Question:What is TehachapiGarageSale.com?
Answer: TehachapiGarageSale is a place where you can do several things. If you are going to have a Garage Sale you can announce it by registering and listing your sale. When complete, your sale will show up in the Calendar Sale Dates for everyone to see. When your listing is within 7 days from the current date, you will see a marker in the Sale Locations Map. They are color coded based on how soon the sale is going to take place and indicates what type of sale it's going to be. For a legend, you can hover your mouse over the "[legend]" text directly above the map. On the date of your sale, the listing will show up on the Home Page, in our Sale Events for the day, and Featured Photos (if you uploaded any). For those who are looking for sales, you can find them via several ways. From the Calendar view, Sale Location view, and you can perform a Search. If you want a quick way to see the current day's listings, you can find them on the lower half of the Home Page. We've included some of the Seller's photos on the Home Page as well. TehachapiGarageSale.com will provide a means to communicate with a Seller. It is the responsibility of both the Buyers and Sellers to communicate amongst eachother if inquiries are required. What you do outside of this site is your business.
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Question:What isn't TehachapiGarageSale.com? Answer: Although TehachapiGarageSale.com bears the name of Tehachapi, it is not the "Official" Website for Tehachapi. The name of this site was chosen to emphasize that it is open to regions around Tehachapi. This site is not used for auctioning, listing single items for sale (such as Craig's List, the Recylcer or Ebay). TehachapiGarageSale.com does not mediate transactions, escpecially handling monetery services of any type, with the exception of activating a listing. Back to Top
Question:How do I communicate with a Seller if I have an inquiry? Answer: You may contact the seller via email. Although the Seller provides their email address, it is not immediately disclosed. If you want to contact the Seller, you may click on a link, "Contact Information", located in the Single Listing View. This will take you to a form where you can ask your questions, comments, etc. When the Seller receives the email, he/she may choose to reply if they wish to do so. At that point email addresses from both parties will be available to each other. It is up to both parties to communicate amongst each other without the mediation of TehachapiGarageSale.com from that point on. Back to Top
Question:What are all the features that Sellers have? Answer: The sellers can do three things (thus far). The most important thing that we provide Sellers with is the ability to post their Sale Event for everyone to see. This requires Registering and a 3 step (plus confirmation) to complete the listing process. You can indicate what type of sale it is, the address, up to 3 sale dates (and times), short and long descriptions, a list of items you are going to sell, what form of payment you accept, upload up to 12 photos (file size limitation of 7 Mebabytes each), and a link for a youtube video. Many of these features are optional, such as your phone number, payment type, photos, etc. Probably the most important optional feature is the items list (which is on step 2 of the listing procedure).
As a Seller, you can Create Banners and Create Labels from the links at the top of the page. This can be done without the need to register. Back to Top
Question:What are those buttons on the upper left corner of the Website? Answer: Those buttons on the upper left part of the website show 2 different "Hot Lists", one for Sellers and one for Buyers. When you hover your mouse cursor over them, you will see a top ten item list that are being sold the most (by Sellers) and a list showing what items that are most sought after (from the Buyers). If you click on those buttons, it will take you to a page that will give you an entire list of the most popular items. The way these items are ranked is based on what the Sellers choose when they select the items they are selling on Step 2 of the listing process. This is one of the reasons why it is important for Sellers to indicate what items they are selling, so that Buyers know what items they can expect to find the most. The Buyer Hot List is based on Buyers who subscribe and choose the items they are looking for. This requires the Buyers to register, login and click on the "Subscribe to Listings" link. These lists will change on a day to day basis, depending on the extent of activity from both Sellers and Buyers. Back to Top
Question:How does the Calendar feature work? Answer: The Calendar is used to show all of the sales that have been registered. The dates that are highlighted in grey are the days that have one or more sales. When you hover your mouse cursor over them, it will display how many sales are on that date. If you click on one of those dates, it will take you to a page where it will show a concise listing of all the Sale events on that day. From there, you can click on the link, "Click here for the complete list of information for this sale", that will take you to a page with the entire information for that one particular listing. Both pages can be viewed in "printable" format. Back to Top
Question:How does the Sale Locations feature work? Answer: At the left side of the Website, you can find a mini-map showing where all the Sale Events are taking place. There are markers that will show when any Sale is about to occur. These markers are color coded and have an abbreviated letter to indicate what type of Sale Event it is. The Red markers are Sales that are going to occur within 5 or more days. Yellow markers, within 2 to 4 days. And Green markers, within the next 24 hours. There are six different abbreviations, B, E, G, M, R, Y. Respectively, they stand for, "Block Sale", "Estate Sale", "Garage Sale", "Moving Sale", "Fund Raiser", and "Yard Sale". If you hover your mouse over the markers, it will show you the Basic Information for that Listing. If you click your mouse on the Basic Information, where it shows the Event Type and Number, it will show you the Complete Information for that single Sale Event. There are two links just above the mini-map, "Enlarged View, and "Legend". The enlarged view will take you to a page where you can see a bigger map with the markers in place. The Legend is there so that you can hover your mouse cursor over it and see what the colors and abbreviated letters mean. Back to Top
Question:How do I search for a listing? Answer: Just below the hot lists (upper left side of the website), there is a button, "Go!" next to where it says "Search Listings". This will take you to a page that will allow you to perform a search in varioius ways. You can search by Event Number, Items, Key Words, Sale Type, Date Range, or All Listings. Back to Top
Question:How do I register? Answer: If you want to register, you can do so by clicking on the "Login" button on the upper right part of the website. This will take you to the Login Page. There is a link that says "Click here to Register". Click on that link. Fill out the form on the New User Registration page to register a new User Account.
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Question:How do I log in? Answer: Click on the "Login" button on the top right of the website. This will take you to the Login Page. From here, fill out the form. You can click on the "Remember" check box if you want the website to remember your credentials. Then click the "Login" button. If you are not a registered user, you can click on the link that says "Click here to Register". If you forgot your password, click on the "Did you forget your password?" link. Back to Top
Question:What if I forgot my password? Answer: If you forgot your password, you can retrieve it by going to the Login page and click on the link that says, "Did you forget your password?" Follow the instructions from there to reset your password. Back to Top
Question:What is the code of conduct? Answer: Please keep in mind that people of all ages will be using this site. This site is a family oriented site. Use this site as you would treat your friends and family. Please refrain from using profanity and other comments suggestive in nature. If you feel that a listing is inappropriate, then click on the "inappropriate" link in the Single Listing View, located at the top of the page, just under the Event Number. Back to Top
Question:What kind of items can I choose in a listing? Answer: I think this question is best answered by saying what is not acceptable items that you can choose. You may not select items such as weapons (unless they are vintage/collectable), illegal drugs or substances, stolen goods. In general, just use common sense. Back to Top
Question:What are those green dots that are placed on certain parts of the website? Answer: We call those green dots "Tool Tips". When you move your mouse cursor over them, they will provide you with helpful information to assist you with what you are about to do. So for example, if you are looking at the map, there is a Tool Tip to the left where it says "Sale Locations". If you hover over the button, it will show you some helpful Map Usage tips. Back to Top
Question:What personal information will be made available to the public for Sellers? Answer: Although you are required to register with your email address, we will never disclose it to the public. If someone wishes to contact you via email, they must use our customized form. When someone uses this form, an email will be sent to you, and at the point you have the choice to reply or reject it. If you reply to the email inquiry, you will disclose your email address to the original sender and you will, at that point, communicate amongst each other outside and unmediated from TehachapiGarageSale.com. Back to Top
Question:Is this site secure? Answer: Yes. From the moment you enter the website, it is in "secure mode" with SSL encryption, an industry standard. Also, important information associated with your account is encrypted in our database as a precaution. Back to Top
Question:Do you accept donations? Answer: Yes. We welcome any donations you can make. Even if it's a dollar. Like all websites, we have to pay for hosting fees, an encryption certificate for website securty, and more. If you wish to make a donation please click here. Back to Top
Question:How is my information used when I post a Sale or Subscribe to listings? Answer: When you create a sale listing, this information is used in several ways. First, if there are subscribers, and you are selling what they are looking for, we will send them an email telling them what you have and a link to your listing on our site. Your information will be used to create a list of products that contain the most popular items that are being sold by all Sellers. Your information will be used to display a calendar with sale events on the days they will take place. Sale locations will show where the sales are, what type, and when. People can use our search engine to locate your sales that meet their search criteria. For Buyers, when you Subscribe, your information will be used to display a Top 10 list of the items that the Buyers are looking for the most. Your information will also be used to send out emails when we find Sales that meet your criteria. Back to Top
Tablet computers and smart phones have been tested mildly and most appear to have good compatibility.
Browsers that are preinstalled with Linux operating systems have some compatibility issues. These issues may be addressed during the beta stage of the website.
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Question:What is the difference between editing and renewing a listing? Answer: After you post a listing, you will have the option to either edit the listing or renew it. You will have up to the first day of your sale to revise anything on your listing. After the first day of the sale, you must renew the listing. Renewing the listing is the same as editing one, but if you change the location or date/time, you will be required to re-activate it. Re-activating the listing means that you must pay a fee. Since the site is in Beta, re-activating the listing is free for the moment. Please note, that you will always be able to change all other information on your listing. Including the sale description, the items you are selling, photos, and videos. Basically, everything except the data on the first page of the listing procedure. The reason why these rules were put into place is to prevent people from updating their listing dates indefinitely without paying re-activation fees (when the site has completed the Beta phase). Back to Top
1. Sales last no longer than three (3) days.
2. Sales are held no more than twice yearly.
3. Sales are conducted on the owner's or tenant's property.
Multiple-family sales are permitted if they are held on the property of one (1) of the participants.
4. No goods purchased for resale may be offered for sale.
5. No consignment goods may be offered for sale.
6. Directional signs may be placed on the street right-of-way.
7. All directional and advertising signs shall be freestanding and removed after completion of the sale.
8. All directional and advertising signs placed on private property shall have the owner's permission.
9. No directional or advertising signs may be larger than two (2) feet by three (3) feet.