Great Oregon Coast Garage Sale
Photo by Cody Cha
By Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
Computers have been a great shopping aid during quarantine times, but you’ll find them quite resistant to your charms if you try to haggle down a price. Haggling, and finding unexpected treasures, are two of the things that make garage sales so fun, but often a hunt for treasure becomes a hunt for places to find it. Not so with the annual Great Oregon Coast Garage Sale, a previously spring event that, COVID-erced to later in the year, is now happening from Friday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Aug. 9.
“We’ve always had the garage sale event on the third weekend of April,” said Lori Arce-Torres, executive director of the Lincoln City Chamber of Commerce. “When we started looking for a new date, we decided to try to find a weekend in August. It turned out that meant we could now plan it during National Garage Sale Week, so that actually worked out.”
Though the number of sale locations is fewer than in previous years, the area where sales are being held has grown considerably.
“We’re getting so much more of the county this year,” Arce-Torres said. “It started out in just the greater Lincoln City area, now it’s stretching from Rose Lodge to Yachats.”
The Yachats sale will be held at, and is a fundraiser for, the Yachats Lions Club. The charitable vibe is strong at this 2020 event.
“Some of our vendors will be allocating funds raised to non-profits like Relay for Life and the animal shelter,” said Jeanette Campagna, Newport Chamber membership & business programs manager. “That’s such a cool positive thing. The Newport Chamber is also having a sale that will help continue our mission of supporting local business. People that can’t have their own sale have been donating items to that; we’ve even had some of the local businesses like the Sylvia Beach Hotel give us some great stuff.”
Browsing can sometimes help you find something you didn’t even know you needed, but a short list of the kind of items that will being lovingly purged includes: camping and RV supplies, kitchen goods, furniture, tools and lots of things for kids.
“Look around your house and see what holes you need to fill in,” Arce-Torres said. “If you are one of the many people with more time lately, maybe now you can finally rearrange your house. It’s a fun time to refresh your look or just get a deal on something you’ve needed but have waited to buy because things are tight right now.”
Helping yourself find that perfect item for a great price might also help someone else make it through another month.
“Because more people than ever are out of work they are looking for creative ways to supplement their income,” Arce-Torres said. “This is something that can help people get by until they can get back to work.”
Organizers are urging participating sale holders to not just clean out their closets and garages, but to also clean the things they are getting out of their closets and garages.
Tips for a safe garage sale
Limit the number of shoppers who can browse at any one time. Pick a number you feel comfortable with; and one that is lower than the legal limit for your town (10 for Newport, Depoe Bay, Siletz, Yachats and unincorporated Lincoln County; and 25 for Lincoln City, Toledo and Waldport)
Wear a mask, whether you are hosting or shopping.
Maintain six feet physical distance from anyone outside your family group.
Consider signage to encourage one-way foot traffic.
Provide hand sanitizer if you are hosting; or bring some if you are shopping
Make sure your items are cleaned (and disinfected, if possible) before shoppers arrive.
Consider displaying items on tables rather than putting them in boxes for shoppers to rummage through.
Consider using Venmo or another payment app to reduce the amount of physical cash changing hands.
“We keep reinforcing the message to the vendors that things need to be clean and disinfected,” Arce-Torres said. “It will be up to the individual vendors to enforce the rules on masks or social distancing, but we all need to be on the same page about what the protocols are. But there are things they can do ahead of time to make it easier, like spreading out the merchandise on the tables so it helps people keep social distance. We’ve told people to spread things out on their lawn if they have to.”
Another difference from previous years is the decision to replace the printed map with interactive listings on the Oregon Coast TODAY website.
“It will be so much simpler this year since people can just use their smart phones,” Arce-Torres said. “They can go through the list and make their own map for the route they choose.”
Both Arce-Torres and Campagna have felt positive about putting together this year’s sale, even considering the greater work involved with ensuring public safety and fielding questions about the wisdom of having the event at all.
“Garage sales are a great way to get a handle on the chaos in your home,” Arce-Torres said. “But we also feel like this is a way of rising above the COVID chaos.”