What's the BEST Jumble Sale you've been to and what made it so good?

otterspasm

Hi all,

I am about to organise my first ever jumble sale (I've been to them as a customer before but have never organised one myself). I am doing it to raise money for our school's pta and really want it to be a success.

I am kind of assuming that all you old-stylers may have been to a few and wonder if you would tell me what has made the good ones good? I am hoping to use your comments to make ours a corker.

Many thanks in advance

savetosave

Hi
I haven't been to many, they don't seem to have them where I live, but the best one I went to was well spread out so there was not too much pushing and shoving. Everything was sorted onto different tables and part way through (when the pick of the crop had gone), they said you could fill a bag for a £1.
Don't forget after it is finished you can take what's left to cash for clothes if you have one nearby.

Linda32

I've been to one or two in the past.

From what I remember they are usually, just that, a jumble. Customers are expected to elbow their way in and grab whatever takes their fancy

I surpose you could pile the clothes into adults and childrens, this might help.

You could put the prices up on the walls, you know 5p for childrens, 10p for adults. I might be underselling there as I don't know current prices.

Are you able to sell tea and coffee? this could bring in more cash.

HTH

msb5262

I organised a nearly new sale (posh version of a jumble sale!) and we did as the poster above said, sorted everything out as much as possible and had rough headings - kids' clothes, then within that baby stuff, girls/boys, blankets/bedding etc etc. We borrowed some clothes rails and hung up some of the coats etc. Use coat hangers to hang really attractive items up behind the stalls so it looks as if you have lots of good stuff.

We also provided refreshments but priced them very simply - tea, coffee, juice, slice of cake, flapjack...every item was 50p. Made it much easier and quicker to add up and to give change. Also people bought stuff, then sat and talked over their cuppa, then went back and bought more.

We put a raffle on too so people hung around to see if they'd won...and of course bought refreshments and kept buying bits and pieces while they were waiting.

Remember to get LOTS of containers for money and get a reasonable float for each stall.
Send someone round halfway through to collect notes from each money container, just in case any should disappear.
Bring along zillions of carrier bags and also bin liners/boxes for taking stuff to the charity shop or wherever at the end.
Also get some money bags from the bank or post office so you can pay your profits in easily.

Hope it goes well!

thriftwizard

Good sorting is an enormous help, into categories like ladies, gents, childrens, teens, household textiles, bric-a-brac, kitchen stuff & books. Also not having your tables piled so high that things keep falling off & getting trampled underfoot - keep some back underneath the tables to top up with, but not so much that it looks as if there isn't much on offer!

Giving your customers a clear flow around the room & keeping exits & refreshment areas clear of jumble helps, too, even if people need to go back & forth a bit. A kid's corner of toys (possibly with a teenage watcher, but also with a notice stating that you are not responsible for the kids) allows Mums a bit of breathing space to browse & buy. Clear & sensible pricing is a help to both helpers & customers; something like, say, 20p per item of clothing. Makes totting up & making change easy! It also means that none of your helpers get too ambitious on the pricing; sometimes you can tell helpers are trying to get every last penny out of the customers & whilst no-one would want to do a good cause out of money, jumble sales aren't about wringing every last penny out of people - if you charge less, they'll spend more & you'll have less left over! You can always have a rail of "good" stuff separately priced, and go to the £1 a bag after an hour.

And when sorting, don't forget that people may want things for purposes other than what they were made for; I often "cruise" jumbles for fabric & was horrified to find that the good ladies at one of my regular haunts were passing old seersucker tablecloths & frayed shirts etc, straight to the ragman. I make quilts out of the good bits! When I can find them at a reasonable price...

otterspasm

Oh Thank You all sooo much for your replies so far. That's really useful. I will definitely sort the clothes/areas out as much as possible. I had thought about taking a clothes rail and hangers for nicer things....coats etc and making them £1 an item.

Putting the prices on the walls behind the tables is a great idea...I was thinking maybe 25p per item. How does that sound.

Love the idea of going to £1 for a bag full after a while.

Luckily there is a little kitchen with a hatch off the room we are in so we can do teas etc

Oh this is all very inspiring and exciting, thanks all x

somersethillbilly

Tell your helpers not to wear any jewellery, watches etc, and not to bring any purses, wallets bags etc with them.....I am not implying that they are at risk of theft, but displacement and then inadvertantley being sold! Seen it happen.

The same goes for any fixtures and fittings in the hall, I've seen fire extinguishers, carpets and furniture being sold that belong to the hall in which the Jumble Sale is being held.

Don't ask stupidly high prices for stuff, in general you will be selling to dealers who are looking to sell on at Boot Sales and on Ebay, they treat it like a trip to the wholesaler's. Better to price sensibly, give discounts for bulk buying and clear the lot.

The queue will probably start to form about 1/2 an hour or more before doors open, get out there and sell the punters cups of tea, it's all profit.

Have fun and let us know how it went.

[Deleted User]

We have a jumble sale run by the Sea Scouts Troop in the village once every 6 weeks. The service is wonderful, they put a flyer through the door a week before the sale which is on a Saturday morning in the village hall. On the Friday evening before the sale they come round collecting from all the houses in the village, the convention is that you put out anything at the end of the drive, but they usually knock to check. The collection is sorted on to separate tables and we all go and buy someone elses donations, I try to buy books which I return the following month. It raises good funds for them and saves us having to dispose of unwanted things. At the end of the sale, everything is bagged up and sold for 50p a bag, leftovers go into clothing and book banks for various charities, very little goes to the tip. It works well for all of us.

otterspasm

The queue will probably start to form about 1/2 an hour or more before doors open, get out there and sell the punters cups of tea, it's all profit.

Thanks somersethillbilly...what a great idea to sell cups of tea to people who are queuing up! Genius!

otterspasm

On the Friday evening before the sale they come round collecting from all the houses in the village, the convention is that you put out anything at the end of the drive, but they usually knock to check.

And MrsLurcherwalker...I love the idea of collecting from people...I'm sure we'll get more donations if we do that, Thank you x

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Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

As this has dropped down the old style board I've moved it over to theEbay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales board to see if you can get more replies.

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