If you are going to have a sale, it is important to put up signs (unless you’re right on some main drag where you’re going to have a zillion people drive by, and even then it can’t hurt). We have seen some really, really bad signs in our time. One of the worst was on a post-it. Yes, a tiny little post-it with the sale info written on. This is not really effective.

Keep in mind that most people who see your sign will be driving by. Maybe they are looking for sales or maybe they’re just going about their business. If you want to tempt them into stopping, you gotta make it easy to read. Big black letters on a colorful background is usually best. The biggest thing on the sign should be an arrow pointing the way (make sure it’s the right way, dumbass), plus the word “SALE.” You may prefer to write “YARD SALE,” “GARAGE SALE” or the apparently now-popular “G-SALE,” but just plain “SALE” is fine. Smaller but still readable should be the date, hours, and address (or intersection), to help people get there and confirm the sale is still happening.

That is really all you need. Big arrow, “SALE”, where, and when.

Some people like to get creative with their signs. A little extra pizzazz isn’t bad, as long as it does not interfere with being able to read it. Little sparkles, interesting (but clear!) letters, or a few pieces of extra info are all OK. Just keep the readability factor in mind. One time we saw a sign decorated with little flowers, which unfortunately also looked like arrows and sent us around in circles – by the time we got to the sale we were pretty irked!

Hanging up your signs the night before is usually a good idea since you’ll probably be scrambling to get everything together the morning of the sale. And taking down your signs afterwards is absolutely required. (More on that in a future post … this is probably my number one rant during sale season!)