Yard Sales Flourish in Summer Heat
By Olivia Cobiskey
Throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia, the marketplace serves as a meeting place for the community. A hub for trading more than goods, it is a place to gather information, catch up with old friends and make new ones.
As America has moved toward fixed prices and bottom lines, one of the last bastions of free trade has become the neighborhood yard sale. In St. Petersburg, the idea of the marketplace is alive at the yard sale as people trade pieces of their lives for a hope, maybe a dream, always a possibility.
Similar to their marketplace counterparts in the other parts of the world, the sellers are up early-dragging their possessions to the curb, unlocking garage doors and separating items into $1 or $2 piles in preparation for a busy day of bargaining.
On the corner of 49th Street and 10th Avenue South, sits a one-story cinder block building on a two-parcel lot flanked by overgrown weeds on the left and a patchy asphalt and dirt parking lot on the right.
Under white tents and on foldout tables, people have donated pieces of their lives to help build a dream.
The Southside Church of Christ, at 932 49th St. S., will use the proceeds from the bi-monthly yard sales to build a larger building for its growing congregation.
The congregation of 60 people from St. Petersburg and Tampa is a small church, said Minnie Daniels, wife of Minister J.L. Daniels Sr., "but a fast-growing church."
Under a pile of "gently loved" purses there is gold: a brown leather Coach purse for just a dollar. Women from the church, noticeable in their colorful hats and enigmatic smiles, are always nearby to answer a question or strike up a conversation.
The yard sale offers a "good fellowship opportunity," said member and youth counselor Shawntel Reed. "It's a way to further the ministry" in a society that, she believes, has lost hope.
Down 49th Street on 15th Avenue South, across from the Shadyside Fresh Meat & Grocery, are two young entrepreneurs: Javonta McLaurin, 10, and his cousin Greg Cleare, 15. McLaurin and Cleare spend their summers selling items McLaurin's father brings home from his warehouse job.
The youths haul their wares out to the sidewalk in front of their house almost every day at noon and pack them up again around 8 p.m. They sell jersey sets: a shirt, shorts and hat for $45, and a jean/shirt combo for $35 for adults and $25 for children.
Behind them, the yard of the house is littered with bicycles and mopeds. A gathering place, neighborhood children stream in and out of the house while the young men work.
McLaurin, a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, said they sell about five sets a day because their prices are cheaper than the stores and the sets are popular in school. The money they earn is more than pocket money; it helps them buy their own school clothes in the fall.
Down 15th Avenue South in the Childs Park neighborhood are telltale yard sale signs, usually taped or tied to light posts and stop signs. "Yard Sale," handwritten in thick, black, block letters on cardboard, points the way.
"Sign location is important," said Michelle Aaron, who was having her second garage sale this month. She had her first in Brandon and then hauled everything to her mother's house on 18th Avenue South, because "it's a high traffic area."
Aaron wanted to purge before the long move to Houston, Texas.
"I'm not really a yard sale type of person," said Aaron's mother, Ann Jones, "I like to go to yard sales. To prepare for a garage sale is too much work for the money you get."
Jones and Aaron made it a "family" affair, however, and included Jones' surrogate daughter from Atlanta, Ga., and Aaron's neighbor from Brandon. All four women made a "couple hundred" said Aaron. Her son, Rheymon, 10, and their chihuahua, Taco, who, she said, plan to use their proceeds to buy treats, sold several items; including a stereo and stuffed animals Taco didn't like anymore.
They are donating leftover items to a local church.
In the Central Oak Park neighborhood, generic signs from a local hardware store, fluorescent pink or yellow, are more popular. Under the centered and crisp words "Yard Sale," there is a space for date and time. Follow them.
The yard of the one-story ranch style house is filled with things to barter. A 1950s style red wool vintage suit hangs off the side of the porch. It is only $3. Three generations sit on the porch while people sift through their past. But they don't mind.
The yard sale is about "socializing," said Pamela Cox, and it's nice to see who owned the "already loved clothing."
Patti Corbett, Cox's sister, just bought a home gym and is hoping to make enough room to start exercising soon. Children grow so quickly, she said, and with four generations living under one roof, there is "a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff."
It was a successful day for Corbett's 4-your-old daughter, Christianna, who had her eye on a new tent set from Target that included a tent, chair, sleeping bag, flashlight and compass for only $20. After selling her toy box and a play kitchen for $10 each, she finally sold the Winnie the Pooh play hut she'd grown out of to cover the tax on the new tent set.
Tips for a successful yard sale:
- Start early.
- Be prepared.
- Be enthusiastic.
- Remember the point is to sell the items, not to take them home, so set reasonable prices.
- Get everyone involved, make it a family affair.
- Price items higher to allow people to bargain for big-ticket items—washers, refrigerators, electronics. Wait to bargain until the second day.
- Make sure to have change.
- Put an ad in the classified section.
- Be prepared an hour earlier then stated in the ad.
- Group items by price: one sign, easy mathematics.
If you put an ad in the classified section, said Tina Harrison, be prepared for people to show up at least an hour earlier than advertised. Make sure it's a good weekend and check the weather reports, she said.
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