The best yard sale sign ever

A long time ago I wrote about effective garage sale signs and just this week I found the best yard sale sign I’ve ever seen strapped the street sign on my corner. It made me happy. It makes me happy to see successful design for unimportant things like a yard sale sign. You wouldn’t think it’d be hard to make a good sign for such a simple event, but time after time I see signs that are way too hard to read.

That’s it. The best yard sale sign ever. It’s easy to read from a distance. It’s wonderful lettering, frankly (impressive for hand-written). And it tells me where to go, “that way.” I don’t need any more information. The sign itself is even cut to form a shallow arrow, subtle yet effective as well.

This sign actually blows away my own “guidelines” for a good garage sale sign. Back then I suggested the sign include times and street name. Not necessary if you’re proactive in your yard sale marketing. If you use multiple signs and take down signs in a timely manner, then you don’t need any other information than the event (yard sale) and direction people need to head.

This is certainly the best thing I’ve been seen in my front yard that I didn’t put there. Thank you, neighbor. Thanks for a good design and thanks for minding your sign. Just don’t forget to take the damn thing off my corner when your sale is over.

Bonus: While writing this article and looking at the corner for the original sign, I found a new sign. This sign is written on the back of a “for sale” house sign. White chalk on black in sloppy handwriting. Take a minute and compare.

Which sign is easier to read? Which one can you actually see doing 40 MPH past my house? The second sign, shy of it being mostly illegible, tries to put too much info on the sign. My favorite bit is the upper-right corner where it says “kids stuff, VHS, DVD, etc” — because putting that info on the sign will bring traffic to a screeching halt.