Podunk town outlaws garage sale signs
I source almost exclusively at garage sales. I used to travel a regular route every Friday which included three towns. Populations of 10K, 20K, and 50K. I have noticed far fewer sales at the smaller town so I have been giving it a pass. I went there yesterday because of a Craigslist ad. I commented to the seller about how few sales lately in her town. She told me that it is now illegal to post signs except on your own property.
Well, that explains why so few sales. What gives? A few hoity toity individuals spoil the fun for the many? This is Wisconsin and it is an old but rapidly growing town, not some pop up city in a metro area. Garage sales are part of our culture. I love traveling around, talking to people, petting the dog, taking in the scenery and once in a while scoring a fantastic deal.
That's my rant for today. Thanks for reading.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoBoth the community I moved from and the community I now live in have annual community garage sales.
The Great Glebe Garage Sale is a square mile * in which about every third home is having a sale.
Customers park outside the community because the streets are impassable.
https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/here-s-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-great-glebe-garage-sale-1.6896342
 
The one here is much smaller, maybe one house in ten, but the community is also older and less interested in sitting in the sun all day selling their castoffs.
https://www.oakbaygaragesale.com/
*A 'glebe' is property owned by a church, usually a square mile.
krazzykats
·2 years agoI gave up garage selling, I like air conditioning more. 😆
mike_jayroe
·2 years agoWith the estate sale I am having, the a.c. doesn't work. Getting ready has been brutal because I have a ton of stuff to move out of the way so 800-fGot-junk can get the 4 large items out of the house, then I need to get a rental comp. to set up tables all this week. Tuesday i go for minor eye surgery which means no bending over or heavy lifting for the rest of this week.
Next week I will be able to set up a fan while I load the tables up. I hope four weekends will do.
Then I am going to end all of my listings and make some major changes on all of them and then re-list. Hopefully this will help me sell everything.ðŸ˜
dhbookds
·2 years agolol, signs are a way of life here........In addition to the We buy houses, Roofing, we "paint roofs"(?), festival this/that, Take out dinners at the firehouses & Churches, Go X team, We buy gold/silver......the latest epidemic is "Congrats to .........." (high school graduates).....
We want an ordinance to ban all signs except g sales during the summer......too hard to pick them out of the forest while driving.......
silverstatetreasureboxes
·2 years ago@strugglinlikeyou
Have you ever been to the Tomah antique mall? I didn't get a chance to visit it but that road that runs down there is ripe for pickins ( forgive me I think it's 20?) Red Granite also had a junk shop there that I picked from and it had hidden treasures. Gosh I sure do miss your cheese!!!
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years agoIt is difficult to find a fair balance against so many competing interests.
gurlcat
·2 years agoI don't know I think this one is actually quite doable. So, first of all how does a town enforce prohibited rummage sale signs located in public spaces like street corners? -Well I would assume by locating the addresses written on the signs. They could just make the law where the signs must also state the DATES of the sale, and if any signs are found still out after those dates, or posted with no dates, then the residents get the fine.
Fair balance!
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoMy second home is in a very small town.
I stopped having yard sales there, not enough traffic to be worth hauling stuff out and back. My neighbors are not buying, if anything sells it is some person from away, who has happened into town.
There are very few people who ever run a second yard sale in town. People are bright enough to not need a ban.
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoI used to go to a community garage sale in a nicer neighborhood. Their HOA made it 'illegal' to have community sales, just individual sales are allowed now. Look here: https://garagesalefinder.com/
a_c_green
·2 years agoI actually gave up on garage sales in "nicer" neighborhoods, because so much of it was just cheap decorating items turned out after their last interior redecoration (which some folks seem to do about every two years). I can only look at so many decorative candleholders before I go blind or insane.
Our town does require permits, but they're free. Their purpose is to limit the number of garage sales you can have each year; I know a couple of houses around here that used to have them every single weekend. I have not seen any problem with old signs not getting removed.
(P.S. A little off-topic, I know, but give me a good estate sale anytime, preferably one that's so fresh that it still has an ambulance in the driveway and a pair of legs sticking out from behind the couch. If I can't get there on the first day of the sale, I'll be happy to go there on the last, because that's when the overlooked treasures are easier to spot and cheaper to buy.)
gurlcat
·2 years agoThere was a house here in Mobile than used to run a front porch/yard sale almost continuously, and I stopped there on several occasions, always finding more things that weren't there the last time. The family were quick to state that they were collecting proceeds to fund child welfare missions in foreign countries (they were more specific but I don't remember now), and that they were constantly receiving donated items to sell for this purpose, thus the steady turnover of items. They never had anything priced, which normally irritates me to no end because I don't like having to ask about every single thing before deciding whether to carry it around. BUT in this case I quickly learned if an item was worth considering, it was worth carrying, because they would let you have it for crazy cheap! -There was always a huge pile of bins and garbage bags of donated items they hadn't put out yet, so they always needed more room.
So often I would just approach one of them after gathering a whole armload (or box, which they supplied for shopping) and they'd just be like, "How about 5 bucks?" without even checking what all I had! I got so many things that were very desirable on eBay as well as things I just wanted or needed for my household, for virtually nothing. But ugh, all good things come to an end. I haven't seen stuff in that yard for a couple years now. I assume the neighbors got sick of the cars parked on the street all the time.
EDIT: they didn't even have signs posted. It was almost like a year-round open store.
mike_jayroe
·2 years agoa-c-green wrote.
(P.S. A little off-topic, I know, but give me a good estate sale anytime, preferably one that's so fresh that it still has an ambulance in the driveway and a pair of legs sticking out from behind the couch. If I can't get there on the first day of the sale, I'll be happy to go there on the last, because that's when the overlooked treasures are easier to spot and cheaper to buy.)
That is almost what mine will be. Brother was found 7/16. Will be seeing probate atty. this coming Monday. Burial Sat. Then I need to get broken furniture/bedding out, call some rental company for tables, and then start laying everything out, then place ads.
Facebook doesn't like me. Every time I placed an ad for "empty cardboard boxes" I'd get a message I am violating a ban on weapons. I file an appeal and the ad gets listed. If I edit the ad, it gets blocked again. I listed a "shed clean out" and the same thing happened. Only I was told one more violation and I would be permanently banned.
ittybitnot
·2 years agofile an appeal and the ad gets listed. If I edit the ad, it gets blocked again.
@mike_jayroe
I have that problem, too! LOL...latest takedown is for "no product for sale"... One is a necklace, the other is antique stemware. Unfortunately, their "ask for review" form has been broken for a month now. Problem is it makes the listing "invisible" in both Marketplace AND buy/sell groups.
I had the exact issue you described with a "sterling silver scotty dog brooch".....when the form finally worked the banning of that product continued FOR SELLING ANIMALS of course for months. They sometimes make eBay AI takedowns seem ... or not so bad or inexplicable as eBay's LOL.
As far as garage sales, I rarely go anymore. I don't really know why I sort of lost interest other than having to travel so far from where I live even to get started on a daily round. Sometimes I do miss the hustle, but not much. Never did just arrive anywhere and follow signs, but rather had my GPS programmed the night before taken from classified ads/internet postings/ etc.
There are towns that don't allow signs, there a towns that you have to pay a fee for a permit, a fee per sign, etc. but here in S. FL there are plenty of gated communities that don't allow yard sales at all, or have a yearly one which is mostly "new decorator stuff" as @a_c_green mentioned upthread.
I am moving soon to an area that actually has SEASONS. It will be a whole new territory!
strugglinlikeyou
OP2 years agoThanks for all replies. Sure, there are people who don't take down their signs. There are people who don't pick up their dog's poop. Good luck with outlawing walking a dog.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@strugglinlikeyou
So many of us, like yourself, look forward to spring and all the good things that go with it. Garage sales are part of it. In my neighborhood here in KC, there was always one going on. Now the cops stop you and ask to see your vendors license or what ever you call it. If you don't have one, they tell you to shut it down. I would think the cops would have more pressing issues as a priority (like the murder that occurred a street away from my residence 2 days ago) than a garage sale. Eye roll. Many people are struggling right now. An extra source of income does come in handy. We all still have to pay our bills.
Thank you for posting...😊
Happy Selling
meme6253
·2 years agoThe Major problem is too many would never go & take their signs down, Which would create an eyesore & trash issue, So now the Traditional Garage , Yard, Estate Sales, Sadly need an APP!
mike_jayroe
·2 years agoI will be doing a huge estate sell soon. First have to get the junk out/trash off the floor. Then I can get the stuff set up for selling.
My neighbors have had lots of yard sales, and no police problem here in Harford County, MD. Hope it stays that way.
strugglinlikeyou
OP2 years agoThere is an app: Craigslist. Not everyone wants to list online.
And I can go on and on about Facebook marketplace. So very popular for no reason I can discern. Big waste of time looking at sales that have no address and ended last week.
meekamaye
·2 years agoA few years ago I had a garage sale. While the door was closed, prior to the sale, I posted my 6' 1" 230 pound son at the door. Sure enough I had one enterprising person, known for being a PIA at sales, lift my door and start opening it. She was met by my son, standing there, arms crossed, glaring at her. He whipped the door down and almost got her toes in the process. When we opened at the precise time, she was gone.
Our town put a stop to garage sales during our summer festival because the vendors at the flea market were complaining it drew people away from their wares. Now they are promoting garage sales again, go figure...
ltldpr
·2 years agoWhat in the world? The audacity of some people!
evelyb30
·2 years agoI wish I could say I was surprised, but... I know a few scummy types who might do it or think about it. That said, if there's nothing being set up beforehand , I have to wonder if the sale wasn't cancelled. An estate sale today bailed and left the CL ad left up. It started at 9, and I didn't get there until 10:15. No signs and no signs even of anyone home. Not the first time either. Advertised tag sales bail too. As long as a sign was up a normal junkie would have just waited or gone elsewhere first, but sometimes there's one idiot....
I do go early, but it's because as a jewelry person, if you don't get there early, you get nothing because someone else was there early and bought it. Lifting the door though, that's above and beyond levels of Pushy.
a_c_green
·2 years ago"Breaking and entering" comes to mind... 🤔
I have some foggy recollection that our town, in addition to requiring (free) garage sales permits on display while you're selling, will also penalize folks who leave their roadside signs up past the last day of the sale. I think that's buried in the fine print of the form you fill out. They'll probably overlook a day or so past the close, but by next Tuesday, you'd better be out there doing sign removal before they do.
evelyb30
·2 years agoNo permits here, but I do wish they'd nail estate sale companies who leave their signs up well past the date too. One set of signs is from June 22/23. Still up today! Another set is two weeks old. Some yard sale signs stay up until they get to the point of illegibility or fall down. If an estate company was penalized $500 for leaving signs up, you can bet they'd know better next time! Once in a while a sign gets missed, and I'm all for giving a single sign a free pass or a warning, but repeat offenders and multiple signs..aww c'mon. That's littering.
gurlcat
·2 years agoWow that's a really bad reflection of the company too. Like counter-advertisement of their name. If they're so irresponsible with signage why would you trust them with your deceased loved one's possessions and the money from sales?
evelyb30
·2 years agoThey left the names off. Probably wisely. Those of us who go to sales regularly can name the bad hats without added advertising anyway. There's one guy who I'm honestly unsure of how he stays in business. Professionals and regulars see his name associated with a sale and go the other way. He's surly and overcharges. One of the two sign-leavers is someone I know, who's seriously considering retiring. The other, I went to the sale, may need a harsh wakeup call about their practices.
As for those Mattress, gutter cleaning, windows, siding etc signs...grrrrrr.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoNot only do they end up being eye sores on Monday, but many times they stay up for weeks. I don't know how many times i have followed signs to a yard sale to find out they were from last week. 😂
I wish they would get rid of the mattress signs (cheap mattress call xxx-xxxx) as well.
fbusoni
·2 years agoOne person's "fun" is another person's pollution.
If only that rule was applied everywhere.
dryophelia
·2 years ago@strugglinlikeyou
In my town, weekend signs turn into Monday eyesore that are just waiting for next weekends’ sales.
My city got tired of the litter and banned them as well.
ed8108
·2 years agoPeople living on the street in manny cities & towns is a more significant eyesore that needs to be addressed
yuzuha
·2 years agoYeah, that's one thing I actually support. It would be different if people were responsible and went around and took down all the signs they put up once the sale was done, but they don't.
cambriachick
·2 years agoIf your area has the app Nextdoor, you might want to join. I find local garage sales listed there and Craigslist.