Can I have a yard sale at my storage unit? What about a parking lot?

Whether it’s spring cleaning, downsizing, or just a general decluttering spirit, we’re always down for a great yard sale! It’s an opportunity to interact with your community, make sure unused items find a better home, and, of course, an opportunity to make some extra cash. In places like the Midwest, setting up your yard sale is a no-brainer—it’s right there in the name. In some places, however, yards aren’t all that common. What can you do if a yard isn’t an option for you? Can you sell out of a storage unit or a parking lot? Let’s take a closer look.

Storage unit sales

At first thought, hosting your yard sale in a storage unit sounds like a perfect plan. If you’re already renting a unit, chances are that most of the things you’re looking to get rid of are already packed up there. This means that setting up is as simple as opening up the entrance to your unit and putting price tags on items. Additionally, if anything is left over from the sale, you can keep it stored in the unit without having to worry about re-cluttering your home. Seems like a win-win, right?

One complication comes up pretty quickly. Unless the storage unit is on your personal property, you might not have the right to hold a sale. While there aren’t any federal laws prohibiting yard sales on storage unit premises, the storage unit is likely (on) somebody else’s legal property. This means that, at the very least, you would need to ask for permission in order to have the sale. If access to the unit is restricted by a code-activated gate, for example, that would make it even trickier to host a safe sale.

That being said, this doesn’t mean that the situation can’t still be a win-win. Especially if the property owner agrees to a premises-wide sale, then the sale can be a big community event and, importantly, a marketing technique. Inviting people onto the property and showcasing the storage units can be a great way to get more people renting units on the premises.

If the storage unit sale turns out to be a no-go, your storage unit can still be helpful in your yard sale ventures. It’s a great place to organize what you’re going to sell and price the items before moving them to wherever the sale will take place, such as a flea market.

Parking lot sales

This one, again, will depend on your situation. A parking lot seems like a great substitute for a lawn, and it certainly can be. It depends, however, and whose parking lot you’ll be using. Legally speaking, you probably aren’t going to run into a lot of trouble. Yard sales aren’t exactly rough and rowdy public events. That being said, even holding a yard sale on your own property can be, technically, illegal without the proper permits. Just like “technically” illegal lemonade stands, however, most people probably aren’t going to care enough to cause a scene.

What might be a bigger concern is whose parking lot you’re using. If it’s a public space, you might want to get a permit from the city just to be safe. If it’s the parking lot to some private business, you might want to ask for permission beforehand. Since this could walk the line of insurance and liability, you don’t want to be on the bad side of that private business. Additionally, since it is their property, they may very well ask you to leave, which would be more work for you and, of course, less sales.

With a small enough sale, it’s likely that there won’t be an issue either way, but you never know! There are other surer and safer ways to get rid of some of your clutter culprits like asking a yard-having friend to host the sale in their yard, taking part in a flea market, or even hosting a virtual sale. Yard sales aren’t supposed to be stressful, so our advice is to not take the risk. Be smart, be resourceful, and long live the yard sale!