The Recession and Garage Sales

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

24 May 2008 03:57 AM

The Memorial Day weekend is the official start to the yard or garage or tag sale season here on much of the east coast. I have gotten some of my very best bargains at Memorial Day weekend garage sales. Folks have spent the last few weeks doing their organizing and spring cleaning, and they are ready to sell their stuff. For my little area of Pennsylvania, the sales should be numerous, since this is the first nice weather that we have had in a week, and everyone should be out and about enjoying it one way or another, including holding their yard sales.

I think the recession, whether admitted or not, will definitely have an effect on this year's garage sales in terms of the number of sales, the quantity of stuff, the pricing and the competition. How? Here are my thoughts.

I think the recession may have some affect on the number of garage sales. This could go two ways. First, people may be eager to sell their stuff, since any extra money earned can go to buy food and gas, which is so expensive, or entertainment which may have been cut back otherwise for the budget. You may find people digging out all sorts of items that they might have otherwise held on to themselves in order to make some money, leading to a lot of inventory out there. Garage sales are being mentioned in the media as a way to make a quick buck.

On the other hand, people may have a tendency to hold on to their stuff. In bad times or times of budget crunch, a hoarding instinct is set off in some people. They feel that they better hold on to their stuff just in case they can't afford any new stuff. There old stuff suddenly became very valuable, which leads me into pricing.

Later today, I'll talk about my thoughts on changes in garage sale pricing and competition. Check back!

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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