Orlando’s Biggest Yard Sale is March 14th, 2015
By Chris Carroll
On the second Saturday in March, hundreds of Avalon Park families will be up at dawn, setting up tables and carrying toys, furniture and other items into their front yards. Early birds will start driving by before 8, but they’re only a fraction of the large crowd of visitors that will flow into the neighborhood over the course of the day.
For nine years Avalon Park has been the undisputed home to Orlando’s Biggest Yard Sale. It’s held twice a year, in March and October, and includes hundreds of families selling items in their yards and driveways. Tens of thousands of items change hands, generating cash for local families, and helping them to de-clutter their homes while keeping unwanted items out of the local landfill. Items sold can vary from the mundane, like books or appliances, to the unusual, like rare antiques or pickup trucks.
Residents with full closets and boxes of old toys aren’t the only ones who benefit, though. Local businesses see an uptick in traffic, and charities are recipients of some of this money. For instance, many families hold sales to raise funds for charitable organizations or school functions, and Goodwill and other charities arrange to bring trucks in for residents who want to have their un-sold items picked up. Some groups even buy truckloads of baby and maternity items to donate to women’s shelters.
The hub of this activity is the sale’s website, AvalonYardSale.com, which also functions as a free classifieds site. As families start signing up weeks before the sale, they get listed on an interactive Google Map, with an address and a list of items they’re selling, as general or specific as they choose. This helps visitors plan what parts of the neighborhood they’ll visit first.
And visit they will; the sale coordinator maintains a list of thousands of email addresses for Central Florida visitors, all of whom have opted-in to being notified of upcoming sales. Some people drive from as far away as Daytona and Tampa every 6 months. Advertising and outreach is also done via newspaper ads, online postings, and social marketing efforts, all establishing the Avalon Park community yard sale as the biggest in Orlando, if not Central Florida.
There are only 2 requirements for participation: residency anywhere in the greater Avalon area, and a small participation fee which covers county permits, site maintenance, and advertising. Signup is quick and easy via a link on the main site.
This year’s fall sale is Saturday, March 14th, 2015, from 8am to 3pm. For more information, visit one of the websites below or email chris@avalonyardsale.com.
