Spotlight on Thirty-One Gifts

Today I’m really excited to tell you about my newest blog sponsor. I’m excited because this sponsor not only sells great products but can also be an outlet for women to make money and even have a little fun.
The sponsor is Thirty-One Gifts, and they offer adorable purses, bags, totes, accessories, and organizing items.  These come in a number of adorable colors and prints and can be personalized for you.
You can look through their extensive catalog of items and place an order online  at any time.

Thirty-One Gifts provides an outet of fun, by allowing you to host a show.  This can be a live show or an online/catalog show.  You can invite your friends over for an evening of fun, and an independent representative will share the products with you, and when you host a show, you can earn free and half priced products!

Thirty-One Gifts also offers a fantastic business opportunity for women. Thirty-One is a faith-based company, whose name comes from Proverbs 31:31 in the Bible where it talks about celebrating and rewarding women, and there is a focus in the company about being the Proverbs 31 virtuous woman.
Thirty-One is a direct sales company that gives women the opportunity to make a little extra money or an extra income.  Independent Thirty-One Director Laura Aridgides has been in the direct sales industry working from home with her children for 11 1/2 years. For her, Thirty-One Gifts has been an amazing opportunity to be able to put family first, and still contribute to the family budget (and have a girls night too!).
You can join Laura’s team for just $99.  When you join you will receive a new spring starter kit valued at over $300. Plus, if you join Laura’s team in January, you’ll get a free Jewelry Roll. 

If you’d like more information on this opportunity, just visit Laura’s webpage.  She has an excellent 10 minute video which explains the opportunity further.  If you like what you see, you can join Laura’s team through her website. You can also contact Laura directly via email (laura@31team.com) or via phone (802-264-4884) with any questions you may have.

Upcoming Giveaway!

I’m pleased to announce that I will be reviewing a product from Thirty-One Gifts next week.  And there will also be a giveaway with 2 winners!

Don’t miss it!

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Disclosure:  Thirty-One Gifts is a paid sponsor on Simply Sweet Home.  If you’d like to advertise, please see my PR Page for details.

Tips for a Successful Yard Sale: Misc Tips


Misc. Tips

-If you have friends, family members, or neighbors that want to have a yard sale, you should consider having your sales together. This way you’ll have more items at your sale, which means people will be more likely to stop, and if you’re advertising in the paper, it’s a plus to be able to say that you are having a “2 family (or more) yardsale.”

-Or if you know that another family on your street will be having a yard sale, you could consider coordinating yours around the same time. If people are looking in the paper for yard sales to hit, they’ll be more likely to go to areas where there is more than one sale going on.

-For quick pricing, buy the price stickers that are pre-made. It saves so much time.

-If you really want to get rid of stuff, plan to do price mark downs. If you’re having a two day sale, do your mark downs at the end of the first day. And if you’re having a one day sale, do your mark downs around lunch time.

-Be sure that you are up at least an hour before your sale will start. Even if you put a note in your ad that says, “no early birds,” you are bound to have some. Many yard sale enthusiasts leave out before the sun is up to start hitting yard sales. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Display Tips:

-If you can’t get racks for clothes, you could hang clothes on your front porch or get some wire to create a temporary clothesline.

-If you don’t have enough table space, try moving your items closer together and place big items somewhere else, perhaps on the ground.

-There are many things you can use to substitute for a lack of table space. If you have a pickup truck, you can put the tail gate down and place items on the bed of the truck.

-Lay out an old bed sheet on the ground, and you can put a lot of toys, books, and other items on it.

-If you’re selling any tables, you could use them to display other items temporarily.

-If you have a lot of books to sell, consider bringing one of your bookshelves outside to display your books.

-Boxes and tubs that your items were once stored in, can be used to make temporary tables. Just lay few on them on their sides, and you’re good to go.

Finding Things to Sell:

-The obvious source for items to sell is the attic, garage, and basement, but you should look around the entire house for items that may be unnecessary and better off in a yard sale.

-Always go through your closets. Pull out any clothes that don’t fit or that haven’t been worn in a long time. Do the same with shoes.

-Go through kitchen cabinets and drawers and discard any items that never get used. Don’t forget to go through the “junk drawer” if you have one.

-Go through the toys in your child’s room and get rid of things that never get played with. (Tell your kids who may object to this, that if you find some things to get rid of, then there will be money to buy new stuff in the future.)

-Look around your home office. Get rid of unnecessary supplies, books, magazines, etc.

-Consider de-cluttering your bathroom. If you have a lot of extra shower gels, bubble baths, and body mists that never get used, sell them.

-And of course, if you have your own etsy shop or a home based business, this is a good time to put some of the items that you sell out on display. Even though it’s a yard sale, and people are expecting to pay cheap prices, if they see something they like that’s brand new, they will be willing to buy it. (Don’t forget to have some business cards available.)

-You should also consider selling refreshments. Take out a cooler and fill it full of ice and bottled waters. You could also sell sodas if you’d like. And if you have kids, you can let them run their own lemonade stand. You can also offer homemade snacks like cookies, brownies, or cake slices.

-Jerri


Tips for a Successful Yard Sale: Advertising and Signs

Free Picture of a Yard Sale. Click Here to Get Free Images at Clipart Guide.com

Advertising:

-Be sure to place a sign at the end of your street, and at the end of other streets in your neighborhood. Also, post some signs on main roads outside your neighborhood.

-Post flyers for your yardsale on bulletin boards in your community. Some places you can post these include civic centers, grocery stores, laundry mats, etc.

-About a week ahead of time, be sure to tell your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and fellow church members about your yard sale. Tell them the kinds of things you’ll have and encourage them to tell people they know.

-Post about your yardsale on your blog. If you have friends and family who you may not talk to on a regular basis, but they read your blog, this will be a great way to get the word out to them. You may even have blog followers who’d be interested in purchasing items from you that don’t sell at your yard sale.

-Place an adveritsement in the newspaper. Be sure that you list some specific items in the ad. Some things that will bring the people in are baby clothes and baby toys/items, children’s clothes, furniture, toys, and antiques. You may also want to specifically list big items such as a couch or table and chairs, and you may want to list the clothing sizes that you’ll be selling.
-Depending on what you’re selling, you may want to contact local shop owners or flea market booth owners. My parents used to sell a lot of antiques, and they’d have a lot of antique dealers and flea market dealers come and buy a lot of stuff.

Advertising Sign Tips:

-If you are having a 2-Day yardsale, you should make 2 different signs, one that says, “Friday & Saturday,” and another that just says “Saturday.” At the end of the day on Friday, you can take down your Friday & Saturday sign, and replace it with your “Saturday Only” sign. “Why?” You ask. If someone drives by on Saturday morning and sees your yardsale sign, they will be more likely to stop if your sign says “Saturday Only.” If they see that the sign says, “Friday & Saturday,” they may assume that all your best stuff was already sold on Friday and they’ll go on to another sale.

-Be sure that your sign is sturdy enough to withstand winds without bending or blowing away. Cardboard is a good material to use or you could something sturdy from the craft store. Also, be sure that your writing is large and dark enough to see.

-Do not let kids help make the sign.

-Keep your sign simple and neat, and be sure that the writing is legible. Also, have one person make your signs to be sure that handwriting on the signs is the same. This way when people see all the signs you have out, there will be no doubt that they are advertising the same sale.

-After your sale is over, be sure to go back and get your signs. Many places have laws requiring you to take them up after a certain amount of time. Also, if you have a good sign and are planning to keep it, you’ll want to get it before someone steals it. (Yes, it’s hard to believe, but if it is a good sign, there is a chance that someone will take it.)

Coming Up: Display Tips, Things To Sale, and Misc Tips

-Jerri

Tips for a Successful Yard Sale: Laws and Planning

Free Picture of a Yard Sale. Click Here to Get Free Images at Clipart Guide.com

Since summer time is right in the middle of yard sale season, I thought it would be pertinent to go over some tips for planning a successful yard sale. If you’ve never had one, you’re probably thinking, “There’s nothing to it. Why would I need tips?” But yard sales are actually a LOT of work. Hopefully these tips will lessen the stress. Today I’m starting with some basic tips about laws and planning.

Knowing the Laws:

-Check your local laws and neighborhood ordinances regarding yardsales. Many places require you to get a permit and have it displayed at your yardsale. If you fail to get a permit, you may get fined or have your yard sale shut down.

-Also, if you plan on having more than one yardsale, keep in mind that some places now have laws limiting the number of yard sales you can have in a year.

-In some areas there are also laws restricting sizes for signs or limiting the number of days that you may display your signs.

Planning Ahead:

-It takes a lot of time and work to plan a good yard sale. Make sure that you allow yourself enough time to get everything ready. If you’re planning to clean out your garage and attic, I recommend that you start going through boxes at least a month ahead of time. (I’m actually planning a project, where I’ll be going through each and every box in our outbuilding to decide what will be kept and what will be sold. I’ll be pacing myself and going through 1 or 2 boxes a week, so that we can have a yardsale next year. This may be a good option for you too.)

-At least a month ahead of time, you should line up tables and racks to be used at your yard sale. If you don’t have any on hand, you can usually borrow some from a friend or family member. Or you can get some from a rental place.

-Throughout the year, keep an empty box in your house. Whenever you run across an item you don’t want, you can just add it to the box. When the box is filled, label it and place it with your other yardsale boxes in the garage or attic. Then get a new empty box to put in the house.

-Don’t forget to plan for rain. If it rains, will the yard sale go on as planned or will it be postponed? You should include this information in your newspaper ad.

-Don’t plan to have your yardsale on a holiday weekend, as many people will be out of town or going to special events with their families.

-Decide on the exact date(s) and times for your yard sale, and make plans for taking a vacation day at work.

-Before deciding on a date to have your yardsale, look at the paper to see when the majority of people are having their sales. Friday seems to be the most popular day. If you can’t get off work, then Saturday will do, but you probably won’t get a lot of customers past noon. If possible, try to plan for a two-day sale that will run All Day Friday and Half the Day Saturday. Thursday and Friday is good too. You can try it on other days as well, but Thursday through Saturday is your best bet.

-Be sure to get plenty of change from the bank. There’s no perfect amount to have. Obviously you’ll need a lot of ones, but it’s a good idea to have plenty of fives and tens, because at the begining of the day you are liable to get customers who will want to pay with a twenty. You should also have some twenties on hand in the event that you are selling furniture, antiques, or other more expensive items. And even if you’re not selling any high priced items, it’s likely that you may have someone who will spend a lot and possibly need twenties for change. (Also, before you go to the bank, check around your house and car for extra change. We always roll our coins as we get them and eventually take them to the bank; if you already have a lot of change at home, you might be able to save yourself a trip.)

-Be sure that you save plenty of grocery bags to put your customer’s items in. If you don’t save grocery bags, and you don’t think you’ll have time to save enough of them before your yard sale, you can probably get some from a friend, or you can go to your local grocery store and ask if you can get bags out of their bag-recycling box. You can also order grocery bags online from wholesale companies.

Coming Up: Advertising & Sign Tips

-Jerri