appropriate when someone tries to haggle with you to lower it.