Yard Selling Tips 101: Know Your Customers

      The art of selling is simple if you know your customer. Some you can spot as soon as they drive up, whereas; others may take some time to get to know. I will try not to discriminate against anyone and it is not my intent so I will be vague when referring to an ethnic group. I have narrowed it down to 8 types of people who go to yard sales. The types of customers can be categorized as the following:

1. Lookers or Drive-bys: These are the people who you get the most. They only buy if they really need it. They only buy if they “can’t live without it.” Some drive by without getting out of the vehicle but others will look closer to inspect your wares and walk off without a thing. Don’t get discouraged by these folks; we need them. They may tell friends or return next time to become a returning customer.
2. Cheapskates: These are people who will say things like “I can get this cheaper at the other yard sale I just came from” or “I can buy this from the Dollar Store for fifty cents” . They may make you just want to say “Oh well, go buy it from them and I will buy a whole truck load at that price.” Cheapskates will never think anything is a bargain and may want to haggle on prices that just wouldn’t be acceptable. Sell cheapskates things that you haven’t invested money in.
3.  Buyers: People who know exactly what they want and buy it on the spot. Usually this will be a man or woman by themselves who pull up, get out, ask the price, buy it on the spot and leave. No questions asked. I like this type best because you can get the most amount of money for something if you have the price high enough.
4.  Talkers: Old men who have lots of money who will buy that old Coleman lantern that doesn’t work for a dollar so he can take it home to use it for parts. This type likes to ramble and it‘s not limited to men. You will learn everything you need to know about their children, their grandchildren and what they do for a living. You can get sidetracked with this type of person and wind up ignoring a sale to another paying customer if you let them. Saying a polite “excuse me” to help another person is okay.
5.  Hagglers: They will try to talk you down on everything you got. There are certain ways to haggle prices. If you are the seller, you must know how much it is worth before you come down on the price. An item that would cost you $20 at Wal-Mart wouldn’t be worth more than $5 at a yard sale. If you mark the item at $12 you can come down on the price as much as $7. If they try to get you to lower the price use phrases such as “it’s a bargain” and “you can’t get that for that price at the Dollar Store” or “if it don’t work bring it back – I’ll be here all day. Sometimes it pays to haggle and sometimes it doesn’t. Just be careful with doing this with everyone and every item. You could wind-up in the red.
6.  Children: Toys! They gotta have a toy! And have no shame in begging their parents for money to buy toys. You will need to have some toys for a dollar or less to get the children and a few more expensive ones like remote control cars will do the trick. The parents will spend that dollar quicker on their child instead of buying something more expensive. Thank you for the children!
7. Broke People: The people who just don’t have money. They came with a friend or someone else but can’t buy anything. They make you think they have money and want to buy it by asking for the price and you get all excited about maybe selling something that has been sitting there all day only to find out they have no money or only a dollar to their name. Don’t waste your time trying to sell them anything.
8.  Returning Customers: The “Avid Yard Sale” person who stops at every yard sale with a pickup truck with the intent to find a good deal. They can be hagglers but if they feel you have it for a good price because you don’t know how much it is really worth will buy it on the spot. These are people who you see at just about every yard sale you give. They maybe even people you know but these are the customers you would like to see the most because they are the most likely to buy.

Knowing the customer is the key. What type of yard sale person are you?