Decades of accumulation in many American households have outstripped social channels of disposal—giving away, handing down and throwing away. Life cycles—growing up, moving out, divorce, or the move to retirement housing—also convert clothes, toys, appliances, furniture and memories into surplus. Yard sales (also known as tag or rummage sales) offer one outlet with a limited commercial reward. Throughout America every weekend, signs sprout in yards and on telephone poles; ads appear in supermarkets and flyers. Families and neighbors tackle both separation and market evaluation of life experience—how much is a trophy, crib or wedding dress worth to strangers? Can we really get rid of this? On Saturday, suburban lawns, garages and patios explode with tables and mounds of goods. Consumers, sometimes connoisseurs of these “opportunities,” still move within similar social and geographic spaces: commodity recycling becomes a chain disposal system as once-cherished items converted to cash eventually end up in someone else’s trash—or their sale. At the end of the day, moreover, goods that remain may still be given to charities or hauled away as rubbish.

Flea markets, by contrast, bring together multiple sales, including both one-time sellers and professionals offering used goods and newer arts and crafts. These may become highly professional and stratified events, and act as alternative commercial spaces in marginal neighborhoods like Los Angeles’ Watts section, or in appealing to particular ethnic niches. At times, the flea market name only implies potential bargains in a commercial mall. Antique flea markets, for example, emphasize the quest for a bargain rather than informal pricing, ownership or inventory.

Thrift and consignment shops offer other more regular store outlets, usually associated with charitable organizations. Consignment shops offer space and take commission on sales of items that may well include expensive furs, jewelry, clothes and furniture. Thrift shops sell goods already donated to charities, encompassing a wider range of rehabilitated materials and bringing together bargain-seekers and those who must rely on used goods for their everyday lives. Inner-city thrift stores may become critical resources for poor neighborhoods, while shops associated with elite neighborhoods or associations (symphonies, suburban hospitals) often establish reputations which may lead to inclusion in regional directories or other media reports. Goods, even when discarded, reaffirm boundaries of class, space and knowledge for both donor and those who acquire them.