Buying a Permit and Other Yard Sale Pet Peeves in Tri-Cities

Why would anyone want to put on a yard sale? Putting on a yard sale isn't fun unless you're my wife, who said it would be fun. Well, for me - no part of it was fun.

The preparation is daunting; you have to go through every room in the house - closets, drawers, attic, the garage, cabinets, the basement, the shed - and look for anything you haven't used or don't want anymore and move it to the pricing area, which in our case was the garage.

The next step of sorting and pricing is almost as bad. I mean who really knows how much this junk is worth? So you make your best estimate of what someone might be willing to pay for it.

Thanks to social media and other web services, advertising a yard sale online is pretty simple - Facebook Marketplace, Deal or No Deal, etc.  I think the most important part of marketing is your sign - it has to pop and have arrows pointing potential customers to your sale.

YARD SALE PET PEEVES

Having to secure a yard sale permit from the city - for real - it's required in Pasco. Check it out here - they have a list of actual yard sale rules. Kennewick no longer requires a permit but has some suggested rules. Richland doesn't require a permit, but you have to have it wrapped up in two days. All cities require that you sell used items.

Having to get up at the crack of dawn to set up.

Dealing with the weather - too hot, too windy, or too cold. It's never "perfect".

Having to haggle with buyers - "I don't really need this, but if you'll give it to me for one dollar instead of ten, I'll buy it". Good line!

Having to explain why it has a dent or a blemish. It's USED!  That means it's not NEW and it will have some wear.

The yard sale pro asks if there's anything in the house that's for sale. Aw, if there was anything for sale inside the house there would be a sign, or I would've dragged it out to the yard.

The guy who pretends he didn't see the price and says, "that's too much, will you take half"?

Running out of change and having to run to the bank for more.

Packing up everything that didn't sell and hauling it to the secondhand store or the dump.

THE BEST THING ABOUT A YARD SALE

When it's over and the few hundred bucks you made from 18+ hours of work is in the bank. Did I mention I don't like yard sales?

Last thing - DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE SIGN DOWN when it's over.