Garage sale season is getting under way, but in yet another sign of the recession, many families are holding sales out of necessity. And some buyers are new to the yard sale circuit, realizing they can no longer afford to shop at the mall.
“I believe that this year will see more garage sales than ever before,” said Bruce Littlefield, author of the 2007 book “Garage Sale America.” “The recession sort of shook us a little bit and made us realize we all have more than we really need. That includes big-ticket items.”
Littlefield, who runs a blog about garage sales, said they are good for both sides.
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“The win for the seller is that they are getting rid of things that they no longer need or want, and they are getting some pocket change,” he said. “For the buyer, they are going to get things for dimes on the dollar, and they are going to discover that spending a little cash money is a lot easier at the end of the month when the credit card bill comes.”
Over the last year, garage sale postings on Craigslist have increased 80 percent nationwide. The site has seen a “strong uptick” in garage sale postings as users “de-clutter their homes and make a few spare dollars to pad their wallets,” said Craigslist spokeswoman Susan MacTavish Best.
Hoping to earn extra money to pay her mounting bills, Francesca Nichols posted an ad on Craigslist: “Giant Yard Sale — Everything Must Go!”
So at 5:30 on a Saturday morning, she and her husband filled their driveway with purchases made during better times: a wooden dresser, top-of-the-line child car seats, a hand-painted mirror and piles of expensive clothes.
Two hours later, Nichols waved a wad of bills and smiled. “Wow, honey,” she said to her husband.
Unfortunately, their total earnings for the day — $275 (plus $8 from their son’s lemonade stand) — won’t go far. Nichols and her husband are both unemployed; he was laid off from Wells Fargo last summer, and she recently took a stress leave from a car sales company after her pay was cut four times in six months. They have more than $30,000 in credit card debt and a $2,400 monthly mortgage payment.
But Nichols, 40, said every bit helps. “I have never been in this situation before,” she said. “I have got to find a way out.”
Maria Ual, a shopper who is nine months pregnant, said she bought everything new for her first child but is shopping at garage sales for her second. Though she still has a nursing job, Ual, 33, said she was looking for ways to cut costs.
Ual held up a baby carrier. “How about $10?” Nichols said. “It was only $150 new.”
Ual passed, but bought a book, a few toy cars and a rattle, all for $3.