There's a horde out there that prowls the streets on weekends, searching for signs that flutter on poles, classified ads and Internet postings, and arrows pointing to bargains.

With any luck, you'll be one of their targets.

Spring has sprung, so that must mean it's garage sale season.

Garage or yard sales might not seem worth the trouble to some, but they can be a very effective tool for getting rid of clutter and making a little money -- if you do it right.

Holding a garage sale is just like opening a little store, says author John Schroeder, whose book Garage Sale Fever! was released last May.

If you think about it as a store, "that way you consider the display, the pricing, the traffic," he said.

"You have to consider how much merchandise you have -- just the factors a small store would have, you have," he added.

Advertising, traffic and large quantities of items are all critical to a good sale, but pricing is particularly important. People are looking for bargains.

"The key is just pricing things inexpensively," he said. "The goal is to get rid of stuff. Some people do hold it just to make money, but the two can work together."

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