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Yard sale regulations on the rise
In the down economy, the beloved American pastime of unloading crap in your front yard or driveway has become increasingly popular. And so have local laws regulating garage sales of the 'extreme' variety.
Wed, Apr 18 2012 at 1:16 PM
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Photo: Paul McKinnon / Shutterstock.com
Is the cherished American tradition of hawking decrepit lawn mowers, Precious Moments figurines, and VHS tapes of “Quantum Leap” from the comfort of your front lawn or driveway under threat from local garage sale gestapos? According to msnbc.com, in many towns and municipalities across the country, yes it is.
To be clear, yard sale crackdowns exist mainly to curb those of the “extreme” variety, i.e. disruptive, rubberneck-inducing roadside retail operations that are held every weekend and involve multiple junked cars, large appliances, and ungodly amounts of crap ... we're not necessarily talking about a couple of card tables set out on a Sunday afternoon that have been topped with the remnants of a seasonal closet cleanout. That’s totally understandable — I wouldn’t want to live next door to a perma yard sale. But still, in many areas of the country where garage sale limits, permits, rules, and fees are being imposed, it doesn’t really matter if you’re unloading a washer and dryer set or a box of old baby clothes.
Take Dallas for instance, where the city council passed an ordinance last year that puts a cap on how many garage sales residents can hold (two per 12-month period) and how long they can last (no more than three consecutive days). Residents are also required to obtain a permit and pay a $15 fee. There’s also a whole bunch of restrictions about where exactly signage for the sale can be placed (thank god for Craiglist, eh?).
Council member Dwaine Caraway tells msnbc, “It wasn’t about making revenue for the city more than to get something under control that was increasingly growing out of control. People throughout neighborhoods and communities — some people, not all — were taking advantage of it. They’d roll out stuff and roll it back in every weekend. A garage sale to me is you got an old pair of shoes, or an old set of golf clubs or dishes. But this stuff was in boxes. Some with tags on them."
Oklahoma City has a similar law on the books that limits the number of tag sales a household holds to two a year provided that a proper permit is obtained first for seven bucks a pop. In San Antonio, residents within city limits are allowed four garage sales a year but must cough up $16 or $16.50 per permit. Plus, the sale of (secondhand?) glue to minors is verboten but there’s no mention of the sale of unused merch. In Mamaroneck, N.Y., the laws are particularly rough: $20 for the privilege of holding no more than one garage sale a year.
Similar restrictions have been proposed or instituted in Tacoma, Wash.; Norfolk, Va.; Long Beach, Calif.; South Greensburg, Pa.; Springfield, Mo.; Las Cruces, N.M.; and in Palm Springs, Calif., where I’d imagine there’s some great loot waiting to be snagged up by all those “early birds.” The garage sale overlords in another town where there’s the potential for stumbling across secondhand treasures, Beverly Hills, requires that garage sales are held behind homes so that they aren’t visible from the street and must be advertised using only city-issued signs. And if you live in Louisiana, there’s a truly bizarre new law on the books meant to curb the sale of stolen goods that not only limits the number of rummage sales a resident can hold but requires them to log customers’ IDs and only accept personal checks, credit cards, or money orders as payment … no cash transactions allowed.
As suggested by msnbc, the poor economy is responsible for the recent spike in garage sales, or at least the traffic-disrupting “extreme” ones that towns are trying to limit. According to TagSellIt.com, 45,000 garage sales are held every weekend across the U.S., which sounds about right. “The middle class appears to be shrinking while the lower classes are growing, and members of the middle class seem to be engaging in thrift behaviors as an adaptive strategy under conditions of downward mobility,” Todd Goodsell, an associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University tells msnbc.
Has your attitude toward garage sales changed in recent years? Have you yourself held them primarily as a method of unloading junk unearthed after cleaning or before moving? Or have you begun to consider them more as a serious money-making venture? And does your town/municipality have any rules or restrictions surrounding garage sales? What do you think of them? A necessary evil or just unnecessary?
Via [MSNBC]
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In the UK, we have things called "Car boot sales", which're organised events, similar to a yard sale, where many people bring all the crap they want to get rid of in the boot/trunk of their car (there's usually a fee to be involved as a seller), for people to browse through and buy. Perhaps something like this is what some parts of the US needs?
A garage sale FEE is BullSh*t!
The government should stay out of this. Let homeowner's associations pass rules for garage sales in their neighborhoods. We can all move away from habitual garage sale merchants, or collectively as neighbors convince them to stop. Don't we have more pressing problems in this country?
in Roseville, MN a yard-saler was part of a police 'sting' for having more than 2 yard sales in a year. BUT-the purpose for limiting these sales is that it usually causes problems like traffic.
Passing an ordinance, then tacking on a 'permit' fee is merely a way to raise revenue. Welcome to the 'nanny' nation
There is someone who has had a garage sale every weekend for the last year and a half on my narrow little street. Yes, we have laws limiting to 10x a year, but no one that works for the city works on the weekends in this budget tightening era, so it doesn't get enforced. The cops have bigger crimes to worry about. So good luck getting those rules enforced!
Well, where I live, I don't see yard sales in the winter. Just during 'yard sale weather', which is usually from spring thru fall.
Yard sales are like other areas of life were the saying 'give some people an inch, and they will take a mile' applies. Some people will always find a way to abuse their rights and freedoms regardless of whose toes they step on in the process.
Having lived in Tacoma for my last three years of school, I find it hilarious that they have a law on garage sales. This is akin to making it illegal to litter in downtown Bagdhad in the midst of a war. Gangs, drive-by shootings, etc., and they regulate garage sales? Better yet...it's like restricting the song list for the orchestra on the Titanic. As if running for one's life wasn't going to occupy one's time already.
Next they wil want You to add sales tax so they get their cut !
I've heard there are some towns that do this already.
Yard saleing is a way of life. Back off!
Freedom and liberty is not lost to dictators and tyrants as much as lost to pinheaded nosy little bureaucrats in grubby little offices who just HAVE to meddle with, tax and regulate every aspect of your life. This is just another example.
Actually, no it't not. I have a neighbor that had one every weekend for two months. They would go around through people's trash and find things worth selling and then I'd have to deal with people parking in my yard, destroying my property and disrupting traffic so they could sell other people's garbage. These rules cuts down on that crap. $15 is not a lot of money for a permit...
In my town, you get to have up to two yard sales a year, one weekend apiece. That works just fine. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and it keeps our landfills a bit leaner. I don't see the need to add a layer of bureaucracy by introducing a permitting process.
I don't think its retailer protectionism... they are selling used items. Most residential areas are prohibited from running a business from the home and for good reasons. If you are having a garage sale everyweek you are running a business from your home. This is one case where I agree with the restrictions for the sake of the neighbors and neighborhoods.
One word for ya: eBay. Does the city have an interest in this? No? How long before this is restricted as well?
Retailer Protectionism, pure and simple. They pay more taxes and need to be protected from Granny and Grampa's deleveraging antics.
looks it isn;t just canada that is trying to tell everybody how to live their life. the land of the free don't seem so free any more.
hell, if they're restricting yard sales the land of the free ain't even cheap.
message to all you busybodies: get your damn nose out of everybody else's business
Is this really a free country? Since when can a politician tell the rest of us what we can and can't buy, sell, trade, or give away? So what! if somebody is selling unopened boxes of merchandise? Why don't all you politicians stick your heads where the sun don't shine and leave the rest of us alone. I'd be willing to bet that as soon as these numb skulls pass a law they'll be the first ones to break it and rationalize it away.
Some people got to yard sales then sell the stuff they bought every other weekend. You can't get out of your own driveway or down the street for cars blocking everyone, the stink from idling cars, people walking over your lawns. You can put up with that once in a while but not all the time.
I don't care how many sales my neighbors have. We have found some great outdoor toys for the kids at some and if someone is having that many sales, the must really need the money. I don't know their financial situation so who am I to try and stop them from helping themselves out of a financial issue?
Kinda wish our homeowner association here in my West Little Rock, AR neighborhood would impose some restrictions. We have a resident who has a sale every week, looks like a flea market, and it really increases traffic into and out of the neighborhood. I also think it decreases property values.
The association where I live allows one 'neighborhood' yard sale a year. Most of the residents don't even participate.