Yard Sale Sunday: Eager Bird

In the deserts of Arizona, yard sale-ing meant getting up at ungodly hours - often starting at around 5am. Most sales began around that time, or - even if they had advertised starting later - eager yard sale aficionados would already be rifling through boxes yet to be splayed out whether invited or not. 

This dynamic made sense, of course, given that all sales were final by about 930am - meaning that the heat was simply too much to bear by that time and sellers packed up shop and buyers went back home. 

In Roanoke, however, yard sales can go all day - even in the peak of summer. But in both cases, the question arises of how important it is to get to a yard sale as soon as possible.

It sort of makes sense: you want to be among the first there so that you can have pickings of everything for sale. If you went later, maybe you'd miss out on lots of items you would have loved to buy. 

However, I'm going to argue for the path of patience here. While I have long been in situations where overzealous buyers have literally shot around my car, screeched to a halt, and jumped out in order to be just one person sooner at a sale, I've rarely seen such zeal pay off. 

Foremost, such behavior is reckless and likely to result in a traffic accident, and certainly won't make you any friends anytime soon (and fellow yard salers do reappear - have no doubt). But the whole point of the rush is - in my experience - just as moot.

With so many sales out there, the variety you'd see rushing around to as many as possible as fast as you can won't get you any more options or deals than the turtle's pace. 

Because we're all looking for different things and willing to pay different prices, there's really no logic in thinking that getting to a sale sooner will mean finding something that would have otherwise been bought already. 

So when you're out there scoping sales, just tell yourself that hurrying won't bring any more luck or quality of goods than taking your time. While there are certainly some wonderful items to be found at yard sales, and even some real money to be made, it should also be about the experience. Let's face it: you're not likely to find a lost Picasso at a yard sale, so have fun with them. Meet people and take your time. There will always be more sales. 

'Til next week: Keep your coffee in one hand and your singles in another.