Yard Sale signs gone wild

This just in, having good, readable yard sale signs really can help direct people to your yard sale. Shocking, I know. One study even shows that signs are an important part of advertising. Creating successful signs can be quick, easy and inexpensive. Yet, there is an epidemic. Billions of people have garage and yard sales every year, yet nearly all of them have crappy signage.

Seriously people, how hard is it to make a decent looking garage or yard sale sign? In a recent poll, 100% of the people polled (me) said they wouldn't go to your yard sale just because your sign looks like a monkey made it - a wild monkey, not even the trained ones. Not only is it unattractive, no one can read the location of the sale to find the place.

Just because you think your 4 year old can color between the lines doesn’t make them an advertising executive and doesn’t qualify them to make the yard sale sign for you. “Oh, your 4 year old didn’t do that sign, you did? That’s some handwriting you have there.”

Some tips for those who aren't getting this. These signs shouldn’t be written on legal size computer paper. #2 Pencils do not work well with cardboard, nor do crayons. Rulers are your friend. Fine Point Sharpie pens are not viewable at 40 mph. I suggest upgrading to a 5 or 6mm line width black pen. Don’t forget the arrow. Glitter and fringes don’t provide any navigational or functional assistance, but they are cute and might just provide that extra bit of motivation if your target audience is a 13 year old girl. Don’t use Post-It Notes.

Just remember these four things: arrow, date, location, and the word “Sale”. That’s really all you need. And most importantly, take the sign down once you’re done. Or you can face up to a year in prison (general population).