The Art of Yard-Saling

Saturday.

The day that everyone bulldozes all of their junk from the confines of the garage, attic, or basement. After the bulldozing, they throw the junk in hodge-podge piles all over their lawn or down their driveways for early-risers to come poke through and buy at insane mark down pricing.

Of course, there is an art to “yard-saling.” Driving down the street at 40 mph, you suddenly see the handmade, fluorescent green sign marked in bold, permanent marker: “Yard Sale.” The car whizzes past the sign, and you are still craning your neck trying to see the address on the sign. Soon, you pull an illegal “U” turn and speed back toward the intersection. Hopping from street to street, you start to lose hope of ever finding the yard sale.

“Did you actually see the address on that sign?”

“Well… Kind of. I thought there would’ve been another sign by now…”

“Does it even exist?”

“It has to! Maybe just a little further.”

And there it is. You just have to have that slight sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, the one that says, “You’re not going to find it!” And that is when you see the heaping piles of children’s clothes, random kitchen utensils and dishes, unmarked cardboard boxes, and larger items: beds, washing machines, scooters, and even the occasional refrigerator. That’s when you know you’re in heaven.

Walking through the piles, you wonder what treasures might be in the cardboard boxes. I’m always searching for “vintage” items. These items were bought long ago and have sat in the attic for the past few decades. Old pill bottles, TIME Magazines from the 50’s and 60’s, glass medical containers for “Applicators” and “Gauze”; you can find all sorts of stuff.

I am always drawn to the large stacks of books. I look for the oldest covers and flip open the cover to look at the copyright date. 1903. That’s when I know I’ve found something special. When a book has survived for over 100 year, no matter the actual value, it is valuable to me. Other times it is just the old paper products in general. Today, I found Polish postcards dating from the 60’s that showed 1945 and 1963 photos of post-WWII Warsaw.

Absolutely incredible.

The addiction cannot be controlled. You are always searching. Always wondering what will be in the next box, or what will jump out at you from behind the heaps of clothing.

And it isn’t just finding a treasure, from there you have the chance to haggle and barter like there’s no tomorrow.

“So, I know you wanted $7.00 for this, but I was thinking more like $5.00.”

long pause: “Yeah… I guess I could go $5.00 for those. They are vintage, though.”

“So, $5.00, right?”

“Yeah, we’ll do $5.00.”

“Do you have change for a $10.00?”

And so on and so on until about noon. Prime time for yard sales is between 8 AM and Noon. After that, either all of the “good” items have been bought or the yard sale is being packed away into the garage until the next Saturday.

There are also fine distinctions to know which yard sale is going to be worth going to. If you ever see a sign with “Estate Sale” written on it, you must go. No matter what, turn that car around and head back. Estate sales usually have the oldest items, with the most variety. They are people cleaning out a whole lifetime’s worth of stuff, and that usually provides you with a feast for the eyes.

The next type of sale is a “Moving Sale.” These usually have some of the best prices because the people are trying to get rid of their stuff extremely fast. They need to go, and their stuff can’t come with them. They practically give their stuff away.

Finally, you have the “Garage Sales” and the “Yard Sales.” There is a fine distinction between the two that makes them categorically different. From my experience, Garage sales have a wider variety of items that aren’t clothing. From electronics to housewares to hardware and tools, you will find more practical items at garage sales. While yard sales have the same type of merchandise as garage sales, it always seems that there is an abundance of clothing and paperback books at yard sales. In my opinion, this makes yard sales the low man on the totem pole.

Next Saturday is just a week away, and I can’t wait to see what I might find. Hope to see the rest of you out there, digging and searching for a treasure.