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Sydney Garage Sales Finder - Help

This help page was created in February 2011 and last updated in November 2016. It is far from comprehensive and will evolve over time as I become aware of problems people experience on the Sydney Garage Sales Finder website. If you get stuck and do not find an answer here, please contact me and I'll try my best to solve your problem.

The Map

The map is what this site is all about. For it to work you need to have JavaScript enabled in your web browser. The map is generated with Google Maps and shows all listed garage sales with a standard Google place marker (red with black dot). The green marker with the Y indicates your position or address. If you click on the markers you can get more information. The garage sale markers also provide links to detailed information and a directions page. This site works best if it knows your position or address. Without it, you cannot get directions and you cannot do any distance searches. If you are registered and you do not move around you must enter your address only once. The green marker takes the location from your registration. Alternatively, you can enter or update your location by filling in your location/address details and clicking on the "Put your address on the map" button. Location details entered with this button are saved as a cookie on your computer and last 90 days. If you are registered, they will be replaced with the location details from your registration the next time you login.

The List

The list is a very simple textual display of all garage sales listed on this website. It only has two buttons, one to get directions to the garage sale and one to display all the detail information. As I think that, over time, people will prefer the map display and neglect the list, I have kept it very simple. If I should be wrong about this and you would like things like buttons to change the sort order, please let me know and I'll add them.

The Search

The search page is one of the main features of this website. It lets search the listed garage sales by keyword, sale date, item category, suburb and distance from your location. If you use a combination of search criteria all conditions must be true for a garage sale to be returned in the search results. At this stage, there is no provision for an "or" search.

List a garage sale

You need to be registered and logged in to list a garage sale. If you are not logged in when trying to list a sale the system will tell you and provide a link to the registration and login pages. Listing a garage sale is a two-step process. First you enter the main information such as address, date, description and the type of items you are selling. Once you submit this information, you can enter detailed descriptions for each of your sale categories and upload one picture for each of the selected categories. Any information you enter here will be indexed by Google and the more details you can provide the bigger your chances for someone to find your garage sale.

Adding details to a garage sale listing

In the detail section, you can describe and add one picture to each of the selected categories. This information can be searched and the search engines might index it. That's why it is very important to be as detailed as possible. With the "Submit" button you can upload all information at once. The "Update description" button only updates the description. Once a picture is uploaded, a "Delete this picture" button appears which lets you remove a picture. The "Browse" button lets you search pictures on your computer.

Register

This site requires all advertisers to register. Without registration, you cannot list a garage sale. This is necessary to avoid spam and to allow subsequent editing of a garage sale listing. The address details entered during the registration process are later used as default values in the garage sale listings.

Contact

My contact form gives you two options to contact me. You can either click on the email address to automatically start your email program or fill-in the provided form. If you use the form, please make sure that your email address is correct as otherwise I cannot get back to you.

Why is this site free?

I am working on this site in my free time and it is still work in progress. I will start charging a small fee for a life-time (live time of the site) membership when I think it is worth while paying for it.

Why do I need to register?

If you do not register you cannot change your ads later. Registration also reduces the amount of spam that is posted.

I can't find something on your site

Go to the sitemap page, If you can't find it there it probably doesn't exist. In that case, just send me an email and I try to help you as much as I can.

What is your privacy policy?

Please read my privacy policy here

What are the terms and conditions?

Please find the terms and conditions here

What will the ads cost in the future?

There will be small (around $10) fee for a life-time (live time of the site) membership and unlimited listings.

How will future payments work?

Future payments will be handled by PayPal. PayPal is an easy and convenient way to process payments on the Internet. You do not need to have a PayPal account to make a payment and you can also use credit cards

Your details could not be updated

This happens mostly when you try to update your account details or an ad with exact the same info as it has already. Usually this is nothing to worry about.

What are the rules for garage sales?

The rules for garage sales are different for each council. You can get some ideas here but it is your own responsibility to make sure you adhere to all restrictions imposed by your council.

Do you have garage sale sign templates?

The short answer is no. I have thought about this a long time and decided against it for several reasons. Many councils don't allow garage sale signs in public places because they distract drivers and end up as litter if they are not removed after the garage sale is finished. Fines for unlawfully placing signs can be up to $300.