Before hosting a yard sale on your front lawn, you should check with your local municipality to see if they charge a garage sale fee and require a permit. I’ve seen fees ranging from $5 for each sale up to $25 just to have a garage sale, and these are numbers from across the country.
For most people, $25 could be a decent size dent in the sale’s profits for the day. You might also wonder why municipalities are charging and/or implementing these fees for having a sale during one of the worst recessions, just when people are more motivated than ever to squeeze any equity out of their household items just to get by or take the family out for a night. Does it make sense?
Whatever happened to American freedom? It’s your private property after all right? You pay property taxes to your municipality right? So what justifies having to pay extra fees by the seller, especially if you don’t live in a gated community where fees are more justified by the homeowners association?
I guess one good thing about a garage sale fee is that you can expense it when you go to report your profits on your taxes, along with the expenses you incurred in advertising your sale.
We give garage sale fees implemented by municipalities a big thumbs down! We would love your feedback and input! Feel free to share your comments!
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