Yard Sale Saturday: Sale variety bodes well

Despite a quick, early shower sending a few loosely-fastened signs to the ground, we came upon several excellent sales this weekend. The pleasant surprise was an annual book sale at a local Episcopal church, with the standard 50 cent paperback, $1 hardcover prices. I found at least two I’ll read before selling online, which is a plus.

It proved a little warm, so a stop over at Deb’s lemonade on Brambelton Ave hit the spot and gave us enough fuel to continue on Saturday. We found a few sales that had low or no prices, but were operating to raise money for someone in need - usually due to medical bills. This is a great idea for raising money, as most people will feel better about buying something they might have been teetering over.

Too, having low prices encourages charitable gifts so that yard salers can feel both that they got a good deal and helped someone out. At such events, if the books are priced low, I always overpay. Had they been priced high to begin with - even for a good cause - I would have been more hesitant.

We also ran across an estate sale or two. Alas, these seldom have anything I’m looking for, since it’s largely a home full of brikabrak with slightly higher prices than a conventional yard sale. Sometimes, you can find an appliance or knickknack at such sales, but only if you fancy that sort of thing. Since such sales are conducted by third-party vendors, anything worth much is either picked over or priced accordingly.

All in all an excellent yard sale-ing weekend. In the meantime, keep your signs big and your pockets full of change!