Barun Roy: Garage sale - A different pitch

Indian garage sales are more like charity fairs, where new products garner free publicity. The idea in countries like the US and Philippines, however, is different

Don't raise your eyebrows if I say that in certain countries, like the Philippines, you can dispose of even your old, worn-out shoes and bags through garage sales. It's not garage sale in the modern sense of the term, meaning charity fairs. What happens in the Philippines is that you clear your garage space and lay out the items you want to sell, like used garments, linen, crockery, kitchen ware, books, children's toys, or any other items you want to throw away. Buyers are mainly people with moderate incomes who can't afford to buy new things and don't mind using old ones if they are in a working condition. It's a different mindset altogether.

In countries like India, for example, people with low income don't mind getting selected used items free but even they won't pay to buy them. In India, anything used is frowned upon. I have tried to sell my frayed leather belts to neighbourhood cobblers, but they wouldn't touch them. I had no option but to dump them in the municipal garbage collection centre in my area.

Mindset aside, there are practical problems, too. In cities like Kolkata, a garage sale in the Filipino sense, although desirable, won't work for the simple reason that garage spaces are often too small and crowds are likely to spill over into equally narrow streets, creating traffic snarls. Besides, in some areas, there is no independent garage space and cars have to be parked outside. In condominiums, the ground floor has parking space, but other residents might not like permitting its use fearing the chaos it could cause them.

Indian garage sales are mainly charity fairs, held by non-governmental organisations and ladies' groups as fund-raising exercises, where people look for new garments, bed sheets and covers, gift items such as imitation jewellery, and things like that. These are brand new items received from companies as donations. For them it's free publicity. Since these are donations, sometimes these are even auctioned off. Still, the prices would be less than buying them from outside shops.

The idea is different in the US. Typically, items offered for sale are new or like new, which the owners wish to dispose of, either to reduce their collections or because they want to move out. Since all the items might not go in a single sale, sales often take place over long periods. In any case, Americans don't mind buying used stuff, properly cleaned and packed. I have visited a few such sales with my daughter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she often bought used clothes appropriate for her son as he grew up through the years. Items no longer needed were exchanged among friends and neighbours.

The problem with countries like India is also that new goods have to be produced to keep the economy running and ensure that employment does not suffer. It's a different calculation altogether. That may be one reason people are increasingly getting into the habit of ordering from online vendors, in the belief that they might also save some money in the process. News reports say online shopping using mobile phones has doubled in the last two years. Some 50 online vendors are already in the business and the number keeps growing. However, not everyone is confident giving out his or her credit card details on the phone, let alone debit cards. The business will really shoot up if all card payments can be made upon delivery, where the PIN can be entered in the privacy of one's home. If once in a while people refuse to accept any item, that would be part of the business risk that vendors have to take.

rbarun@gmail.com