On any given weekend, when most people are happily sleeping in, are out there.
With wallets in hand and bargains in mind, roam the neighborhoods of the Quad Cities at ungodly hours in the morning. are yard-sale shoppers, and collectively they represent hundreds of dollars in profits that house-cleaning sellers wouldn't otherwise see.
Why bother getting up at 5:30 a.m. or earlier to go to a stranger's home, to search through piles and boxes of unwanted belongings
''I think it's to have somewhere to go and to get bargains,'' said Marcelle Hicks of Lewiston, who said she tries to go to garage sales at least once a month.
For many people like Hicks, shopping at garage sales is fun, but it also is a way to buy clothes, furniture, books and just about anything else you can think of at unthinkably low prices.
At a yard sale held by Barbara Endicott of Clarkston and her sister-in-law Lori Tyler of Lewiston, books sold for 20 cents a piece, a set of nearly new stoneware pots sold for $2, and clothes went for a few dollars at most.
Marcia Minick of Lewiston said she is often surprised at what people buy at her sales, with items she never expected to get rid of being sold.
''I've put things out there on a whim, and people buy them,'' Minick said.
Linda Frei of Ferdinand came to Lewiston resident Cheryl Johansen's sale to shop for baby clothes, one of the most popular items at sales, especially because retail prices are so high, Frei said.
Other fast sellers are furniture and collectibles, which some pawn shop dealers usually snap up early in a sale, said Sherry Cook, owner of 3 C's Sales, a used merchandise shop at Lewiston.
In fact, used-merchandise shops can often make a tidy profit by buying items at yard sales and then reselling them. Cook said she varies her prices, depending on the quality of the items she buys.
''Sometimes you can buy something for $5, with a $30 value,'' Cook said. ''But if something is pretty high, I'll leave the price.''
And garage sale items often make up a considerable amount of a resale store's stock said Cook, who said she gets about a half of her merchandise from yard sales.
''The pawn shop people were here first thing,'' said Betty Baird of Lewiston, who advertised her sale to begin at 8 a.m., and had people show up with empty trucks at 7 a.m. a dead giveaway when trying to identify professional garage sale shoppers. ''They bought a lot of the furniture. I was just glad to sell it.''
While there are plenty of examples of some pawn shop owners making the yard-sale rounds as early as two hours ahead of time, Cook said that is not her style.
''I don't feel it's fair for the sellers or the buyers to get there real early,'' Cook said.
But most veteran yard-sale buyers agree that if you are looking for selection, get to a sale early; if you're looking for the cheapest prices, go later in the day when most sellers will bargain freely.
The early hours of the day are when most of the money is made from a yard sale, and when most of the merchandise goes, Baird said. Later in the day, sellers are more than willing to bargain away the leftovers.
''In the morning most people pay the straight price,'' said Minick. ''The crowds simmer down in the afternoon and I'll start to bargain.''
Another thing to look out for if you're shopping garage sales is any defects in the merchandise.
''If you're going to go to a garage sale, look the clothes over really well,'' said one shopper at Minick's sale. ''If you're buying anything electrical make sure it works.''
And it's not enough to simply ask if something works, Cook said. Instead, yard-sale shoppers should ask if anything is wrong with an item.
''If the motor's humming it works,'' Cook said, but there still could be other problems with the merchandise. ''If you ask if it works, you'll get a dog.''
Mark Cramer, owner of the Jackson Street Pawn Shop at Moscow, recommends people try electrical equipment out before buying anything.
''It's up to you to try it and assume the person selling it doesn't know anything about the equipment,'' Cramer said.
Advertising a sale is one of the most important aspects of a successful yard sale, said Bruce Spencer of the Little Store and Pawn Shop at Lewiston.
The cost of an ad in the Lewiston Tribune, for instance, costs $3 for three lines for a week-long advertisement, with each extra line costing 50 cents, said Sue Baumeister, of the Lewiston Tribune Classified Department.
''It helps if three to four people advertise together,'' Minick said. She advertised her sale with Baird and Johansen, all of whom live on the same street.
The size of an ad is unimportant, Cook said. Most people who frequent yard sales will go to all of those listed in the paper, so a larger ad will only cost more while receiving the same response as a smaller one. But people should include any special merchandise they are selling, such as antiques or furniture, in their ads, she said.
They should also specify if they do not want earlybirds to begin crowding around their door at 5:30 a.m., as they are wont to do, Cook said. If they don't, sellers may be stuck starting a sale at 6 a.m., rather than the advertised time of 8 a.m.
At garage sales, sellers must price goods to sell, not to make profit; otherwise, the goods won't sell at all, Cook said.
''Whatever you are going to make from it is over and above what you'd get just throwing things away,'' Johansen said, explaining the motives for pricing to sell.
Price is what makes the difference between a yard sale and a ''yard display,'' where items are laid out but never sold, Cook said.
''The one thing I see is that people put goods out with high prices, trying to make a profit,'' Cook said.
Instead, someone planning to have a yard sale should realize that yard-sale regulars, especially second-hand dealers, make the rounds each week and are looking for bargains. Sellers should price their items with that competition in mind, she said.
''I hope I made $200,'' Baird said. ''It makes you feel rich, even though you have $3,000 worth of stuff out there.''
One thing many people rarely stop to think about when holding a garage sale is
that both Washington and Idaho law states that anyone holding a garage sale more than twice a year must obtain a seller's permit and charge sales tax.
However, it is difficult to monitor how many sales anyone holds in a given year, unless they have a sale weekly, said April Erickson of the Washington Department of Revenue.
The income from a sale should also be included on tax-return forms, said Liz Rodosovich of the Idaho State Tax Commission.
Cleverly marketing items at a garage sale is another important part of getting rid of merchandise, many agree.
''You need to put everything out in the yard in a manner that will guide people through the aisles,'' Spencer said. ''You need to classify everything. The biggest thing is to know what you have.''
Baird's method of display was to put cheap, small trinkets on a table. She also placed clothing on hangers and suspended them from three chain link fence sections leaning against her garage wall. That way people could see the clothes fully and did not have to sort through racks.
The way a yard sale is set up, and merchandise labeled, also makes a difference in whether Cook will even stop there.
She can also tell if there are any items she wants to buy as she drives by the house, Cook said. Once she gets there, it doesn't take long before she knows what to buy and what to leave to the other shoppers.
''I have friends tell me I can shop a yard sale quicker than anybody they know,'' Cook said.
Another hint is that items sell better if they are sold with other items, Cook
said.
For instance, if there is a more expensive item, lump it in with others that normally would be 10 cents a piece. Then sell the entire box of items for $2.50 or so.
Cook said she doesn't know why, but items tend to sell better that way it makes people feel as if they've obtained a bargain, she said.
Despite the work it takes to put together a garage sale, Cheryl Johansen said her reason for holding garage sales periodically is to have fun as well as to clear out her garage.
''You get to see people and talk to them and clean house at the same time,'' Johansen said. ''It's more for the fun of it.''
