To some people, yard sales are a way to make money; for others they are a way to clear clutter from their homes or garages.
To Ina Edy and her daughters, it’s about fun, family time and bonding.
But it’s not for sissies.
Ina and her daughters Karen Labadie, Cindy Thomas and Kim Breedon are a fun foursome who plot their yard-saling adventures with the precision of a military mission and the fun of a water balloon fight.
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Ina started the tradition when she owned a cottage near Conestoga Lake north of Kitchener.
“We would put everyone’s name in a hat and draw names. We went looking for the ugliest item we could find and you gave it to whoever’s name you had. Part of the trick was hiding what you bought from the others.”
One year, the four assembled back at the cottage to find they had all found the same item; each had a poorly made, wooden tulip.
“One after another the girls pulled them out and we had a great laugh,” Ina said.
“They were hideous,” Kim, the baby of the family, said. ‘The paint didn’t match and it’s like they were just meant to be bad. We couldn’t say anything when we bought them but, wow. We wouldn’t even take them home, so we left them at the cottage.”
On another trip to a small town, the group had been on a morning’s run (complete with lots of coffee) when they found themselves nowhere near any kind of washroom.
“Cindy had to go, so we gathered around the van and she used a pot she bought that morning,’ Karen laughed. “ We had to drive out to the country to empty it before we started for home.”
Cindy confesses to still having the pot, although it’s found another use in her garage.
Clothes, tools and kitchenware make up a large part of usual yard sale fare, but Kim said you never know what you’re going to find.
“Someone was actually selling a bread clip, you know the kind that comes attached to every loaf of bread. I wish I would have asked how much they wanted just to see.”
Cindy admits to having purchased a snow blower once and has picked up many different kinds of exercise equipment, none of which she still has.
Kim says one of the strangest experiences was with a man in Chatham.
“This guy is haggling with a woman over some kind of plate. I forget it if was for $4 or $5, something like that, when he just snapped and said, ‘If I can’t get the price I want for it, no one is going to have it.’ And just like that he threw it down on the driveway and smashed it to bits. We left, and on the way out told everyone he was acting like a psycho.”
When it comes to bartering, the girls leave it to their mom.
“Mom is the haggler,” Karen says.
“I don’t push it,” Ida responds. “I just ask them if they’ll take a little less for the item. If they don’t, it’s no big deal.”
Karen is the tactician, plotting the group’s Saturday morning outings the night before. “We usually begin at 8 and go to 11,” she said. “After that, everything’s picked over. Cindy is always ready to go first and mom is always late.”
She has to begin the trek from the closest Tim Horton’s to whomever is driving that week.
“We try to hit street sales where there’s more than one house and then work our way around. We can get to 10 or 15 depending on how they look. “
“Some are just drive bys,” Cindy said. “If something doesn’t catch our eye, we’ll just keep going.”
One sure way to get the group to stop is by having hot dogs available.
“There’s nothing that will make people stop faster than the smell of hot dogs and cooking onions,” Karen said. “If there’s something to drink, even better,” Kim said.
The girls have noticed a trend in the purpose of sales. “It used to be people were trying to get rid of clutter, now it seems some people are trying to get rich,” Kim said. “You really can’t sell a lot of expensive stuff at a yard sale.”
Karen, the only collector in the group, has found items for her Gone With the Wind and Sound of Music collections of plates and souvenir items, but most of what they buy is on the spur of the moment.
Although all three daughters are smokers, they won’t smoke at a sale.
“I see people going up and tossing cigarette butts on driveways and lawns,” Cindy said. “I think it’s rude.”
As for drivers, Ina said it’s surprising how people will block driveways and just park wherever they please.
“Parking idiots and early birds can drive you crazy,” said Karen who added that the girls hold their own yard sales. “It’s a great way to people watch,” said Kim. “You really get all types.”
Although most people act in a reasonable way, some just don’t.
“We’ve learned that with some folks you just have to hold your ground, stand firm and push back,” said Karen.
“Yard sales aren’t for sissies,” added Cindy with a laugh. “But they are a lot of fun.”
