Thanks sooo much for the hints!! I will use them! If you have anything else you want to add for me you can post it here or email me direct at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Hopefully this works out for us.
We are trying to build a wheelchair useable playground and we are coming up far short of our $40,000 goal.
I did your previously mentioned rummage sale at a church once. Here is how ours worked maybe it will help you. We sold space for $10 (ours was outdoors). For $10 we gave them space only (2 parking places). They could bring tables, many just brought stuff and set it up in the bed of their truck. Indoor would probably be better, because of weather. Here are a few things we learned over the course of a couple years.
1. Do yourself a favor and MANDATE NO LIVE ANIMALS to be sold. We had a guy, I swear bring his chickens to be sold.
2. Mandate no food to be sold. This way you have no visits or liability from county health officials. Also, it allows you an opportunity to sell sodas and prepackaged snacks. Trust me come early morning people want food and drinks while shopping, also as the morning progresses the vendors want to drink to.
3. Also, when publicizing one of the big things I used was they couldn't advertise in the paper for only $10 we promised a listing in the paper. Also, as a fundraiser we got extra press releases listed for free. Remind them that the more vendors the more people will come to a 10 family yard sale vice a one family sale.
4. Another thing to publicize is that by coming to your event, they have no traffic parking on their lawns and tying up the street. I was really surprised at how many people told me that this was why they came.
5. In the contract remind them that they are responsible for any sales tax that may need to be collected.
6. Keep the crafters out. People shopping get really irritated when they think they are coming for cheap finds and find expensive crafts.
7. In contract remind them that they will have to work their own booth. You will not provide bathroom coverage or provide change for them.
8. We included a fee of $25 plus cost of removal if any one left their trash. First year we did it a lot of people tried using our dumpsters to get rid of stuff and it filled up quickly.
9. Make sure you emphasis that no sales will be allowed before X time. And that they can arrive to set up at X time. If you allow early birds people who aren't fully set up yet miss out on sales and they get MAD!!!
We are going to try something new to our area (So shhhh don't tell the other schools in our area till ours is done lol)
We are going to have an Indoor rummage sale with a twist!
We are going to set up spaces like we did for our Craft fair and sell Spaces for like $10. You bring your rummage sale stuff, you price it, you sell it. If you want to donate a portion of your profits back to us...great, but not manditory.
We will sell donated food to increase our profits.
Hopefully it works out. I guess it will kind of be like a flea market/rummage sale.
Isn't that the truth. I'm burned out with selling things. I know that doesn't sound very positive, but between school, PTO, and Brownies, people hate seeing me coming.
