This summer, I attended a neighbourhood garage sale. The event was well advertised, so I expected lots of participation from the homes in the neighbourhood, with many items for sale. I started working on my list, to be ready.
The day arrived. The sun was shining, and it was not too hot nor too cold – a perfect day for garage-sailing! With my list in-hand, I headed out the door.
I decided to drive around the neighbourhood first, to get an idea of who had what I was looking for and where I should start. My excitement was building as I started to see large signs, pointing me in the right direction. What treasures would I find today? Would there be some unique finds? I turned into the neighbourhood.
As I drove the streets of the neighbourhood my excitement quickly dwindled because I only found eight houses that had items on offer. For those that did, there was not much selection, except for a little girl, hoping to sell many of her toys. So, my garage-sailing adventure turned out to be a “nothingburger”, a “lunch-bag let-down”. With the wind taken out of my sails, I returned home to contemplate why it had all gone so wrong.
Leading up to the event, I received a home-delivered flyer, regularly saw the event on my Facebook community pages and large signs were posted throughout the neighbourhood. So why were there not many “garage-sailors” coming to peruse what was on sale? And why was there such a lack of participation from residents in the neighbourhood?
Garage sailing routes used to be planned. My small-town newspaper usually had two to three pages of garage sale ads throughout the spring, summer and fall, organized by city sections. This made it possible to circle the garage sales of interest and map out a route. The practice was so popular, that “garage-sailors” had to start early to get the best selection of items.
I guess that, like many things that have been affected by COVID, garage sales have gone online. Instead of hunting down specific items or being surprised and delighted by hidden treasures, we have learned to scroll Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Karrot, eBay and others for what we want or need. Another reason why people may not be so enthusiastic for garage sales is due to “return pallets”. Some industrious people buy pallets of returned items from Amazon, Wayfair and others, then post and resell them through their social media channels, offering “new” for less cost.
So, no more venturing out to navigate neighborhoods for garage sales that advertise “Something for Everyone”. No more finding hidden treasures. [Sigh] I will try to get over my disappointment and nostalgia for a time when “garage-sailing” was fun.
Kathy Majkut
Content Development, Copywriting