Summer Specials
The old saying “one person’s trash is another’s treasure” applies to Nicole Jamison.
The Mount Pleasant sophomore said she has spent her summer pursuing numerous garage sales, many during the city-wide garage sale held in June, in search of those treasures.
“I probably hit up 30 garage sales, if not more, (during the June sale)” Jamison said.
Garage sales have become a common phenomenon with American culture. Every summer residents scour city streets and back roads, comb the classified ads and look for makeshift signs in search of cheap prices and big bargains.
Clothing can go for as low as 25 cents per article. Furniture like couches and desks can be priced as low as five bucks.
In the end, customers go home satisfied after they’ve saved themselves from another trip to Wal-Mart. And the sellers get the satisfaction of making some money with little work involved.
Jamison said she spent $35 during June’s city-wide sale, buying several things including an entertainment center, a Nintendo 64 video game system and shoes.
“You can get lots of cool stuff for real cheap,” Jamison said.
Garage salesman and Mount Pleasant resident Dick Lumbert is one of those who sells “cool stuff” for “real cheap.”
He said he buys items at estate auctions and then sells them in his own sales, which he holds a couple times a year.
But while this might sound like the strategy of a business man, Lumbert’s sales aren’t about making money – they’re about making friends.
“We don’t make much,” Lumbert said. “We like to meet people.”
Lumbert said he usually makes his garage sales a family affair by having his daughter and grandchildren hang around for the sale.
“My grandson, he likes meeting people,” Lumbert said. “He’s a salesman.”
Anything Lumbert said he doesn’t sell, he gives to the Salvation Army.
CMU graduate Shelly Machuta said she convinced her mother to participate in their neighborhood garage sale, which took place Saturday and included Lumbert’s. She wasn’t looking to make money, however.
She was looking to make space.
“I have so much to get rid of,” Machuta said.
Neighbor Linda Pohl had similar motivation.
“It’s nice to get rid of all that stuff you have,” the Mount Pleasant resident said.
