Two months ago we held our first ever PTO rummage sale. We asked for donations and sold the stuff ourselves. We took in $3,500 and had about $2,500 left after expenses. Storage and advertising were the two biggies.
That being said I will not hold another one of these. It was terribly labor intensive, took more than two dozen volunteers, and we received many donations that were simply unsellable, then we had to dispose of them. Plus we spent days, sorting and pricing. It was not worth the trouble. There are many easier ways to raise a couple grand and you won't burn out your volunteers. I do like your idea of simply selling space (That makes sense!) Let us know how it turns out.
We had been toying with this idea, but decided to shelve it for now. While charging for space makes more sense, and this is how most people do it, we felt it really limited what you could make. BUT--having stuff donated would be a real headache as far as storage went, not to mention the sorting and pricing later on.
A women's group at a local synagogue took it a completely different way, which I rather like. I'm not sure how the details were worked out, but here it is in a nutshell:
They had a "town wide" garage sale. For a $15 fee to them, you were covered under their garage sale permit AND had your house clearly marked on a map of the town, which they sold to the public for a nominal fee. This way you didn't have to bother with placing an ad anywhere, and didn't have to put signs all over town. Apparently they made quite a bit of money with very little work on their part!
We are having our second annual yard sell this Saturday. Last year we made about $3000.00. We ask families to donate items.We will sell coffee and donoughts for a minimal price. Our PTO has just started so I am trying to get a seperate table for the PTO. I will have school brochures and PTO brochures available for hand outs. (we are a private school thats why the brochures)We are asking some of the older children to help sell coffee. I will also have a pto sign up sheet available.
I was thinking about a flea market being held in the hall of the school. Not sure if it's better to sell spaces or ask for everyone to donate 'stuff' and then organize and sell ourselves. Has anyone done anything like this?
