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Top 3 Tips to Negotiate at a Yard Sale
by
Megan Aubrey
(IC: blogger)
It’s that time of the year. Half way to Christmas. Oh yes, and the 2nd annual Rapp & Friends yard sale. Last year was a first for me hosting a yard sale, and I loved it. A lot. It helps to do it with a friend so you can have random dance parties between customers.
For our second yard sale we followed all the lessons we had learned last year and had a very successful yard sale. The only things we did differently was to not put price tags on anything and treated the yard sale like it was the end the whole time. Meaning, if you wanted it, we would figure out a price that worked for both of us. Any money for it was pretty much okay with us. It meant one less item on our hands and at least one more quarter in our pocket.
But that didn't mean we didn't negotiate or try to read peoples' bottom line.
As the various personalities paraded through our front yard, I definitely found that certain people were more enjoyable to talk, negotiate, and sell to. It made me realize there were people I would rather sell an item to than others, regardless of the monetary amount we were haggling over.
For our second yard sale we followed all the lessons we had learned last year and had a very successful yard sale. The only things we did differently was to not put price tags on anything and treated the yard sale like it was the end the whole time. Meaning, if you wanted it, we would figure out a price that worked for both of us. Any money for it was pretty much okay with us. It meant one less item on our hands and at least one more quarter in our pocket.
But that didn't mean we didn't negotiate or try to read peoples' bottom line.
As the various personalities paraded through our front yard, I definitely found that certain people were more enjoyable to talk, negotiate, and sell to. It made me realize there were people I would rather sell an item to than others, regardless of the monetary amount we were haggling over.
Being on the seller's side of the yard really taught me lessons on how to be the buyer.
1. Disarm the seller.
2. Don't Be an Aggressive Negotiator. Be a Kind Negotiator.
3. Don't Be Weird
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Published July 6th, 2014 4:00 PM
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Maggie Lais on Nov 03, 2014I love to have and go to yard sales, and I know some folks are tickled pink if they can sweat you down to next to nothing for an item. I am a lot llike you describe yourself. the harder someone is on me, the more difficult I become on the negotiations. Also, I am proud to announce that I have, somewhere in my 40's, learned how to simply say no. It is not nearly as unbearably difficult as it used to be, and I try to congratulate myself on not compromising, especially in certain instances. I have also learned that if someone is engaging, pleasant, and reasonable, I like to work with them. If someone is actually funny - and not yukky about it, and they show an enthusiasm about an item, I will work even harder to come to an agreement. It makes me happy to see someone walk away happy with their 'find'. As you stated, I don't even care if I don't sell something and later give it away to Goodwill, but I frequently will not sell to an unpleasant, and rude person. I am glad to hear I am not the only one who thinks like this! thanks!
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