The 20th annual Great American Yard Sale
Outside Chicago, in Aurora, Illinois, there was a wonderful event called the Great American Yard Sale this past weekend. The event is an inspiration for us at Unclutterer. Yard or garage sales are a great way to get rid of things you no longer want or need. They can also be a cheap alternative to buying a new product or a way to find an antique treasure.
The Great American Yard Sale is the brainchild of Bette and Rudy Krueger. What started out as your regular old yard sale has now become a sprawling 60,000 (!) square foot behemoth. All the proceeds go to six organizations providing services to homeless people in DuPage County.
My wife and I had a fairly successful yard sale last year and I thought we had tons of stuff. It was tiny in comparison to this yard sale extravaganza. I’d be curious to know if any of our Chicago area readers were able to attend or donate items? Heck, many people apparently flock to this thing from bordering states, so maybe someone from a Midwestern state can give us a firsthand report? From the ABC 7 report:
Over the years, the sale has generated such a reputation that shoppers attend, not only from the Chicago area, but from as far away as Florida, Tennessee, Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana.
It sounds like a bargain hunter’s dream, and a great way to get rid of things you no longer need.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Posted by Matt on Aug 18, 2008 |
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11 comments posted
Posted by Lazygal - 08/18/2008
What about those of us who live in communities that ban yard sales? Any suggestions?
Posted by Erin Doland - 08/18/2008
@Lazygal — Your community bans yard sales? That is totally wacky!!
Anyway, in such a situation, I think that Craigslist or eBay would be great options. In many communities there are also companies that will sell your items on eBay for you. I’ve never used them, but they sound like they would be good services if you have many things to sell.
Freecycle or charities are good if you aren’t interested in selling the items.
Posted by Lazygal - 08/18/2008
Erin, I live in a “planned urban development” – a condo development under another name. Homeowners covenant says no yard sales (among other things). I suspect others here have the same clause written in to their HOAs.
Those eBay companies limit what they’ll sell (over a certain $ amount, or collectibles, etc.). I know, I’ve checked into it. Just an FYI to your other readers.
Posted by Anna - 08/18/2008
I live in Aurora and I didn’t hear about it until I read this. It’s probably a good thing that I missed out–I tend to come away from events like that with more clutter than I donated.
Posted by Michael - 08/18/2008
My wife and I were recently married but never got the chance to weed out all the furniture and kitchen stuff that we both had. We just moved and used Craigslist to put our no longer needed items out for free. We put them in the driveway and said, “Come take it.” Almost everything was gone within eight hours. It was great and super easy on us.
Posted by larochelle - 08/18/2008
In the San Francisco Bay Area, there’s the White Elephant Sale every March although its more like a giant thrift store than a yard sale. Its held in a 96,000 square foot warehouse over several weekends. It benefits the Oakland Museum and they start accepting donations as early as September. I’ve been a volunteer for about 5 years, its great fun. http://www.museumca.org/events/elephant.html
Posted by pidgeon92 - 08/18/2008
We do a neighborhood “street sale” in Waukegan every year, too. My alderman has the city put out barriers to block the street, and everyone on the block is asked to participate, and to have their family/friends join in as well. We end the sale at 4, take an hour and a half to clean up, then set up the BBQ and do up burgers and hotdogs for everybody. Everybody enjoys the day, and we get rid of a lot of stuff. I keep a pile of discards steadily growing during the year so it isn’t that much work all at once.
Posted by Michael@ Awareness * Connection - 08/18/2008
I would love to get in on one that I didn’t have to put on myself. It is great to unload so much old stuff that other people find useful, but it’s a lot of work.
Posted by becoming minimalist - 08/19/2008
we used a garage sale to unload many of the things in our home when we decided to become minimalist a couple of months ago.
we also used ebay. generally speaking, items sold on ebay for more money but took longer because of photos, descriptions, shipping, etc.
Posted by gypsypacker - 08/19/2008
Look for regional yard sales. If you go to flea markets, look for a professional flea marketer (single-genre merchandise) and ask them where and when these are scheduled. In the Southeast, the World’s Longest Yard Sale covers old US Highway 127 from Covington, Ky (just south of Cincinnati) to Birmingham, AL, and usually is scheduled for the first or second weekend in August, to give the back-to-schoolers a chance to shop. The states who have “tax holidays” and exempt one weekend’s back-to-school purchases schedule this weekend or an adjacent weekend for the exemption. If you’re a thrifty vacationer who adores shunpiking, antiques, and natural beauty, you might want to consider this event or other similar ones out West for your next vacation.
Posted by cdelphine - 08/20/2008
My mom insisted on having a yard sale once… one person came other than my friend and one person who lives up the street. I told her it wouldn’t work, we live in the country on a side street and she decided to have it on July 4th.
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