Garage Sale, German style
Sunday, October 2, 2011 at 8:00 Below is a quick photo while walking through downtown Munich one weekend.
Someone has books they'd like to sell. But of course there are few "garages" (it's all apartments, maybe with a large underground garage), and he/she probably didn't want to sit around all day for such a small volume.
So... why not simply set out the boxes of books, sign the prices, and leave a small piggybank for the proceeds?
Then come back at the end of the day, bring the remainder (plus money) back upstairs! (Cute piggybank, huh?)
The sign says: "Each book... into the little pig... thanks!" (left are 50 cents, right are 1 euro).
We're continually impressed with the behaviour standards in Germany when it comes to "trust" things like this.
It can be nice to live in such a law-abiding place - would this ever happen in the U.S.?
Herr J ... 3 Comments 
Reader Comments (3)
You see this a lot out in the country. A farmer will have a small stand with a couple of shelves of honey, home-made marmelade, maybe a bag of onions or potatoes. You just take what you're buying, leave your coins and go. I remember a sign once, though, by a field of flowers, where buyers were also expected to pay into a box: It feels better to give flowers you've paid for!
It's very common in upstate NY, where I come from and everywhere I have ever been in the Northeast and MidAtlantic states. Not in large cities, but on roads with kiosks of fruit, vegetable and flowers.
That's pretty cool that they do in NY also - it always gives me a happy feeling to see these kind of things.
I've definitely seen the stands in the farmland here with pumpkins and squash. We were very surprised to see it in the city