If the state regulated garage sales, would poor people be better off?
The concept of “garage sales” are to be easy and cheap ways of selling off junk you don’t want. The hosts don’t wish to trouble themselves with selling online, and would rather make a bit of money than just throw everything away. The “bit of money” is not just a saying, it’s a universally known fact that objects sold in garage sales are far cheaper than retail, which for many is the appeal of visiting.
The freedom that comes with garage sales are what make them so common. Both the buyer and host escape the government regulated landscape that is retail. Thus, regulating garage sales is a quick and easy way to discourage anyone from doing them. The process of having to set a garage sale that way would be excruciating and would most likely make the host lose more money.
It would inflict the slew of retail problems onto the individuals; items would be taxed, government favoritism that would end up hurting one party more than the other, it wouldn’t ever be a favorable affair and people would just find ways to do them illegally. So no, I don’t think it would benefit anyone to regulate them. Most things end up collapsing after government regulation, this is no different.
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