Holding a yard sale for the first time can be daunting, but the important thing is to get rid of all the clutter that is driving you to do this in the first place. With that in mind, there are a few guidelines you could follow to make things go more smoothly for yourself.

1. Price Everything

The first thing you can do to make life easier on yourself is to label a price on everything. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, being clear will get the best reception. Very few people will want to “make an offer.” They’re more likely to jab back with, “What do you want for it?” As a vendor, you need to be authoritative on your stock. Most people are uncomfortable with haggling. It presents even more of a deterrent to those who are shy or have only a slight interest in an item. In their case, if an item isn’t marked, they may be more inclined to pass it over rather than speak up about it.

Having even a cheap price gun will help immensely in marking your items. Writing out each price by hand can be time consuming. Being able to set a number and apply it in one stroke could save you hours if you’re running a large sale. The fastest way to label everything is to sort your items by price, then mark them all in groups. Remember, though, to use easy-peel labels and to keep them on hand during the sale in case you add something, find an item you forgot to label, or decide to sell a set as individual pieces.

2. Set Low Prices

Before you start, you have to think about which is the greater priority, getting rid of the stock or getting a high price for your items. It’s hard to have both. It is very frustrating, though, to have most of your items still with you after you’ve gone through all the trouble of setting up the yard sale. If you want top dollar, it’d be better to use ebay or craigslist and wait till the fish bite. If you want to clear out space in your home fast, the low-priced yard sale is your best bet.

3. Handling High-end Items

If you are afraid of pricing something too low, consider having it appraised. If you know something’s value and are determined to sell it at a certain price, find an advertisement for that item in a magazine. Clip out that section (include the price!), and place it with the item. When people see the difference between the new item and your secondhand item, they will feel that it is a better deal than otherwise.