Want to sell, better think again!!

[corndog]

Wow, what a close call that was! I decided to sell my customized BT3100 and all the tools I had for wood working and thought a garage sale was where I would start. Well about an hour into the sale people stopped coming, it was like someone shut off a water spigot! It was kind of windy that day so I thought maybe my signs had blown over but NO they were gone! Come to find out the cops had taken them because I had violated placement rules. I won't say on this site what names I called them ALL! I was really mad but after cooling down and having a few beers I realized they did me favor! Why should I sell my tools for half or less than I paid for them and I could never replace the custom BT I have! Sometimes I seem to do my best thinking while drinking! So after doing some brain storming with myself I decided to start a small business venture instead of taking a big hit on my tools! Was having my signs taken an omen or what? I am retired so I have the time for a venture! WHEW! "thinking while drinking" Corndog

[leehljp]

My dad retired twice for about 2 months each time, and then decided working was better. At least he had something to do that he liked doing, and got paid for it too. He sold all of his tools the first time, but the 2nd time he retired for a few weeks, he kept his most of his tools, which he used when he un-retired again.

[Rslaugh]

I'm glad you live in an area where the cops have time to worry about yard sale signs.

[woodturner]

Come to find out the cops had taken them because I had violated placement rules. I won't say on this site what names I called them ALL!

I'm glad to hear the police in some areas are enforcing the sign laws. The police around here don't really enforce the law - so we get signs posted on telephone poles, sign posts, other people's lawns, etc. You could always move to my area if you don't want to have the law enforced when you break it.

The laws exist to protect the people. For example, most people don't realize how deadly a sign posted on an electric pole can be to a line worker.

I hope you aren't as offended when the police enforce other laws against other criminals.

[Uncle Cracker]

I'm glad you live in an area where the cops have time to worry about yard sale signs.

It's not about the time... They're shorthanded. But they'd prefer to handle the types of "crime" that overfed, donut-eating cretins can handle (like yard sale signs) because they are completely over-matched by the serious criminals that have taken robbery and other violent crimes off the charts around Central Florida. I like good cops, but what we got around here leaves much to be desired...

[TP1]

I have to wonder why the cops would bother with something so trivial - it must be that it is an omen!

[dbhost]

I am leaving the part about the police enforcing the law alone. It should be obvious that is what they are supposed to do...

You are indeed lucky though. IF you can afford to keep them (don't need the money for something frivolous like food or mortgage payment) then hang on to your tools. Maybe start building stuff to sell so you can generate revenue.

Likewise, do some research into your sign laws and restrictions, and maybe consider selling your newly produced wares through a gallery...

[sweensdv]

This thread should be moved over to the Starbucks Forum where it belongs.

[woodturner]

I have to wonder why the cops would bother with something so trivial

I think that is a big part of the problem - people see this as a trivial issue, and don't really understand that they could kill someone by putting a sign on a light pole.

Utility workers have died as a result of people stapling signs to pole. Lineworkers wear insulating gloves to protect them. These gloves are thick enough that it's not easy to see if they have been nicked by a staple while the worker was climbing the pole. Worker touches the live wires, and the thin spot on the glove caused by the nick provides a path for current to flow, electrocuting the worker.

I've only heard of one case where a person was prosecuted for their negligent homicide, but it is a signficant issue. I have to believe that if people realized they might well kill someone by placing a yard sale sign, they wouldn't do it.

[kbkreisler]

I'm glad to hear the police in some areas are enforcing the sign laws. The police around here don't really enforce the law - so we get signs posted on telephone poles, sign posts, other people's lawns, etc. You could always move to my area if you don't want to have the law enforced when you break it.

The laws exist to protect the people. For example, most people don't realize how deadly a sign posted on an electric pole can be to a line worker.

I hope you aren't as offended when the police enforce other laws against other criminals.

woodturner, I think you completely missed a few things on your way to the soap box.
The guy decided not to sell his tools after realizing a mistake after which he cracked a bit of a joke about his local law enforcement. Was it really neccesary to reply to his post with this statement?

Also after reading the statement "At first i thought my signs had blown over" I came to the conclusion that they were not nailed,stapled,or even affixed at all to a power pole. They were most likely staked into the ground just as realtors stake thier open house signs, and people have advertised saturday garage sales for decades.

I think the insubordinates you are after are the little girls that live on my street who are missing thier pet ferret.

Im not trying to minimize the importance of lineworker safety here at all, but i think you need to lighten up!

[Kristofor]

I cannot recall ever seeing a garage sale sign nailed/stapled to anything other than a stake or A-shape sandwich board around here. And I have never seen the cops (whoops, economic downturn, we now have cop, singluar ) do anything about one (and wouldn't expect them to...

I have a corner lot and if my neighbors want to put up a sign Thurs-Sat a couple times per year for a garage sale, no skin off my back. I did have words with a realtor who kept insisting on putting 3 signs in my yard pointing to open-houses/whatnot several days per week, for months. After laying them down on the curb when mowing for several weeks I started putting them in the garage for safe keeping between mowings. I gave her back 15 of them when she agreed to stop using my yard

[woodturner]

I cannot recall ever seeing a garage sale sign nailed/stapled to anything other than a stake or A-shape sandwich board around here.

Stapling signs to utility poles is less common in areas with underground utilities

Seriously, though, it's very, very common around here, since it is an older area with overhead utilities and many poles.

The issued of posting signs in someone else's yard is a different issue. One guy on a major street corner had major problems with this - there were often 100 or more signs posted in his yard - yard sales, political advertisments, etc. He finally took them all down and put up one sign that said "do not post signs here". Seems to have worked, but I am still chuckling over the irony .

[tfischer]

Our city preaches about "illegal garage sale signs" in the quarterly thing they mail out all the time. But I still see garage sale signs up all the time, so it doesn't seem they enforce it.

Occasionaly I see a sign toppled over -- usually it's one that's been up for most of a week. So I get the idea that the signs aren't confiscated, just knocked down. Not sure why that's better...

[JR]

An ordnance im my town allows the posting of temoporary signs for yard sales, while specificially prohibiting the use of public facilities for that pupopse - street signs, utility poles, etc. A city worker goes around on Saturday mornings removing signs from poles.

I like the policy.

JR

[mjernigan]

Delicious irony

I, too, appreciate the "post no signs here" irony... but my favorite has to be one my ex-wife noticed on her lawyer's office door:

"No Soliciting"

For those too young to remember:

Main Entry:
so·lic·i·tor
Pronunciation:
\sə-ˈli-sə-tər, -ˈlis-tər\
Function:
noun
Date:
15th century

1: one that solicits ; especially : an agent that solicits (as contributions to charity)
2: a British lawyer who advises clients, represents them in the lower courts, and prepares cases for barristers to try in higher courts
3: the chief law officer of a municipality, county, or government department
— so·lic·i·tor·ship Listen to the pronunciation of solicitorship \-ˌship\ noun