Packing almost 30 years of collecting is not a small task, but it's a necessary evil for my parents to move to the same state as their daughters. To make it a bit easier, a tag sale was called for. I'll admit, at times I can be a bit of a tag sale snob. Few things irk me more than a table of crap advertising itself as a huge tag sale. Make it worth your time and mine, people! My parents seem to have tag sales down to a science (both hosting them and shopping them). Time to share some of our 'family secrets.'
Dealers and early birds will start swarming the moment you start bringing things outside, so planning ahead is huge. If you have an inside space (like a garage) you can set up tables the night before to easily move them outside in the morning.
If you don't have a place to 'stage,' make sure you at least have your stuff organized, priced and ready to go. Which brings me to my next tip....
Newsflash, you aren't going to rake in tons of dough at a tag sale. Hopefully, though, you'll take in enough money, and get rid of enough of your stuff that it will be worth your time. A big part of this is pricing. Price ahead of time and price smart. I suggest pricing items the amount you'd consider spending if you saw the piece at another tag sale. The sweet spot is $5 and under. The little items add up fast! Don't make them dig for small change, though. Pricing in increments of 25 cents makes it easier for all.
If they can't see it, they can't buy it. If you have the surfaces, try and spread everything out. Think of it like a store: (1) it's so much easier to make impulse purchases if there's no digging involved... and (2) show off your merchandise.
...and lastly...
I know tag sales are early and you might not have had your coffee yet, but nice people sell more crap stuff. A smile goes a long way. You could make friends with this guy: he was awesome AND bought a lot of stuff. Tried to eat my breakfast. I can't blame him though, it did look super tasty (and he was probably kidding).
When it was all said and done, I'd say less than a third of all the stuff was left and the $$ was worth the time. Win, win!