If you are attempting to get rid of clutter in your home, having a yard sale is a good way to get rid of things and make a little money.

Go through your house to gather up everything that you want to include in your yard sale. Don’t forget things like sports equipment and kitchenware that you may want to sell.

Pick a date on a weekend from April through September – but make sure you do not pick a holiday weekend.

Call your local city hall a week before your planned yard sale to make sure you do not need a permit. If you plan on posting signs on telephone poles, you can ask if it is legal.

Buy an ad to advertise your yard sale in your local newspaper that will run on the Friday before your yard sale. In your ad, be sure to list the time, the location and the types of items you will have in your yard sale. List brand names, such as Pottery Barn items, and any quality items, such as a treadmill. Make sure that your ad also says “must sell everything!”

Price items low enough to sell, but high enough for room to bargain. You can always drop the prices after a few hours if you aren’t selling.

Use colored, round stickers for easy pricing. For instance, red stickers are $5 items, yellow stickers are $2 items and so on. Instead of individually pricing each item, just place the colored stickers on the items and then have signs up that explain your pricing. Make sure your sign says “ALL SALES FINAL.” For higher ticket items, you can tag them with an actual price instead of using the colored stickers.

For help pricing tricky items, look on eBay and Craigslist. You can also visit local thrift stores to look for similar items.

In addition to using your local newspaper to publicize your yard sale, use Facebook to send out invites to all of your friends. Use Craigslist to advertise and post about your yard sale on GarageSalesTracker.com. And on Friday before rush house, get some friends or kids to help you put out 10 to 20 heavy cardboard waterproof posters at major intersections within 2 miles of you home. Use a Sharpie on the posters to point people to your home. Make sure to use big, block letters so passing drivers can read your signs.

If you have a friend that lives in a nicer neighborhood, see if you can do the yard sale in her yard. People will expect nicer stuff and to pay more in a nicer area.

When the early birds show up before your yard sale starts, which is usually between 6am and 7:30am, you can make them wait or charge them a $5 to $10 attendance fee because you are opening early just for them.

Stay upbeat because people like to buy from people that are fun, happy and friendly.

Nudge shoppers to load up with stuff by saying things like “I’ll give you what you’re holding for $5 if you take that item over there” and point to something that isn’t moving well.

Be prepared with at least 40 $1 bills, several $5 bills and a toll of quarters to make sure that you can make change easily during the yard sale.

Wear a pocketed apron to keep your cash in. Not only will it let shoppers know who’s in charge, but it helps to prevent theft because your money will be on your body.

Keep a sales notebook so that you can write down everything that sells and how much you sell it for.

Have a tea, coffee and water station with a sign that says “Free refreshments.” It’ll keep people shopping and pay off in the long run.