Yard Sale Day Baits Bargain Hunters

For one mostly sunny day yesterday, Hyattsville's front lawns became the premier secondhand retail destination for area bargain hunters. That's because and hundreds of curious shoppers participated in yesterday's annual spring Hyattsville Community Yard Sale.

Over on Oglethorpe Street, near , one energetic and outgoing resident was standing on the sidewalk, calling out and waving to passerby, encouraging them to take a look around his offerings of old 45 rpm vinyl records and decades of VHS television recordings.

And over on Longfellow Street, this reporter was able to snag two Polaroid cameras for a mere $1.

One thing made abundantly clear by the yard salespeople: the early bird gets the worm.

Tasheika Conley, a 41st Street resident who had set up shop in the parking lot of senior apartment complex, had been hawking her wares since 7:45 a.m.

Same thing with the Brownlee family, who were making a small fortune selling hotdogs, half-smokes and fried fish sandwiches to passerby, also from the parking lot.

"The weather is holding out, and it's been alright," said Anne Brownlee as her son Will Brownlee tended the grill. 

Conley, when asked which of her items she least wanted to sell, said that she was torn over her decision to part with her collection of near-vintage Harlequinn Romances, with many printings dating back to the 1960s. 

"I didn't want to sell them," said Conley. "I wanted the money, though, so I put them out."

Over on 39th Avenue, Jan Pekar and her son Dan Pekar were spotted trying to unload some slightly dated digital gadgets. Dan had a large cache of web cams, digital camcorders and digital cameras. While the Pekar's were indulging a nosy journalist, a young couple strolled up and began silently poking around Dan's selection of gadgets. He swiftly approached the potential customers and began extolling the virtues of his gadgets. 

"I'll give you this one for $50," said Dan to the couple as they examined a sleek, waterproof digital camera. "One guy tried to give me $20 for it, but I was like, I just bought this camera last year for $150, it works great. No memory card though, you'll have to buy a new one of those."

The couple declined his offer, and after quickly looking over a webcam, of which Dan was selling two, they moved on up the street. 

"We do this every year, whenever they have it," said Jan Pekar as she sat in the shade on her front lawn and observed her son's salesmanship. "But it wasn't advertised enough. I didn't see any signs."

Dan pointed out that the event was advertised online in Craigslist. The city also advertised the event on its social networking platforms.  

When asked for a sales tip for would-be yard-salers, Jan said it was all about product selection. 

"Antiques and toys, antiques and toys," said Jan. "That's what they always want."