GARAGE SALE ARTICLES

Dealing with a yard sale disturbance

Whenever you open your yard or your garage to the public, there’s a risk some trouble maker may drop by to vent their spleen.

Fortunately the risk is quite small. But because you won’t know everyone who walks through your front gate, you don’t know how everyone is likely to behave either.

The first thing to remember is to put measures in place whereby someone is watching your valuable property at all times. This needs to be as covert and non-intrusive as possible, because after all you want your visitors to feel comfortable. So, we’re not talking anything overly draconian - just things like making sure that if your partner’s busy explaining a sale item to somebody, you’re keeping an eye on the rest of the stock.

And because everyone visiting your property can see you’re out in the yard, locking your house up while you’re outside is also a good idea.

But, what to do if somebody becomes aggressive in a bargaining situation, or worse still comes into your yard with the express intention of causing trouble?

This of course would be very awkward. Not only have you got a ‘situation’ on your hands. But you’ve also got customers around who are bound to be turned off by the goings-on.

The situation of an overly-aggressive haggler can usually be solved by politely but firmly walking away from the deal. Remember that customers will be watching, so you don’t want to come out looking like a scrooge, or worse still as the aggressor. Remember, if you maintain your poise, you - not them - are the one who’s bound to be the one who comes out smelling like roses.

Now, in the situation where a drunk or a thug decides to turn up to rain on your parade, this is where you really need to keep your cool. Remember, this person is on your property, so you’re well within your rights to ask them to leave. Again, polite but firm is the key here.

In both these situations, if the aggressor refuses to desist, you should tell them in as calm a manner as possible to leave your property at once, or you will call the police. Immediately they refuse to leave, you (or a friend or relative who’s close to the telephone) must call the police, because things are likely to get out of hand if you don’t.

But these are reactive ways of dealing with the problems. Because the person you ask to leave your yard may well refuse, what you’d really like to do is minimize the chances of these sorts of situations arising, right?

This is where contingency plans come in.

First of all, you could invite a large, tough looking, but sensible (!) relative or friend around to be de facto peace keeper on the day. Supply them with food and soft drink all day, and get ‘em to keep an eye on the place while you’re dealing with the customers.

Of course, you should also have the police phone number and your cellular handy in case unwanted guests decide to hang around. Also, a prior phone call to the local police station to tell them you’re having a garage sale wouldn’t hurt. They’ll probably appreciate the advice, and who knows if it’s a slow day may send a patrol car around every now and then to keep an eye on your home.

But, look, it’s important to keep the risk in perspective. Garage sales are usually sedate affairs. And many of your guests and customer will be neighbors, relatives and friends. Even the people you don’t know will, in the main part, be good folk - so there’s likely to be people around who can help out should a situation arise.

The main things to remember are to keep your cool, and be prepared.