How Many Yard Sales Can You Have In A Year In Washington?

With the weather getting better, many people are getting out. Others are cleaning out! Mash the two together, and you get the age-old tradition of the Yard Sale! Or, for those of us who are fancy and fear the sun… the Garage Sale! A sale where we gather up our fancy treasures that we don’t fancy anymore. If you need ANOTHER example of a yard sale, think of it like a cross between a picnic and the Goodwill.

If you’ve never held your own sale, they can be a lot of work, but doing it right can be very rewarding, so much so that people try to hold several a year. But is there a limit to how many you can have? Weirdly enough, yes, there is.

The rules when it comes to Yard/Garage sales vary from City to City, but the common answer for how many sales you can hold in a calendar year in Washington is two. There are ways around this, mainly multi-family or block party yard sales. But usually, it is determined by the single residence location.

Personally speaking, I’m not sure how strictly law enforcement is when it comes to mandating this. I don’t make it a hobby to hold multiple sales a year JUST TO FIND OUT. I think it would be funny for the police to show up but then find something that can’t live without, so they let you off with a warning before purchasing a vintage Masters of the Universe 1,000-piece puzzle (hopefully with all the pieces included). I reached out to our local Police Department and was told that it really “depends on complaints from neighbors.”

Some other things to keep in mind, is how some cities (like Pasco) require you to have a permit before having a sale (permits are usually free). I’ve also heard how if you don’t take down your signs, they can be considered litter and, it already has your address on it, so that fine could come to you pretty easily.

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