Lovingly painted dishware, bicycles and garden tools, a heavy cellarette that looks to be rescued from a 18th-century pirate ship – it’s all ready and waiting to be adopted into your home at Oakland’s annual White Elephant Sale.
A fundraiser that’s collected more than $30 million in its six-decade run, benefitting the Oakland Museum of California, the sale gives attendees the chance to peruse a massive warehouse loaded with all kinds of carefully organized crud. There are paintings and sculptures and intricate masks from far-off lands; laboratory and astronomical equipment; second-hand furniture and mirrors; clothing (perfect for early Halloween shopping) and… well, the list goes on and on, covering nine departments and 90,000-plus square feet of shopping.
Coral Zolczynski, of Oakland, checks bracelets for sale in the jewelry department during Week 2 of the annual White Elephant Sale organized by the Oakland Museum Women’s Board in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. The popular sale draws hundreds of shoppers, and the funds raised during the event support the Oakland Museum of California’s educational programs, exhibitions, and marketing. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Overseeing the well-managed chaos is a staff of mostly elderly volunteers who will happily point you to the treasure of your dreams, and explain why you must buy it now. “Get the rush of adrenaline from snagging that one-of-a-kind item you can’t find anywhere else,” the sale’s organizers write. “Over the course of an entire year, our volunteers collect, sort and repair a massive selection of donated goods priced so you can score amazing deals.”
Details: Open warehouse days are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Feb. 11 – 14, 16, 19-21, and free-to-enter clearance weekend is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 1 at 333 Lancaster St., Oakland; before visiting, make reservation and purchase $5 ticket at whiteelephantsale.org