In real estate, the mantra is location, location, location. For folks holding yard sales, it’s negotiation, negotiation, negotiation.

That’s the advice from several LaGrange residents who held yard sales recently.

“If you see something and think the price is too high, make an offer,” Dustin Hester advised customers. “We’d rather sell it for less instead of taking it back in the house.”

Diane Worthy of Young’s Mill Road echoed that advice for sellers.

“Bargain,” said Worthy, who recently held her first sale in about eight years. “I had some old Coke bottles and a man offered a price for all of them. I took it.”

“Be negotiable,” Dana Cannady of Northridge Drive urged sellers.

With springtime comes the height of the yard sale season. LaGrange residents and others offer advice to people holding yard sales.

— Why have a sale?

The reasons vary. Worthy said she had things she wanted to get rid of, as did Angie Thibodeau, who said she “had too much” and wanted to pared down her three years’ accumulation.

Hester said he had things from his mother-in-law, grandmother and himself to sell. He also had been laid off from his carpentry job and wanted to make some money.

Some people are moving, others are downsizing, while some just want to eliminate clutter.

— How much planning is necessary?

Holding a successful sale takes time and work in advance. Before deciding what to sell, consider where to have it. Carports and garages are prime spots. If two or more people join together for a sale, choose a location that’s easy for customers to find and has plenty of space to display items.

Decide if you want to invite friends or relatives to sell with you. The more merchandise that’s available to entice buyers, the more successful the sale is likely to be. Having more than one person on hand also means additional help if there’s a flood of customers or to help load large items in purchasers’ cars.

Asking neighbors to participate in a community sale is a good plan. Having four yard sales in the same block is likely to attract more customers than four sales in different parts of town.

— What sells and what doesn’t?

There’s no easy answer. What sells quickly at one yard sale may not get a second look at a sale next door.

Cannady’s sale featured name-brand clothes such as Gap and Old Navy priced at 50 cents, tools and electronics.

“We also had tons of jewelry and sold lots of it,” she said.

Fred Kelly Jr. of Perimeter Drive said for the last two or three years, he’s had good luck selling what he called “men’s stuff” - tools, air compressors and the like.

Hester said his best-sellers were men’s clothes, shoes, silverware and glassware.

Thibodeau, who lives on Mandy Brooke Drive, said furniture sold well at her sale, as did a bike and children’s clothing. Larry Chaudoin was successful selling furniture at his sale on Seminole Road.

Sometimes there are surprises on what sells.

Worthy had about 80 pairs of new shoes in their boxes that belonged to her grandmother.

“I sold them all,” she said.

There also are surprises on items that don’t sell.

Hester said he had two couches marked $10 each and some nice cabinets. There were no takers.

Cannady had a Foosball table that converts to hockey and pool. It was priced at $70, but didn’t sell.

“Women’s clothes don’t sell well, so I don’t put those out,” said Thibodeau, who has had sales in the past.

In preparing for a sale, experts advise going through the garage, cabinets, cupboards, drawers and closets that have become overcrowded and pull out things that can go. Experts say don’t throw anything away because people will buy just about anything.

Having a large variety and quantity of items is more likely to get potential buyers’ attention.

Consumer Reports’ magazine offers these suggestions of items to consider putting out for a yard sale:

Antiques, regardless of condition, but don’t expect to fetch fancy prices like those seen on TV’s “Antiques Roadshow,” bottles, jars and insulators; baseball cards; children’s clothes; lawn mowers and yard equipment; camping gear; guns; tools; old books; comic books (old and new); needlework; jewelry and dishes; doll clothing and accessories, especially for Barbie, Ken or teen dolls; toys; dolls, and stuffed toys.

— When is the best time to have a yard sale?

More sales are held on the first weekend of a month to capitalize on buyers who get paid monthly. But that’s more competition from other sales and potentially less profit, so sellers must choose what’s more important - less competition or less money for buyers to spend.

In Troup County, the first Saturdays in May and October see the most yard sales, although sales are held at all times of the year.

Kelly is a veteran seller who holds his sales on Fridays and Saturdays, the two best days for yard sales. Sunday sales usually draw far fewer customers, although Worthy said she had people return on the Sunday after her Saturday sale to ask if she still had certain items they had seen the day before.

Hester said sellers should make sure of their timing because things such as spring break or church functions can affect sales.

— What time of day is best for a sale?

The starting time also is a key to success. Most people start their sales at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. But be prepared for early birds who show up well before the advertised start time, or even the day before.

Hester advertised his sale as beginning at 8 a.m.

“But we were out at 5 a.m. with coffee and sold until 5 p.m.,” he said.

Thibodeau started her sale at 8 a.m. She said she thought about having it from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to avoid competition, but most yard-sale customers are done for the day by then.

Cannady said she scheduled her sale from 8 a.m. to noon on a Saturday.

“We had early birds, but that was fine, we were ready,” Cannady said.

Some sellers don’t like early birds. One way to discourage them is to hold the sale in an enclosed garage or building, then open the doors at the appointed hour. However, some potential buyers have been known to ring doorbells before the starting time to ask for the sale to begin.

For those who live on reasonably short streets, another method for discouraging early birds is to list only the street name in the newspaper ad, then put up signs the morning of the sale giving the house number.

Sometimes customers arrive the day before the sale and ask to make purchases. This is a double-edged sword for sellers. It ensures that items sell. But it can disappoint those who arrive at the listed time only to find that advertised items were sold early, and they may leave without examining any of the seller’s wares, thus reducing the seller’s profit.

— What about the weather?

Make contingency plans for inclement weather, especially in the spring, when rain is more likely. A garage, carport or large covered porch is a good backup. Lacking a space out of the elements, be prepared to reschedule.

Sometimes, though, the sale must go on regardless of the weather.

At Cannady’s sale, five LaGrange High School students sold items to make money for spring break.

“We would have liked to have waited for better weather, but spring break was coming,” said Cannady, who said she plans another sale soon when better weather is likely.

Even bad weather doesn’t deter some sellers.

“It was raining, but I recognized some regular buyers from previous yard sales,” Cannady said.

— What about prices?

Pricing is a big key to a successful sale.

Worthy said sellers should price their items to sell.

“When I price, I decide what I would pay for it at a yard sale,” she said.

Hester sold men’s clothes that he’d outgrown, with shirts going for $1 and pants for $1.50.

Thibodeau said sellers can sell move more items if they are priced right. Sellers shouldn’t expect to get anywhere near the original retail price for their items, experts advise. A pair of jeans that retailed for $100 won’t fetch $50 at a yard sale, even if they were never worn. If the price is too high, people will just walk away. Sellers should price their wares fairly and know in advance how much they will take if a customer wants to bargain.

Cannady said each item should be clearly marked with the price.

Experts recommend that all items be priced individually. Yes, it takes time, but it saves the seller lots of time answering questions about prices. It also helps if more than one person is helping with the sale and may not be familiar with prices of all the merchandise. And some customers won’t bother to ask the cost of an item without a price tag.

Thibodeau said sellers must be willing to negotiate, especially as a sale is winding down.

“The best bargains often are at the end of the day when buyers would rather take less than keep items,” she said.

— How is the best way to display items?

Experts agree that this is probably the most important - and most overlooked - aspect of conducting a successful yard sale. Even if items are priced fairly, the chances of them selling decrease is buyers can’t easily find them.

Hester, a first-timer at holding a yard sale, found this out. He said his sale was held in a garage, where things were bunched-up and not organized.

“We arranged things the night before and the morning of the sale,” with clothes in a pile and on a string, he said. “We needed more preparation.”

Organization is vital, Thibodeau said. The better a sale is laid out and organized, the easier is it for sellers to manage and for shoppers to browse, expert say.

An easy way to display small items is on card tables, pingpong tables or even sheets of plywood resting on sawhorses. Covering the surface with clean sheet or disposable tablecloth will make the items show off to their best advantage.

Use the space under tables as well.

Thibodeau said a sale should have no clothes in piles. A clothesline - fastened securely - is good for displaying clothing on hangers. Group men’s, women’s and children’s clothes together.

Also place similar items together - toys, yard equipment, books, etc.

— How do you attract customers?

“Advertise,” said Kelly, who’s in his 70s and said he’s conducted lots of yard sales.

An ad in the newspaper is the first step. Some sellers may balk at the cost, but experts say it’s false economy to rely just on signs or word of mouth. The more people who know about a sale, the more likely they are to come and buy.

Hester advertised his sale in LaGrange Daily News. The following week he had another sale, but relied just on signs.

“We had only about five people all day,” he said.

One way to cut the cost of a newspaper ad is to have several people hold a sale together and split the ad’s cost.

Thibodeau recommends also using signs to attract customers. In addition to signs at the site of the sale, place them on main streets with arrows pointing the direction. If multiple turns are involved to reach the sale, put signs at those intersections. Be sure to collect all the signs after the sale.

— Is holding a yard sale worth it?

Worthy thinks so.

“People are looking for bargains. We pretty much sold out, ” she said.

— Here are some dos and don’ts of conducting a yard sale, offered by local yard sale veterans and experts from elsewhere.

The dos

Do treat your yard sale as a business and conduct it – and yourself – professionally. Imagine going into a store where the clerks are talking to each other, eating and not paying attention to a customer’s needs. Customers are likely to walk out. The same is true of yard sales. It’s not a time to socialize with friends helping with the sale. Do that after the sale is over. Sellers should be alert to customers and be ready to help or offer assistance, just like clerks in a well-run store.

Do greet every customer. Thank every one, even those who don’t make a purchase.

Do be ready when the sale starts by having everything that will be for sale on display and priced.

Do be prepared to bargain. A yard sale is not McDonald’s or a mall store, so buyers often will offer a lower price than what’s on items. If the offer is fair, accept it. Or you can make a counteroffer. If you don’t accept an offer, decline with a smile.

Do have plenty of change on hand, both coins and currency. Buyers also should have change and small bills to keep from trying to pay for a 25-cent purchase with a $20 bill.

Do split up duties if more than one person is holding the sale. Perhaps assign each person an area of the sale to be responsible for – clothing or children’s toys, for example.

Do use removable price tags or stickers.

Do be specific about clothing sizes, especially if there are lots in different sizes.

Do capitalize on the season. Offer luggage at vacation time or at the end of summer when students are going back to college.

Do have electrical outlets nearby to plug in electrical appliances, hair dryers, radios and the like. Use a heavy extension cord.

Do have batteries available for testing items such as children’s toys, wall clocks, etc. You can remove them after the item is sold or leave them in to help ensure a sale.

Do offer delivery service of bulky items such as sofas, computer desks and heavy lawn equipment. All it takes is a pickup truck or van, and a couple of able-bodied helpers. Offer delivery free within a few miles or charge a nominal fee for trucking it across town. Prominently promote the delivery service. Put a sign on a sofa, for example, or verbally offer delivery if a customer pauses to look at a large item.

Do put fragile or expensive items such as crystal, cut glass or jewelry where children – or light-fingered adults – won’t be tempted.

Do sell drinking glasses, cups and plates in lots, such as six for $1 instead of 25 cents each.

Do price books, magazines, records and CDs separately. But be ready to sell the entire lot for one price is a buyer asks.

Do arrange books, records and CD so that the titles are easily visible.

Do promote your sale everywhere you can. In addition to a newspaper ad, put up signs on street corners, bulletin boards at work and anywhere else you can. Tell everyone you know. Word-of-mouth is free.

Do make your signs legible. Pencil written on a piece from a cardboard box won’t do. Spend a little for some pieces of colorful poster board and use black or blue markers for the lettering. Print in large letters and include the date as well as the time and day.

Do realize that emotional attachment may cause you to price an item too high. If it has sentimental value and you really can’t bear to part with it, put it back in the house. Otherwise, have a friend or neighbor help you set a realistic price.

Do code prices if you have more than one person taking part in the sale. For example, you could add a letter after the price to indicate who it belongs to. Collect the tags when items sell, then sort them out afterward and divvy up the money. The take may not come out exactly, but remember that everything that sells is profit.

n Do have a lowest price in mind for every item. When a customer asks, “Can you do better on the price?”, know what you will take.

The don’ts

Don’t make customers ask. Price everything, include special features, give sizes, note retail value, etc. It all goes toward catching customers’ attention and making sales.

Don’t thrown clothes in a pile and expect customers to sort through them.

Don’t put out merchandise randomly or scattered all over the place on the ground.

Don’t get in customers’ way, but be close enough to assist.

Don’t smoke or chat on your cell phone. Keep eating to a minimum.

Don’t put out merchandise uncovered overnight. Dampness will ruin furniture, books, artwork and puzzles, even if the humidity is low. Even items such as plastic that aren’t harmed by moisture are unattractive to customers if they are damp.

Don’t make customers go to different sellers to make purchases if you have multiple people taking part. You wouldn’t want to go to the grocery store and have to go to one register to pay for bread, another for milk, and yet a third for vegetables. Appoint one or two sellers to handle the money and let them keep track of whose items sell.

Don’t have items that are not for sale mixed with those that are. If your sale is in a garage, cover your lawn mower, grill and other items with sheets or plastic so you won’t be repeatedly answering questions about how much you want for the mower, grill, etc.

Don’t let your children “help.” Letting them sell their toys or cookies and soft drinks may sound like a good lesson in finance, but few customers make those purchases and children tend to get bored during long stretches of having no sales. Parents have enough to deal with handling yard sale customers without tending to the needs of their children, so it’s best to pack them off to grandparents or friends for the morning.

Daniel Baker can be reached at dbaker@ lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 234.