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How to Make a Yard Sale Sign

Make yard sale and garage sale signs on your iPhone: what to write so drivers can read them, arrow signs, tear-off tabs, paper sizes and printing.

  • How-to
  • Flyer Cat
Made for this: Flyer Cat

A yard sale sign is often read from a passing car, so it gets a few seconds to say what, when and which way. You can make your yard sale or garage sale signs on your iPhone and print them at home. This guide covers what to write, the two kinds of sign you need and which size to print, then how to make them with Flyer Cat, our flyer and poster maker for iPhone.

What goes on a yard sale sign

A sign at the corner is read from a moving car, so it carries less than you'd think:

  • Two words, as big as the paper allows: YARD SALE, GARAGE SALE or MOVING SALE.
  • The day and the hours: "Sat 8 AM – 2 PM". If the sign only goes up that week, the weekday is enough.
  • The address, or an arrow. At the corner, an arrow pointing down your street does more than a house number.
  • Nothing else. The list of what's for sale and the prices belong on the flyer, not the corner sign.

Dark words on a light background read best from a distance. Print one and look at it from across the street before you print the rest.

A good sale usually has two kinds: arrow signs at the nearest corners and turns, and a flyer for a community board with what's for sale, prices and tear-off tabs with your phone number.

Pick the right size

  • Letter (8.5 × 11 in) in the US and Canada, or A4 (210 × 297 mm) in most other places, on a home printer.
  • Tabloid (11 × 17 in) or A3 (297 × 420 mm) for a bigger sign. If your printer can't take it, a print shop can.
  • Half letter or A5 for handouts. Two fit on one Letter or A4 sheet.

A clear sheet protector over the front helps a paper sign last a damp morning.

Make the signs in Flyer Cat

  1. Open flyers. On the What are you making? screen, tap Flyers & invitations. Flyer Cat remembers your choice and opens straight into it next time.
  2. Pick the category. With Flyers & posters selected, tap Yard & garage sale. It has six designs: Big & bold, Everything must go, Handwritten note, What's for sale, Stacked poster and Arrow sign. Selling up before a move? The Moving sale category has its own arrow sign and a price list design.
  3. For the corner sign, pick Arrow sign. It puts your headline at the top, a big arrow in the middle and the address under it. To point the other way, open Style, then More style options, and under Picture pick Arrow left or Arrow right.
  4. Fill in the blanks. The Text tab shows plain fields: Headline, What's for sale, Date, Time, Address, Prices, Details and Phone. The YARD SALE headline prints as it is. Fields marked Sample still show the design's example words, and those are left off when you print or share until you type your own. On an arrow sign, the date, time and address are enough. If Flyer Cat says some words are shortened to fit, use fewer words or a bigger size.
  5. Pick the paper. Under Size, choose Letter, A4, Half letter, A5, Tabloid or A3.

Every change is saved as you type, and your signs wait in My Designs.

Then the flyer

Tap the ⋯ button at the top right and tap Duplicate to copy the sign with your date and address already in. Open the copy from My Designs, then under Style pick another design, such as What's for sale, which lists one item per line from the Details field. Switching designs changes the look and keeps your words.

Then, on the Text tab, switch on Tear-off tabs and pick from 4 to 14 tabs. The first line on each tab starts as "Yard sale", and an empty second line uses your phone number. Tabs only print once your own number is in, so a tab never carries the design's sample number.

Tap Print at the top right to open Print & share. If any field still has sample words, a Not on your flyer yet note says which ones, with a Fill in my details button. Then:

  • Print with AirPrint. Flyer Cat reminds you to choose the matching paper and keep the scale at 100%, and to cut tear-off tabs along the dashed lines, up to the fold.
  • Two per sheet for Half letter and A5.
  • Share PDF at the exact paper size, to email it or take it to a print shop.
  • Share image or Save to Photos to post the sale online or text it to neighbours. Under Size, Instagram post, Square post and Story make an image instead of paper.

Before you put signs up, check local rules on where they can go, and take them down when the sale is over.

More on flyers

For tabs, photos and sizes in more detail, see how to make a flyer on iPhone.

What it costs

The yard sale and moving sale designs, editing, tear-off tabs, every size, Print, the PDF, the image, Save to Photos and My Designs are free. There's no watermark: nothing is printed on your sign except what you put there. There are no ads, no sign-up and no account. Flyer Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase, and one purchase covers every job in the app: flyers, menus and certificates. For flyers it adds the Seasonal design pack, the Business design pack and a brand kit. You don't need it for a yard sale sign. More on the Flyer Cat page.

Your photos and words are kept on your device and in your own backups unless you share, save or print them.

Quick answers

How do I make a yard sale sign on my iPhone for free?
In Flyer Cat, tap Flyers & invitations, then Yard & garage sale, pick a design, type the date, time and address, and print. The yard sale designs and printing are free, with no watermark.

What should a garage sale sign say?
GARAGE SALE in the biggest letters that fit, the day and hours, and the address or an arrow. Keep the list of items for the flyer.

What size should a yard sale sign be?
Letter or A4 works for most corner signs. For something bigger, pick Tabloid (11 × 17 in) or A3 and print it at a print shop from the PDF.

How do I make a yard sale arrow sign?
Pick the Arrow sign design in Yard & garage sale. To flip the arrow, go to Style › More style options › Picture and pick Arrow left or Arrow right.

Try Flyer Cat

Try Flyer Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/flyer-cat