Best Garage Sale Signs
According to Encylopedia.com, it’s estimated that Americans host 6.5 to 9 million garage sales each year. With so many garage sales taking place, having the best garage sale signs make a difference in whether or not you can drive traffic to your sale.
Why Garage Sale Signs Are Important
Believe it or not, studies have shown that good garage sale signs can increase traffic to a sale by up to 20%. That means your profit gets a hefty boost as well so it’s worth it to take the time to get your garage sale signs right.
- Give Clear Direction: Garage sale signs lead customers directly to your sale when placed strategically at intersections. They also ensure that shoppers don’t get lost. Signs with clear directions make it easy for customers to find your sale without any confusion or frustration.
- Spark Interest: When someone drives by a well-designed garage sale sign, their mind will probably go to the possibilities of what that garage sale may have that they need and can mark off their list. Their curiosity will attract them to your sale even if they hadn’t known about it previously.
- Capture Attention: Signs capture the attention of people driving by who may not have planned to go to a garage sale. Bright colors make your signs stand out on the side of the road. When potential customers see your signs, their curiosity gets the better of them and they’re eager to see what treasures they might find. The visual impact of a well-done sign can be the difference between a potential customer driving right by or making the decision to stop and look.
What Information Should Be On A Garage Sale Sign?
This is no time to get fancy with cursive or serif fonts. Instead use bold, easy-to-read print that can easily be read from the road. Customers need to be able to see and comprehend the information on your signs in just a few seconds. After all, they are driving and their main focus is on the road.
The BEST garage sale signs include three pieces of information:
- What: The WHAT part of the sign will simply state “Garage Sale” or “Yard Sale”.
- When: The WHEN aspect is the time of the sale, as in actual time, not the date. If the sign is out, the sale is on so no date is needed. Plus, you don’t want to advertise Friday and Saturday because you’ll likely get less traffic on Saturday since potential customers will think all the good stuff was sold on Friday. Just leave the days and dates off. Instead, write the time, “9-4” or “9-5”. Leave off the zeros. They’ll just make the sign more cluttered and less easy to read.
- Where: The WHERE is really quite simple and only consists of arrows pointing in the direction of your sale. No one has the time to read your address so leave it for social media posts where arrows wouldn’t work.
If you live close to a busy road, it could be a good call to add the words, “one block” (or however far your sale is) under the arrow so customers know your sale is close by and won’t take a lot of time to get to.
Tips For Making The Best Garage Sale Signs
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The best garage sale signs will have a consistent look so potential customers are led to your sale.
What To Make Garage Sale Signs With
If you know you’ll be hosting garage sales year after year, I would suggest you invest the time and money into making your own a-board garage sale signs out of wood. It’s probably easier than you think!
For most garage sale hosts, poster board works great if you have something to attach it to (like a big box with something heavy in the bottom). You can use giant permanent markers to write on them and if they don’t get too beat up, you can use them again next year!
When you’re short on time and money, you can print your own garage sale signs on bright-colored card stock. These signs can be laminated (in case it rains) and placed on poles (if allowed in your city) or stapled to stakes.
The Best Size For Garage Sale Signs
The best size for garage sale signs is the size of a poster board which is 22″ x 28″. This size allows you to make the information on your sign large and clear to potential customers driving by. This size is especially important for intersections and high-traffic areas while you can get away with smaller signs to encourage them along the way.
Of course, if you don’t have the capability to make large signs, small printable garage sale signs with clear lettering are better than no signs at all!
The Best Colors For Garage Sale Signs
The most important thing is to stick with the same color for all of your signs. If one sign is hot pink, the next is bright green, and another yellow, you’ll confuse potential customers and they’ll wonder if they’re following the right signs.
In all of our years of hosting garage sales, we’ve found hot pink to be our favorite color to use for a sign. Another good choice is bright green. However, if you see a lot of hot pink signs in your neighborhood and want to stand out, you could get creative and add a bright green stripe (with the garage sale time on it) to a hot pink sign. Not many people will take the time to do this so your sign will be unique.
You’ll also want to be sure to use a contrasting color for the lettering. In my experience, black always wins on hot pink or bright green signs.
Check out the two garage sale signs in the picture below. Which do you think will attract more attention? While the white sign has a creative base, they failed on the part that is the most important. Black lettering on a white background is normally a good contrast but this lettering isn’t bold enough and a white background is not going to catch people’s attention. There is also no arrow for potential customers who have just moments to make a decision on whether to go to the sale or not.
Where Should You Place Garage Sale Signs?
You should have a garage sale sign placed at each turn and, if there’s a long stretch between turns, you might want to place a sign on the straight stretch to encourage customers along the way.
It’s important to make sure your signs will be visible from all directions and that they don’t impede traffic flow or block pedestrians.
If you’re attaching signs to poles, be sure it is legal to do that. One year, we attached poster board signs to power poles. We couldn’t figure out why no one was coming to our sale. Come to find out, a policeman was tearing the signs down because it’s illegal to staple them to power poles.
Another often overlooked spot where you should place a garage sale sign is directly in front of your sale. I know, it seems like overkill and a waste of resources but a garage sale sign placed directly in front of your sale lets customers know that they did, indeed, make it to the sale they intended to.
At the end of your sale, be sure to pick up all of your signage. It’s the responsible thing to do!
Because we have nice a-board garage sale signs, we place them out each morning of the sale and pick them up at closing each day. Doing this prevents customers from following the signs to our home when the sale is not open and it leaves less room for someone to steal the signs or mess with them.
Garage sale signs can make or break the success of your sale. Draw in potential buyers by placing effective signage to maximize traffic and boost your sales so your garage sale is both rewarding and profitable.
More Garage Sale Ideas
- Garage Sale Planner
- Reasons Why You Should Host A Garage Sale
- People Who Should NOT Host A Garage Sale
- Printable Garage Sale Signs
- Garage Sale Sign Ideas
- How To Make More Money At A Garage Sale
- Garage Organization Tips
- How To Set Garage Sale Prices
- How To Make A Garage Sale Sign
- Garage Sale Table Signs To Organize Your Sale
- Garage Sale Tips For A Successful Sale
- One Step You Must Take To Drive Traffic To Your Garage Sale
