Huge Mukilteo Garage Sale starts the season of bargain hunting

Empty your trunk, stuff your pockets with cash and away you go.

Baby, it’s yard sale season. The bigger the sale, the better.

At Saturday’s Great Mukilteo Garage Sale, the town becomes a rockfest of bargains, complete with beer.

Starting at noon, Diamond Knot Production Brewery &Taproom is offering cold craft beer for sale at its 4602 Chennault Beach site. In the morning, coffee and doughnuts will await bargain hunters.

Anything goes at community yard sales. Everybody gets in the spirit and the action. It’s not like hitting a random sale here and there, hoping there might be something that catches your fancy.

Dozens or hundreds of people spread out their wares on the same day. The competition is good for sellers, because it drives tons of traffic into the area. Of course, it also unleashes a parking free-for-all mentality.

For buyers, it’s epic. There’s stuff galore. You clean up on the deals that enable others to clean out their closets and basements.

Communities get a reputation for big sales. Mukilteo’s annual sale attracts hundreds of loyal and repeat buyers in addition to all the residents who make the rounds scooping up their neighbors’ good stuff.

Also Saturday, Monroe has a parking lot full of sale spaces at Park Place Middle School, 1408 W. Main St.

Next weekend is Mill Creek’s yard sale party that’s been happening for more than 30 years.

Mill Creek Community Association director Mary Ann Heine said she gets calls from people in other states and Canada inquiring about the sale, which is always held the first Saturday of May and again in October.

Marysville’s sale extravaganza “Junk in the Trunk” is July 11 in the Municipal Court parking lot. Sellers get car and table space to sell whatever it is they want to sell in a pedestrian-friendly venue.

And what about Everett’s Northwest Neighborhood’s “Mother of all Garage Sales,” traditionally held the first Saturday in August, with maps, portable toilets and food trucks?

Well, bad news. This year, it isn’t going to happen, said Shelley Weyer, neighborhood association chairwoman.

“Because of the sewer project, we are going to take a break for the year because of the construction,” Weyer said. “It was a hard decision. We will come back bigger and stronger next year.”

Some residents might have individual sales around that date, but it won’t be the motherlode event that draws crowds of thrifters.

Community sales often attract people who are novice yard sale shoppers. Ever lost your car in a mall parking lot? Try losing it at a subdivision where all the homes were built by the same builder.

Sale experts say you should take a photo of where you park. Seriously.

Or park near a memorable landmark. Maybe it’s a kettle corn truck set up in a front yard. There really is one in a Mukilteo subdivision.

Another tip: If you see something you want, buy it. Chances are it will be gone after you decide you must have it, and then the rest of your life will be filled with regret.

“The last time I bought a cuckoo clock,” Heine said, “and a burl wood coffee table for $35. I paid $15 for the cuckoo clock and it still works. I’ve bought a lot of cool stuff.”

At a community sale you will score something, even if it’s a cold beer at noon.

Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.

Community sales

Here’s a list of some of the larger community sales going on this summer:

• The Great Mukilteo Garage Sale on April 25 includes south Everett, Picnic Point and Serene Lake. There will also be tables set up from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rosehill Community Center, 304 Lincoln Ave., Mukilteo. Miss the sale? Check the curbs. Residents put lots of things out for the practically-anything-goes “Spring Clean-Up” on April 27 and 29.
• Monroe’s large community garage sale is April 25. Tables will be set up from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1408 W. Main St.
• The Mill Creek Community Association sponsors a yard sale twice a year, on the first Saturday in May and in October. The association comprises 20 subdivisions with about 1,600 single family homes, plus condos and townhomes. Other areas of Mill Creek join in the sale. For more information, go to www.mcca.info.
• Everett’s Harborview-Seahurst-Glenhaven Neighborhood Association sale is May 16. More than 25 homes take part in the sale that has been going on for about 20 years. Maps are provided listing items for sale.
• Marysville’s “Junk in the Trunk” is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 11, Municipal Court Parking Lot, 1015 State Ave. For more information, go to www.marysvillewa.gov.