I used to love having garage sales. It was fun to let stuff go and meet who was taking it while making a little money at the same time. I think all of that changed when we moved to a small Oregon town with a depressed economy. Here, and probably in many other parts of the United States, there are a large number of people who rely on garage sales to survive – they are pensioners, unemployed, housewives, and thrift shop owners, flea marketers, ebayers, antique dealers, and still, once in a while – someone just looking for something that will make them smile that they prefer not to pay full price for. That level of necessity changes the intensity of a sale. There is a dog-eat-dog competitiveness which in some cases determines whether someone will eat or at the very least – whether their food is quality or off the McDonalds $1 menu (which is no longer a $1 menu but a $1.69 or $2 menu).
Then there are the people who shop with their phones – comparing prices on Ebay and Amazon with my prices. Things just aren’t worth very much when just about anything can be had for $20 and shipping. We are in the process of getting rid of virtually everything – and not surprisingly – it’s hard. After two days of a garage sale with decent but not great stuff – I filled our utility trailer to overflow for a dump run and have ten boxes that will go to charity. That’s stage one. Next stage is to do a total estate liquidation sale and of course to empty our shop. This last weekend was the citywide sale here in our town – there was a lot of competition to get stuff in people’s hands. After two days, my wife and I were done – we packed it all in. Unfortunately, the little town we are in makes having a sale incredibly difficult. You can’t be on commercial or industrial or dual zoned land – which we are. You can’t be a person who makes a living selling second hand goods, which I do. You have to get a permit – which due to the previous two conditions, I am unable to get for our house. And then there is the rain. This is the Oregon Coast. Everything got rained on yesterday despite a forecast of clear and sunny. Yuck.
Anyway, that was step one. It was hopefully, the last garage sale I will have in Oregon. Our next sales will be store liquidation and then total estate liquidation – these tend to be better because they are indoors and you can command higher prices and sell a better quality of items. This weekend’s sale was enough to pay off a credit card bill – and we got rid of a lot of crap we didn’t need – so it was a success. Thank God.