We are going to have a yard sale in a few weeks and I have lots of shampoo, cond., toothpaste, etc. I was wondering does this stuff really sell. My DH seems to think that it is a waste of time b/c no one is going to buy health and beauty products at yard sale. I was wondering b/c I didn't want to look silly putting all these bottles out and no ones buys them. Thanks

oneblessedmommy

They sell for me. I usually don't have much of a stockpile for sale (about 10 shampoos, 10 conditioners, 20 deodorants, lots of buddies bars, and travel-sized toiletries), but I rarely end up with more than one or two items left.

I had a yard sale and the stockpile stuff didn't really sell well in my area. I sold all of my cleanteam wipes, but that was it. I think people may not be aware of the retail price and don't know what a good deal they are getting. The turnout was kind of slow for me- I live where everything is spread out (not a lot of neighborhoods). With the price of gas, I don't think people here are as willing to drive around yard sales to see what they can find. I think they would rather burn the gas to go to Walmart and know what they are going to get.

That being said, people on here make hundreds and some over a thousand dollars selling at yard sales.

My advice is just to try it. I made all the money spent back + a couple hundred dollars, so I don't think you would loose money. I know I won't do it again. But it could have gone the other way and I could have paid off a few bills with one morning's work.

I did pretty well selling my Airwick and glade items. I cut out pictures from cvs and walgreens ads that showed the sale prices for those items, and I priced them at 50% the sale price (I was still making a profit). It is helpful for them to see what the prices would be at a store. Of course, you will still have people who are just looking for a deal and want to see how low you can go with your prices.

I haven't had very big sales - one where I made $150, one with about $120 and one where I made about $80. I also don't put much planning into them, so it only takes me about 2 or 3 hours of preparation / pricing. We also stop the sale after about 3 or 4 hours since most of the earlybirds buy all the stuff we have. We are looking to put our house on the market in January, and plan to have a big yard sale this fall, so that one will take some more planning.

I've had several yard sales within the past 3 months and every time I sell out of the shampoo and toothpaste. I put $1.00 each depending on the size and brand. I also sell food items like cereal, peanut butter, crystal light, etc. If you have any cleaning products those sell very well for me too. It's worth a try I would just put out a few and see if anyone buys them before you go and put a lot. Hey what the best that could happen you make money off them. HTH!

If you are having a sale anyways, you might as well put the stuff out. Worst case senario: it doesn't sell. Best case senario: you earn extra $$.

I have had 2 sales so far this year. I didn't get great traffic for either one, possibly because I am in an apartment complex. I earned about $100 at each sale. About half of that came from my stockpile. My best sellers were Makeup and men's items (Deodorant, shaving cream, razors, body wash). My items were priced at 1/2 retail (or less). I am planning another sale for this weekend. I think that I am going to drop my prices to 1/3 retail this time. I have too much to store over the winter. I'd like to earn as much as I can, then I will probably donate what my family won't be able to use.

Well, if making some money makes you look silly....then GO FOR IT!

I don't have hundreds of things either like some do, but I have had a few yard sales over the years and always sell Health & Beauty items very well. The only thing I had trouble with was expensive razors like Fusion, Quatro, etc as I think people do not even know how much they pay for this stuff in the store! I think it is great if you can do like someone mentioned here and have pictures from store fliers...I have never had time to do this. I did make a list from Wal-Mart and a nearby Grocery Store so I could quote prices if people complained. Most of the time "complainers" just do not know what they are talkinga about as far as "I can get this for less at the store..." Just ignore it!

In my experience, the cheaper that your items can be priced the better. I had more trouble getting rid of more expensive items....even tho it was actually a BETTER deal for people (as compared to what they would pay in the store). I had lots of Suave Shampoo that I could sell for $1 and that went GREAT! Everyone wanted some. But more expensive shampoo that might have to be priced at $2 went slower. I guess that is why the Dollar Stores are so popular! It seems people do not have trouble giving you $1 for something where $2 - they have to think about it! Good Luck!

I had great success. Some did ask where I got all of it. I sold 90% of what I put out. I say go for it. Good Luck!!

They do! We just rented a booth at a flea market last weekend and I threw some stockpile items out there just to see how they'd move (we sold mostly baby stuff and household stuff otherwise). Well, it went! I only had a few things left by the end of the day. Most of it sold to the "early birds" - the people who were there right away in the morning. those were the serious deal hunters

There was another booth set up of stockpilers and the people did CVS, Walgreens and Menards rebates. They were really overpriced! They wanted 2.0o for a tube of Aquafresh that was FREE at CVS. I don't know that they sold a whole lot. Price has everything to do with whether or not it will move.

It may be helpful to show the buyers what the item retails for at Target/Walmart. I would price no higher than half of retail at Target/Walmart (b/c everyone knows that drugstore prices are extremely over-inflated and not a great reference point).

There is another post on here that shows what people price items for at yard sales and what sold and what didn't for people. I personally say go for it. We moved a couple months ago and I sold about three rubbermaid totes of stuff for a $520 profit. My hubby wants me to have another sale a couple weeks ago, but I just love my overflowing shelves. I say go for it and see how silly you look going shopping by yourself after you rake in some dough off your stock pile.

Definitely go for it! I do well at my yard sales, but you need to market your sale. I do the following and I always have a great turn out:

Put an ad in the paper
Post it on craigs list - I put my stuff out in my garage on Thursday and take pictures of my stockpile stuff and then on Friday I put those pics on the craigslist ad so people can see what I've got, and I mention in the listing that I have a lot of BRAND NEW health and beauty and cleaning products for 50-75% off retail. The nice thing about craigslist is you can say a lot in your post and you can give details of what you have to sell.
Make signs to hang up in grocery store boards - use your pics in these too.
Make big signs to hang out in neighborhood - I put them on every street corner leading into my subdivision. I made them on my computer and use the same ones each time (I just change the date), I think a lot of people recognize them and remember that I have the good stuff because I'm seeing the same faces a lot and they buy a bunch of stuff.
Put up balloons on your mailbox and on the signs you put in your neighborhood to grab extra attention.
If your local news channels have a free yard sale listing on their website, post it there too.

I have my 9 year old sell cookies and bottled water, it's a good money maker for him too. I go to Sams and buy a 32 ct case of water for under $4 and he sells them for 50c each. You can get the cookies there two, 4 dozen for under $6 and he sells them 2/50c. It's fun for him to get involved too. I pay for the product for him and he keeps the money, he usually scores 20-35 bucks just in cookie and water sales!

Thanks everyone. I will give it a try and see what happens!

I had a yard sale last weekend and was very nervous to put the stuff out and it not be touched. To my surprise I made a nice amount of money off of it all and got rid of a lot of my stockpile that I don't need. The rest I'll donate or use for myself. If it's something you just have too much of, then price it as low as you can without underpricing yourself. Most of my stuff was in the $1 - $3 range and while some people filled bins and bags of it, others said it was out of their price range. If it is something they use every day then they will know that your prices are great!! If it's just a fun thing then they may not pay the money for it. Also mention in your craigslist posting that these are brand new unopened, unexpired items that are 50% off or more and you've already paid the tax on them so they don't have to. People have to remember that not only are they getting a good price, but they aren't paying tax on this stuff either!!! It makes it an even better deal. My DH just sat there and handed out bags when people came and by golly it worked, because people just started to put stuff in them!

I had a yard sale 2 weeks ago and sold all the pert plus and the color vive I had for 1.00 a bottle.