Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 9, 1993 TAG: 9310120269
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: VICTORIA CARROLL CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Enter into the English language a new verb: to yard-sale.
You use it as you would any other verb. Examples: ``I yard-sale every Saturday'' or ``Where's John? He's yard-saling today.''
The new verb is getting more use as more people discover the adventures of the sport.
As with most sports, there is a yard-sale season. Longtime enthusiasts say the season opens in earnest with the warm weather of spring, slows during the humid months of summer, then rebounds before closing in late fall.
Fall is a particularly good season in the New River Valley because it means the return of college students to Blacksburg and Radford neighborhoods. Yard sales around Blacksburg can take on an international flavor as foreign students stop by to look for furniture and kitchen items to furnish apartments far from home.
There are about four good yard-sale weekends left this season.
The warmup begins at home with a newspaper opened to the classified ads. ``I look through the paper and circle the ones I want to go to,'' says Bonnie Crum of Ellett Valley, whose husband introduced her to the sport in the '70s. Once a big buyer, Crum says she's honed her skills.``I don't buy anything anymore unless I need it.''
Not so for Jean Beal of Blacksburg who admits she'll buy anything. She has five grown children and a granddaughter and reasons, ``buy it because somebody will always need it.''
But the price has to be right. Billie Gerringer of Ironto describes the thrill of the sport as ``getting bargains, other people's treasures.''
Almost every seasoned yard-saler has a story of a treasure found at a bargain price. Jean Beal describes an antique table she bought for $5. After refinishing it, she says it was appraised at $600.
The bargain Pauline Alls of Mount Tabor remembers best is a nearly new gas stove she bought for $50. She also remembers the words of the workman who installed the stove who told her she ``stole this thing.''
Ten years, thousands of meals and no problems later, she heartily agrees.
Kathy Lee of Blacksburg says her best buy was a Fisher Price child's car seat she saw priced in stores at $50 that she bought for $7. But bargains are a bonus for Lee and many international students who attend yard sales as an educational experience.
``Sometimes you can see American culture through yard sales,'' explains Lee, who's in the United States from Taiwan with her husband, who earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. ``I see novelty stuff,'' said Lee, ``I don't know what it's for. I ask and they tell me.''
In other sports, players need rackets, bats, gloves, nets or expensive uniforms. Yard-saling requires very little. With a newspaper, a pocket of change and a nose for a bargain, anyone can play.
A few tips for dealing with yard sales, from seasoned "salers":
Keep prices low. ``If you've got a 50-cent yard sale, you've got the buyers,'' says Bonnie Crum. ``If you sell it all, it'll add up.''
Keep traditional days/hours. Best yard sale days are Friday and Saturday. Yard-salers are early risers. Start no later than 9 a.m.
Advertise. Use classified ads and posters. Bonnie Woolwine of Christiansburg cautions that you should write large enough on your posters that customers can read them from their car. Another warning: Check local ordinances. For example, Blacksburg prohibits posters on public utility poles.
Have plenty of change. For a four-hour sale, two rolls each of quarters, dimes and nickels plus 30 $1 bills should keep you going.
Be safe. Keep your change on you in a fanny-pack or shoulder strap purse. Lock or close your doors. Don't let strangers in your home.
Have fun. Yard-salers are interesting people. Get to know them. Once you try it, you may find you become one.
by CNB