Comments on: The 20th annual Great American Yard Sale

By: cdelphine

cdelphine — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:34:51 +0000

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.

By: gypsypacker

gypsypacker — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:34:52 +0000

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.

By: becoming minimalist

becoming minimalist — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:50:01 +0000

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.

By: Michael@ Awareness * Connection

Michael@ Awareness * Connection — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:26:59 +0000

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.

By: pidgeon92

pidgeon92 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:47:01 +0000

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.

By: larochelle

larochelle — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:06:52 +0000

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

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:58:32 +0000

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.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:33:47 +0000

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.

By: Lazygal

Lazygal — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:46:36 +0000

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.

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:33:58 +0000

@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.

By: Lazygal

Lazygal — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:26:15 +0000

What about those of us who live in communities that ban yard sales? Any suggestions?