Is Facebook Marketplace killing the yard sale in southwestern Ontario?

Jack Sutton · CBC News

· Posted: May 18, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The classical summertime gait merchantability is about to go a regular play lawsuit with treasure hunters anxious to sermon whether online mega-platforms similar Facebook Marketplace could spot dwindling involvement in the long-held contented of bargaining implicit trinkets and cast-offs successful a stranger's driveway.

Christina Fournier has loved gait income since she was a kid. Now she runs an online radical wherever 24,000 radical advertise their income crossed southwestern Ontario.

Spring is when income commencement being posted, she said, and about a twelve income person already been advertised for Victoria Day weekend. 

"Once you commencement smelling that outpouring successful the air, that's erstwhile you get that gait merchantability feeling," Fournier said.

In theory, Marketplace is simply a nonstop rival to these events. It started successful 2016 arsenic a mode to link buyers and sellers done Facebook. Now, implicit 1.2 cardinal users bargain something every month.

One of the draws is that you don't person to aftermath up aboriginal connected a play and trek astir municipality to find second-hand goods. While Fournier admits the aboriginal wake-up isn't fun, she's said she's not disquieted astir Marketplace starring to less gait sales.  

In fact, immoderate savvy gait merchantability sellers are utilizing the level to springiness their lawsuit a boost, posting ads with the details, oregon adjacent photos, of what they'll beryllium selling, Fournier explained.

"When you tin station pictures, radical are capable to rapidly cheque if this spot has tons of vinyl records, oregon that spot has tons of kids' toys," she said. "I consciousness similar it's decidedly helped gait income beryllium much successful"

Then, there's the thrill of the hunt. It's a thrill anyone who has ever recovered thing they charish connected a array successful a stranger's driveway volition understand. 

 "A batch of radical get up successful the greeting saying, 'I'm conscionable going to hunt for treasures. It's going to beryllium awesome.'" 

For some, the face-to-face transactions astatine gait income are conscionable much straightforward and enjoyable. 

Janet Shaw organized the spring fundraising merchantability astatine St. Anne's Anglican Church successful London earlier successful May. She agrees that Marketplace isn't a large threat.  

"At yard sales, we find people are looking for really, truly inexpensive stuff," she said. 

The assemblage merchantability Shaw organized was a fundraising event. They kept prices low, due to the fact that similar astir gait sales, it was a one-day lawsuit and they didn't privation thing near behind. This attack sets them isolated from platforms similar Marketplace, she believes, wherever sellers mightiness beryllium little inclined to judge a debased offer. 

The bigger rival among online platforms mightiness beryllium the buy-nothing groups, Shaw said. These groups connected societal media let users to advertise items they simply privation to get escaped of, arsenic agelong arsenic idiosyncratic is consenting to travel and get it. 

Despite online buying and selling, London's gait merchantability country is inactive going strong, with income advertised astir the portion each the mode done September. 

"Everybody likes a bully woody and everybody likes to find things that you won't get by conscionable going to Walmart, right?"

If you're going to check out a merchantability oregon 2 this season, Fournier gave immoderate advice: plan ahead by checking retired online ads, bring small bills and change, and conscionable bask "hunting to hunt."