Impromptu Garage Sales

In a sign that the economy isn’t exactly rosy, I’m starting to see more and more impromptu garage sales.  Actually, I think I should call them impromptu sales instead because I’ve seen a couple variations.  Yes, I’ve seen your standard, run of the mill, garage sales but they seem to have a different “feel” to them.  Instead of seeing various knick knacks out in the driveway for sale, I’m seeing what appears to be primary newer LCD tv’s, nice patio furniture, coveted Harley motorcycles and other items that seem to scream, “Crap, I’m selling lot’s of valuable stuff here because I need to pay the bills!”  I’m also seeing people on the side of the road selling what appears to be “everything they own”.

Just last week I was driving by a house that had a garage sale in progress.  These people were obviously selling all they could before vacating their house.  The laundry machines (front loaders) were for sale, the couches and pretty much everything else from inside the house were all up for grabs with “make offer” on a number of the items.  I drove by a couple days later to see a large pile of “junk” sitting in the driveway and it appeared that the house was just about empty.

On top of the standard garage sales, I’m seeing something that I’ve never seen before.  In the last month I’ve seen three different groups of people that have pulled up to rural street corners with their trailers loaded full of tools, wood stoves, tables, hutches and lots of other stuff.  It really appeared as though they’d loaded up their belongings that were worth something to try to sell them on the street  corner.  Certainly I may be reading more in to these than I should, but it sure felt like they were selling out of sheer desperation.  (based on what was for sale and what the people looked like.  Most were wearing less than clean clothes and looked down on their luck).

Have you seen anything like this where you live?  Does it appear people are trying to sell their valuables more than they have in the past?