Chris Heiska - The Yardsale Queen
Chris Heiska was born May 6, 1963 in Albany, New York. She was raised in Clifton Park - a typical middle class suburb. However, it was more rural than suburban so seeing a yardsale was not a common occurrence. Her parents were raised during the Depression so a lot of their depression-era mentality rubbed off on her ("although it had no effect on my siblings"). Chris's father is the kind of person who would bring home more junk from the county landfill than he took. Her family wasn't poor, but while growing up one of her favorite things to do while out in public was to search pay phones and vending machines coin slots for a forgotten dime or quarter. As the "baby" of the family, Chris got her fair share of hand-me-downs so now she doesn't think twice about buying someone else's pre-owned stuff at a yardsale.

After high school, Chris attended a few colleges ("I am still irritated that none of my college guidance counselors mentioned yardsale queen as a possible career choice"). Chris met her future husband in a bar, got married and after living in Charleston South Carolina for a while, moved to a dinky little town near the Chesapeake Bay. With her husband working crazy weekend hours, and the mall an hour's drive away, she needed a hobby and a shopping fix. Chris found both when she re-discovered the thrill of yardsailing. "After a while, I was addicted. Despite living in a small town, there are an amazing number of yardsales."

In the mid-90's, a co-worker friend at the nuclear power plant showed Chris her personal homepage and was hooked- Chris wanted one too. So in 1996, she started a small website and it has slowly grown into The Yardsale Queen (www.yardsalequeen.com). Part of it was done for selfish reasons; Chris tells us: "I figure if I provide free tips for having a successful yardsale, maybe more people will have them and I'll have more yardsales to go to."

She tells us that going to yardsales is not her life though, "I do have a variety of other hobbies. Such as going to garage sales, estate sales, flea markets and thrift stores."

"Happy yardsailing (and don't forget to take your yardsale signs down or else!)"