Yard sales mean finding bargains and meeting people

PANAMA CITY — Carol Corbin and her mother, Helen Griffen, don’t have an off-season when it comes to garage sales. For them, whether they’re hosting a sale or shopping, it is year-round fun.

“The key to having a good sale is to enjoy people and not be overly into it for the money,” Corbin said.

She said not only does focusing on money take the fun out of meeting the people that come by, word will get out about your sales being overpriced and people will stop coming.

“If you don’t enjoy it, it’s not going to be worth your while,” Griffen said.

Sales hosts aren’t the only ones who get into it for fun. Shopper Robin Kelly said if she could go to garage sales every Saturday, she would.

“I love the talking and seeing everything. Plus, with four kids, things can get expensive,” Kelly said.

When planning to host a garage sale, it is important to decide what to sell, what to charge and what time to have the sale.

Griffen said timing is the easy part; start early and you’ll be done shortly after lunch. They’ve learned from experience that people get started shopping early. When they host sales, they set up for a 7 a.m. start and usually end at about 1 p.m.

One of the most important decisions for a good sale is what you’re selling. Griffen said they sell items they no longer use and things they buy in places like Goodwill they think their buyers would like.

“When you’ve done it awhile, you know what people will buy. We see stuff in Goodwill; we know what we buy. You get to know what people will buy,” Griffen said.

Corbin said she prices based on intuition.

“Some things are cheaper than they should be and others are higher. If it’s overpriced, you’ll find out pretty quickly. People will tell you that,” Corbin said.

Kelley said not having things stuffed in boxes helps and so does having the price clearly marked.

“People don’t want to look in boxes and they want to see the prices. I’ll pay more if I can see the price and not have to ask for it,” Kelley said.

Although the price may be marked, it still may be open for negotiation. She and Griffen both said haggling goes on all the time.

“Sometimes I will haggle and sometimes I won’t. It’s all about knowing what the item is really worth, though if it gets later in the day, I will start lowering prices,” Corbin said.

At the end of the sale, there are often items left over and Corbin and Griffen said they don’t keep the items around.

“We donate the stuff leftover every time. Most people do; it’s a way to help where you can,” Griffen said.

One thing the mother-daughter sales duo agreed shouldn’t be done is an overabundance of yard sales.

“Some people have them every weekend and when you do that, people see it as a business. That’s not the fun of having and going to a yard sale,” Griffen said.

She added some people come out looking for specific items and others come out for the experience.

Garage sale shopper Robert Livesay said no matter what items are for sale, he is always ready to stop at a sale.

“I just like to come out and talk to people,” he said. “It’s fun.”