Signs.

Content, letter size and placement are key. Did you know that drivers have only about three seconds to view your garage sale sign, and that at 30' your lettering should be at least 3" high? With that in mind, I hope you will agree that there are three critical elements for your sign.

1. Street name. Most people are looking for the street where the sale is when they shop. When they see your street name on the sign (Broadway, Coventry, etc.) they know they are on the right track. The number is nice to have too, but not critical.

2. Directional arrow. Is your sale to the right, left or straight ahead? That's what people need to know. Arrows tell people whether they need to turn or keep going straight.

3. Event title. That is, Garage Sale, Yard Sale, Estate Sale, etc. These words help pull in those people who did not read about your sale on a Web site or in the paper and are curious.

Everything else is unnecessary. The house number, the items for sale, and even the hours of the sale probably won't bring you any additional customers. These words only take up valuable space on your sign surface and reduce the space you have to write the words that people really need to find your sale. Remember, most people already know that you are having a sale, what you have to sell, and where the sale is because of your ad on CoMoGarageSales.com or in other media. The sign merely helps people find your sale.

Books.
Books are great to sell and buy at garage sales. Buyers want to see the titles and if possible find some kind of order to your literary treasures. Organize your books into categories if possible, provide some labels and make sure the spines are arranged to show the book titles. I see no need to arrange by title or author, unless you are having a "books only" sale. Piles of books in no order attract only the serious buyers who want to thumb through them, not the casual buyer. Try sections of coffee table books, kids books, novels, text books (many people buy these to resell), cookbooks, etc. Let your inventory dictate your categories. Use boxes, bins or even laundry baskets to hold your books if you do not have bookcases. Pricing? I've seen everything from $.25 to $2, $3 or more per book, and individually priced books at higher amounts if they are of significant value. Curious about price? Check out http://www.addall.com/. TIP. If you want to sell books at your sale price them reasonably, or dirt cheap. Sell the good stuff online.

Tell me what's on your mind. What would you like to see on this blog?