Drumming Up Clients for Yard Sale Hotline

Charming though they may be, yard sales are often a frustrating experience.

Those holding them have few good ways to publicize them beyond placing ads deep in the classifieds or putting up street signs. Those attending them often leave disappointed, unless they have a thing for Bee Gees albums or torn paperbacks.

Dan and Karen MacDonald believe there’s a better way. They have introduced a new service, 1-800-Yard-Sale, to make it easier for yard buyers and sellers to find each other.

1-800-Yard-Sale allows people to advertise yard sales over the phone. For a $23.50 fee, they make a recording detailing what they’re offering, where they live and how to get there. The recorded advertisement runs for a week.

Yard sale scavengers simply call 1-800-Yard-Sale. (That’s one extra number to dial, but the last digit doesn’t count.) Callers are referred to another number--a local call for residents with a 714 area code. A series of automated prompts permits them to search for yard sales by area and merchandise, which includes such categories as clothing, baby supplies and jewelry. The service is free, except for any long-distance phone charges.

1-800-Yard-Sale was introduced in April and so far only covers the 714 area code and has no customers. “Nobody knows about us yet,” Dan MacDonald said.

In order to attract customers, Orange-based Tell Co., which does business as 1-800-Yard-Sale, is offering a $4.95 fee until the end of the summer. The company also is offering to donate 10% of all revenue to local charities.

Dan MacDonald, an industrial engineer who was laid off in January, works full time for 1-800-Yard-Sale. Karen MacDonald divides her time between her work as an administrator at an insurance company and the new company.