Snowy Monaro locals turn six tonnes of trash into treasure
Published on 21 February 2025
The 2024 Garage Sale Trail impact report for the Snowy Monaro has been released, revealing savvy shoppers and enterprising sellers saved an estimated six tonnes of second-hand goods from landing in landfill over the two local sale weekends in November last year.
There were 107 sales and stalls participating in the Garage Sale Trail in 2024, up from 71 in 2023, with 2,630 Snowy Monaro locals clearing out the garage and hitting the trail to find themselves a bargain. Of the 10,455 items sold locally during the 2024 event, 42% were headed straight to the bin before the seller signed up to host a sale.
The initiative was a boon for our community in the grips of a cost of living crisis, with sellers pocketing an average of $519 each and buyers getting high quality pre-loved items for a fraction of their original cost – saving themselves $130,000 in total across the region compared to buying new during the event.
Reducing the quantity of new consumer goods that we all purchase is an important part of reducing our impact on the climate, environment, and our own back pockets.
The stats from 2024 show that this isn’t just a one-time deal either, with local participants in the Snowy Monaro reporting an ongoing change in their attitudes after taking part. 88% of sellers are now more likely than before to resell unneeded items, and 65% of buyers intend to consume less and buy more items second-hand.
Whether you’re a participant from last year’s event keen to get involved again, or you missed out and wouldn’t mind an cool $500 in walking-around money – Council is excited to share that we’ll be supporting the 2025 Garage Sale Trail when it returns for another two weekends on 8–9 and 15–16 November 2025.
Eager bargain hunters who can’t wait more than half a year to get back in the action can visit Council’s ScrapMart buyback tip shops across the region, and browse a massive inventory of used goods year-round.
Cooma ScrapMart is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Jindabyne on Saturdays, and Bombala on Saturday and Sunday. Visit https://qrco.de/ScrapMart to check opening hours and plan your trip to the tip.
For more Garage Sale Trail information, or to join the wait list to host your own sale in 2025, visit www.garagesaletrail.com.au.
Check out the 2024 Snowy Monaro Garage Sale Trail Impact Report for yourself on our website. Head to https://qrco.de/SMRCimpact24 to dive into the stats.
In NSW, Garage Sale Trail 2024 was made possible with support from 37 local government partners and the NSW EPA.