Garage sales are one of our favorite tools for helping clients reduce the clutter in their homes. Whether a client is downsizing or just trying to address a clutter issue, garage sales help clean up the house and generate a little bit of spending money at the same time. If you’ve been considering your own garage sale this summer, you are in luck. The ‘second season’ of garage sales is now nearly upon us.
What do we mean by second season? Well, consider the fact that the most popular time for garage sales is early spring. That’s when people are cleaning out their houses after several months of being stuck indoors. And because there are so many garage sales to choose from, people who enjoy shopping the sales are out in full force during the early spring.
From late spring through mid-summer, things tend to settle down a bit. But they pick up again in late summer, which is what we call the second season. This second season runs from the middle of August through the end of September. It should be no surprise that National Garage Sale Day is the second Saturday of August. This year that means it falls on August 13.
School Getting Ready to Start
You might be wondering why garage sales do so well in the late summer and early fall. There are several factors to consider, not the least of which is the fact that school is getting ready to start in most parts of the country. Parents are out looking for certain items they can use to send the kids back to school. And, of course, we are not just talking about elementary and high school students. University-bound students are also in play here.
Consider the first-year college student getting ready to go to school several hundred miles away from home. That student is going to need certain items that may include a dorm refrigerator, perhaps a desk and dresser, maybe a bookshelf, and so on. Garage sales are the perfect shopping venue to find these items gently used and at a good price.
Parents of younger students may be out looking for various school supplies including backpacks, calculators, and the like. Before they head off to the local department store where they will spend a small fortune, parents look around the neighborhood garage sales to see what they can find.
Older Shoppers Getting Out
In warm weather states, late summer to early fall is the perfect time for older shoppers to get out and about. Those who were kept inside by the heat of summer now find cooler days to go garage sale shopping. And don’t forget the snowbirds who are preparing to leave for their annual migration south in a few weeks. They are out looking for a few last-minute items they need for their winter homes.
Late-summer to mid-autumn is the second season for garage sales in the U.S. This might be the perfect time for you to clear out some of the clutter in anticipation of your move, or just as a way to get rid of what you do not need in anticipation of this year’s holiday season. At My Divine Concierge, we would be thrilled to be able to help you get ready for a garage sale. Contact us right away to learn more about how you can use a garage sale to reduce clutter.