KRF Management
Alan Krigman
Pluto
Curb giveaways & porch sales: come and get it (but.. a caution)
The moving season in University City is in full swing. SO you'll find lots of furnishings and other useful items left at the curb for trash pickup (Tuesday or Wednesday morning, depending on what part of the neighborhood you walk. And - as long as the warm weather holds - neighbors will continue to have porch and yard sales. This provides a great opportunity to grab things free or at least cheap, that you'd otherwise have to pay good money to buy.
Here are some tips.
This is recycling in the highest sense. It's also a way to save money on all manner of housewares, furnishings, clothing, appliances, and the ever-popular whatnot everyone likes so much.
As a matter of policy, KRF has no objections if tenants wish to hold sales of this type themselves, on their porches or the sidewalks in front of their buildings. Anyone wishing to use their porch for this purpose should discuss it with the other tenants in the building to make sure that everybody is comfortable with the idea. Also, take precautions to ensure that the building is not left unlocked - just because you're standing there, it's possible that an ill-meaning person can take advantage of the crowd and chaos to sneak inside. In addition, be sure to keep people from trampling on the garden in front of the building, if there is one, and clean the area of trash when you pack up and go back inside to count all that moolah you've made.
One other thing. if you don't find what you need at the curb or in a porch/yard sale, try The Second Mile Center on 45th Street between Locust and Walnut (same block as the KRF world headquarters). This thrift store has four sites on the block:
Prices are mostly reasonable. And they mark items down automatically after they've been on sale for specified lengths of time. In addition, they've been having a lot of sales – at 25% or even 50% off. These are usually on Saturdays.
As for the caution, especially with items set out at the curb. Beware of roaches and – even worse – bedbugs. Roaches you probably know about. They've been bothersome in urban neighborhoods for years. But bedbugs, after being almost extinct in the United States, are staging a comeback. And, if you bring in a few, or even the right wrong female, the result will be hard to get rid of. So check upholstered items especially carefully, and look in crevices of other pieces as well, before you bring them inside.
Here are some tips.
- Trash picking (aka dumpster diving)
- Don't be shy about trash picking. Everybody does it.
- Look around in the evening or early morning for the best selection.
- Plan ahead about transporting anything you find. If you don't take it when you spot it, it may be gone by the time you get back.
- Be considerate about not strewing trash around when you're doing your scavenging.
- Don't be shy about trash picking. Everybody does it.
- Porch and yard sales.
- Look for signs posted around the neighborhood for days and times.
- Mostly, these are held on Saturdays and Sundays.
- There's a trade-off between more items available early and an opportunity to bargain down the price of what's still available late.
- Look for signs posted around the neighborhood for days and times.
This is recycling in the highest sense. It's also a way to save money on all manner of housewares, furnishings, clothing, appliances, and the ever-popular whatnot everyone likes so much.
As a matter of policy, KRF has no objections if tenants wish to hold sales of this type themselves, on their porches or the sidewalks in front of their buildings. Anyone wishing to use their porch for this purpose should discuss it with the other tenants in the building to make sure that everybody is comfortable with the idea. Also, take precautions to ensure that the building is not left unlocked - just because you're standing there, it's possible that an ill-meaning person can take advantage of the crowd and chaos to sneak inside. In addition, be sure to keep people from trampling on the garden in front of the building, if there is one, and clean the area of trash when you pack up and go back inside to count all that moolah you've made.
One other thing. if you don't find what you need at the curb or in a porch/yard sale, try The Second Mile Center on 45th Street between Locust and Walnut (same block as the KRF world headquarters). This thrift store has four sites on the block:
- Furniture and large appliances
- Books, hardware, electronics
- Bric-a-brac, small appliances, lamps, pictures, jewelery
- Clothing
Prices are mostly reasonable. And they mark items down automatically after they've been on sale for specified lengths of time. In addition, they've been having a lot of sales – at 25% or even 50% off. These are usually on Saturdays.
As for the caution, especially with items set out at the curb. Beware of roaches and – even worse – bedbugs. Roaches you probably know about. They've been bothersome in urban neighborhoods for years. But bedbugs, after being almost extinct in the United States, are staging a comeback. And, if you bring in a few, or even the right wrong female, the result will be hard to get rid of. So check upholstered items especially carefully, and look in crevices of other pieces as well, before you bring them inside.
