Making your signs in a few minutes
- Pick the heading. Yard sale, Garage sale, Moving sale and Estate sale cover the usual kinds of sale, and Your own takes any short heading.
- Pick the arrows you need. Each arrow is one page, so Left, Right and Straight ahead give you three signs in one PDF.
- Add the date or days, the time and the address. Keep each one short. "Sat and Sun" reads faster than the full dates, and "8 am to 2 pm" is enough for the time.
- Add an extra line if it helps, such as "Furniture, toys, books" or "Cash only".
- Switch on the table sign or the price tags if you want them, then download the PDF and print at 100 % or actual size.
Leave the detail fields empty and the signs print lines for the date, the time and the address, ready to fill in with a thick marker.
Signs people can read from a passing car
Drivers glance at a sign for a moment, so every word has to earn its place. The heading prints as large as the paper allows, and the date, time and address are sized to fill the width. The more you type, the smaller the letters get, so cut what people do not need to find you: the street and number, or a short direction like "Next left", is enough.
Dark, bold colors on white paper read best. Red is the default because it stands out; if you only have a black-and-white printer, choose Black, since red prints as a mid gray. Landscape suits a sign on a stake or a board; portrait suits poles and posts.
Paper outdoors goes soft fast. Slip each sign into a clear sheet protector or cover it with packing tape, and glue or tape it to a piece of cardboard so it stays flat. Before you put them out, stand a few steps back from one sign and check that you can read it at a glance.
Where to put the signs, and asking first
Start at the nearest busy road and put a sign at every turn after that, with the arrow pointing where drivers should go. A sign with a straight-ahead arrow helps on a long stretch where people may think they missed a turn. Put one sign without an arrow, or with the table sign, at the sale itself so people know they have arrived.
Ask before you put a sign on someone else's fence, lawn or shop window. Some towns and cities have rules about signs on utility poles, trees, street signs and public land, or about the sale itself, so check with your city or town, and your homeowners association if you have one, before the day. Never put a sign where it blocks a driver's view, a sidewalk or a traffic sign.
Pricing and tagging your items
Price everything the day before, so you are not answering "How much?" all morning. Round prices are easier for you and for your buyers: 0.25, 0.50, 1, 2, 5. Type the prices you use most into the price tag field, and each one prints a full row of tags. Blank rows are there for the odd item with its own price.
Grouping small things on one table with one price saves a lot of tagging. Print the table sign with "Everything on this table" and a price, or change the words to fit, such as "Everything in this box". Keep a cash box with plenty of small change, and decide beforehand whether you will lower prices later in the day. If you do, a note on the table such as "Half price after noon" tells people without you saying it again and again.
After the sale
Take every sign down on the same day, including the ones at the far turns. Keep a short list of where you put them so none is forgotten. Remove the tape, staples and stakes too, and leave each spot as you found it. Old signs send people to a sale that is over, and neighbors notice.
For things that did not sell, ask a local charity or thrift shop what they accept before you drop anything off. Sort what is left into keep, give away and throw away, so the garage or yard is clear by evening.
More tools and printables for your sale
The discount calculator works out the sale price and your savings for any percent off, stacks two or three discounts, takes a coupon off and adds sales tax, which helps when you lower prices late in the day. The percentage calculator answers five everyday questions, such as what 30 % of a price is or what percent one number is of another. The QR code generator makes QR codes for links, locations, events and more, with your own colors and a Scan me frame, as a PNG or SVG file you can print and add to a sign or a flyer.
Holding a moving sale? The free moving checklist lists tasks from eight weeks before moving day to your first week in the new home. For a bigger item such as furniture, the receipt template gives you a simple receipt as Word, Excel or PDF.
For the whole plan, from sorting and pricing to checking for recalled items, read the guide to planning a yard sale.
Frequently asked questions
Are the yard sale signs free?
Yes. Print as many copies as you need, in color or black and white. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line at the bottom of each page names our website.
How do I get signs that point different ways?
Under Arrows, tap every direction you need: Left, Right, Straight ahead or No arrow. Each one becomes its own page in the same PDF, with the same heading and details. Print as many copies of each page as you have turns on the way to your sale.
Can I leave the date and address empty?
Yes. With every detail field empty, the signs print labeled lines for the date, the time and the address, so you can fill them in with a thick marker. That way one set of printed signs works for more than one sale.
How do the price tags work?
Switch on Price tags to add a sheet of 36 tags, 4 across and 9 down. Type the prices you use most, like 0.25, 1, 5, and each price fills one row of 4 tags in the currency you pick. Rows without a price print the currency sign and a line to write on. Cut along the dashed lines and tape the tags to your items.
What is the table sign for?
It is one page that says Everything on this table and a price in very large figures. It saves you from tagging every small item. You can change the words, for example to Everything in this box, and leave the price empty to write it in by hand.
Why are some characters missing from my text?
The PDF uses a standard font that covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters lose the accent, and a note under the fields tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text exactly as it will print.