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Organizing a Mom2Mom Sale |
Do you own a re-sale store? Do you own one of the stores above? Would you like to add your store and information above for free ? Would you like to add your hours of operation, description of your business, or web-site for free? Would like to buy an ad on this page for a reasonable monthly cost ? Just e-mail us at: USAMom2Mom@TimeOutMom.Com |
CHOOSING A DATE
Be sure to check out if there are other sales or big events on the same day. Sometimes
this is a positive and sometimes this a negative. I know of some sales this Spring were
hurt by 2-3 different groups within 5 miles of each other having their sales all on the same
day. Imagine this... you are mom bringing $40-$60 singles to a sale. You and your
girlfriend pick a sale to start at and you there for 2 hours and spend all your money and get
a bag of clothes for each of your kids and one big item you are looking for. Will you really
drive to the next sale? Or do you just head out to lunch with your girlfriend? Npw, in the
case of a local block garage sale or a local community art sale - you may want your sale on
the same day to capitalize on the extra traffic that will be in your area.
FINDING SELLERS
Start by advertising to the moms in your local schools and churches. Create a flyer about
the sale that has an order form attached to it. Then contact the School PTA moms and ask
them if they would like to rent tables. At the Churches contact the Moms Group and ask
them if they would like to rent tables. Also, if you go to MOPS.Org and put in your zip code
and find out about the local MOPS groups in your area and contact them about your sale.
Of course, you may advertise your sale at no charge on this site. Just e-mail me at
CanadaMom2Mom@timeoutmom.com.
HOW MUCH TO CHARGE FOR TABLES
What Rate if you provide a 6' Foot Table?
What Rate if you provide a 8' Foot Table?
What Rate if you just provide the space and the Seller brings their own table?
What Rate for 3 feet for extra single rack space?
What Rate for 5 feet for extra double rack space?
SELLER CONTRACTS
You should set up a contract that all of your sellers must sign. It can just be a one-sided and
simple form. You need to have all of the seller's info like address and contact phone
numbers, how many tables they want to rent, are they bringing a rack. You need to
determine if you are going allow cancellations and up until what date. Allowing
cancellations within 4 weeks of your sale, really makes for a tough time for you as an
organizer. Within 4 weeks of a sale, I would not make any promises. Now, down the road
your sale may be so popular that you have a waiting list like Sacred Heart in Dearborn, St.
Thomas A Becket in Canton, or St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores - then once you get a
replacement from the waiting list, you can let the other person back out. Along this same
note, do not cash checks for the sale until the sale has actually happened. You never know
what may happen. It is much easier to return a seller's check, than re-issuing a refund from
your organization checking account. I would also clearly state that there is no packing up
early or they will not be invited back to future sales. You paid to advertise a sale to go to a
specific time and you need to honor that advertising for the buyers that are sale hopping.
FINDING BUYERS
I cannot emphasize advertising enough. To have a successful sale the magic minimum
traffic number seems to be 500 buyers. You need to attract 500 buyers to your sale. A
blowout great sale are the ones that get close to that 1000 mark. Those are the sales that
are on my list that I start e-mailing the organizers months before their next sale to get on
their list. These sales are the ones that have 50-80 tables and are sold out 4-6 weeks
before the actual sale.
If you don't attract the buyers, you have no sale. If your sale bombs, then you have frustrated
sellers, and very little chance of repeat sales. I have been at sales where they only got 100-
200 people through the door and the mom sellers were hopping mad and bringing all of
their stuff to the sale and only selling $20-$30 in items. It is not a good scene. Mom2Mom
sales are a great way for your group to raise money and if done well there are many sales
that do 2 sales a year for more than a decade now and earn thousands of dollars for their
organization each time. Again, you may advertise your sale at no charge on this site, Just
e-mail me at CanadaMom2Mom@timeoutmom.com.
USING SIGNS TO ADVERTISE YOUR SALES
St. Edith in Livonia and Lakeview Cheer Team in St. Clair Shores do a fantastic job of
putting out at least 25-35 signs before their sales. They invested in several dozen
professional signs just like the political signs you see. They made them so they can be
used over and over again. Their signs say:
Red, Purple, or Royal Blue. They get these signs all surrounding their sale on the Monday
before the sale. That means these signs are up for 6 days advertising in the surrounding
area. Some sales add balloons to their signs on the day of the actual sale too.
USING ADS IN LOCAL PAPERS AND WEB-SITES TO ADVERTISE YOUR SALE
So, they are advertising their sale to all of the drive-bys all week long. They also pay to
advertise in their local papers. It is money well invested. Also, be sure to go the free route
and get your sale listed on as many free web-sites and listings as possible. Keep a master
list of these and put someone in charge of doing these listings at least 8 weeks before your
sale.
PASSING OUT FLYERS IN THE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD
This is great to do a day or two before the sale. This is a great task to assign to a youth
group or your teenage kids to do. I even handed out flyers with my 5 year old and 8 year old
and they loved it ! They took turns running up to the houses and putting the rolled up flyers
in the screen door handles.
ADMISSION CHARGE
All sales these days charge admission. This is a great way to keep track of your door
count. Many sales charge $1 Admission. A new trend with sales is to allow Early Birds to
come in an hour before the regular time for an extra dollar. So, if the sale starts at 9am and
the charge is $1, then the Early Birds pay $2 to get in at 8am.
HANDING OUT FLYERS AT THE DOOR
It is great to hand out a flyer at the front with a list of other mom2mom sales that month on
the front and ads for the vendors at your sale on the back. Sell a business card size ad to
the vendors for a nominal fee of $5-$10 per business. This will pay for all of your printing
costs. It is great to advertise other mom2mom sales and have them also advertise yours.
Women who shop mom2mom sales don't just go to one a year. They go to many a season
and appreciate information and recommendations about other sales. This is a service you
can provide to your buyers that makes your sale more valuable and professional.
STROLLERS OR NO STROLLERS
I have to say that I am opposed to the sales that do not allow strollers. Then they are too
crowded and have too many tables. Some moms cannot get a babysitter to go shopping at
a mom2mom sale and sometimes it is near impossible to bring your kids to a sale with all
these great tempting items if you have an active toddler that cannot be restrained in a
stroller and entertained with a few early toy purchases. You want to cater to your buyers
and help them out. You want them to have an enjoyable experience.
BIG ITEM ROOM OR AREA
You need to be well staffed and well organized to take this on. Most Mom2Mom sales
charge a percentage, such as 10%, of the selling price of the item. They also use simple
index cards to record the items. They have the seller fill out 2 index cards for each item.
One gets taped to the item stating the Seller, Selling Price, and Item Description (in case
card gets detached). The other index card is in an index card box with alphabetical tabs at
the table where the Large Item Money is to be collected. You need a minimum of 2 people
at the money collection table and 2 people in the actual large item area. Warning: people
get crazy and cuckcoo in the Large Item Area - such as, one person grabbing the chair to a
Little Tykes Vanity Set and another person grabbing the table and them fighting over it. You
need 2 people policing this area. Now, the latest thing I have seen at sales is to have the
women stand in line at the big item area and only allow a limited number of people in at a
time. I highly recommend making this an entirely separate area or room. I have been a
buyer next to a big item area and had dads and grandmas parking their strollers in front of
my table while they were waiting for the mom to duke it out in the big item area and had my
table blocked at one sale for 2 hours. I was not a happy camper. I spoke to the organizers
and they said they knew that the area was too small for the big items, but they knew it would
be only for the first 2 hours. This is horrible. They were totally not thinking of their sellers.
The women around the big item area paid the same money to rent a table and shouldn't
have been treated this way. Remember - happy sellers = happy buyers = good sale.
HELPING OUT THE SELLERS
I love that the Tri-City Christian Mom2Mom Sale Organizers in Canton Michigan have a
fantastic team of moms that run the sale. They have volunteers relieve the moms from their
tables for a quick bathroom run, take food orders for them, and deliver their food. I can't tell
you how much I appreciate this when I rent a table I am by myself. The more you can help
out the sellers, the happier they will be, the more they will sell, and they put you on the top of
their list for your next sale.
FOOD & BEVERAGE SALES
Most sales these days also sell hot dogs, slices of pizza, chili, potato chips, pickles on a
stick, pop, bottled water, candy bars, and bake sale items. I love when the sales have
volunteers like 8th graders going around with a cart and bringing food to the sellers who
often cannot get away while selling. Some sales even sell bagels, muffins, oj, and coffee in
the mornings too.
BAKE SALES
This is a great time to set up a table with bake sale items from 2 cookies in a baggie for 25
cents to a whole plate of cookies to single cupcakes and 6-packs of cupcakes. Bakes
Sales have been huge hits at the Mom2Mom Sales I have coordinated and attended. Not
only are the sellers hungry, so are the buyers. It's also nice to take home a plate of cookies,
brownies, or cupcakes to your family. I recommend makings sure everything is nut free. It is
just not worth it to have items with nuts. This is also a great way for parents to participate
by donating baked goods if they are not able to help out with the actual sale.
VENDORS
It's nice to have local moms with their hand-made items and home businesses. Some
sales limit the vendors to 25% of the total number of tables. Some sales put all the vendors
together in their own room or area - this is NOT recommended. Vendor tables should be
mixed in with the re-sale tables. This works out much better. We have had some great
mom vendors that our mom shoppers and table sellers have asked them to come back like
Heather the Hairbow Lady, Melissa the Moms Rock T-Shirt Lady, Stacey the Rhinestone
Lady, Susan the Knitting Lady, etc. St. Joan of Arc charges the same table fee for vendors,
but asks all of their vendors to donate an item valued at $20 or more for their raffle. Each
vendor donates an item and they line up these donations on a couple tables. Each person
that pays for admission and each seller gets a raffle ticket. Then they can put their ticket in
the brown lunch bag next to the raffle item they hope to win. Additional raffle tickets can be
purchased for a fee of 25-50 cents each.
WHAT TO DO WITH ITEMS AFTER SALE
Arrange for a local charity truck to be there to pick up any unsold items. I know that after a
sale I have items that I will not want to take home and bring to another sale, even if it is just
one garbage bag full. A lot of other moms feel the same way. I have seen some sales
donate 50-100 bags of items. It's good for the moms and good for the charities.
Be sure to check out if there are other sales or big events on the same day. Sometimes
this is a positive and sometimes this a negative. I know of some sales this Spring were
hurt by 2-3 different groups within 5 miles of each other having their sales all on the same
day. Imagine this... you are mom bringing $40-$60 singles to a sale. You and your
girlfriend pick a sale to start at and you there for 2 hours and spend all your money and get
a bag of clothes for each of your kids and one big item you are looking for. Will you really
drive to the next sale? Or do you just head out to lunch with your girlfriend? Npw, in the
case of a local block garage sale or a local community art sale - you may want your sale on
the same day to capitalize on the extra traffic that will be in your area.
FINDING SELLERS
Start by advertising to the moms in your local schools and churches. Create a flyer about
the sale that has an order form attached to it. Then contact the School PTA moms and ask
them if they would like to rent tables. At the Churches contact the Moms Group and ask
them if they would like to rent tables. Also, if you go to MOPS.Org and put in your zip code
and find out about the local MOPS groups in your area and contact them about your sale.
Of course, you may advertise your sale at no charge on this site. Just e-mail me at
CanadaMom2Mom@timeoutmom.com.
HOW MUCH TO CHARGE FOR TABLES
What Rate if you provide a 6' Foot Table?
What Rate if you provide a 8' Foot Table?
What Rate if you just provide the space and the Seller brings their own table?
What Rate for 3 feet for extra single rack space?
What Rate for 5 feet for extra double rack space?
SELLER CONTRACTS
You should set up a contract that all of your sellers must sign. It can just be a one-sided and
simple form. You need to have all of the seller's info like address and contact phone
numbers, how many tables they want to rent, are they bringing a rack. You need to
determine if you are going allow cancellations and up until what date. Allowing
cancellations within 4 weeks of your sale, really makes for a tough time for you as an
organizer. Within 4 weeks of a sale, I would not make any promises. Now, down the road
your sale may be so popular that you have a waiting list like Sacred Heart in Dearborn, St.
Thomas A Becket in Canton, or St. Joan of Arc in St. Clair Shores - then once you get a
replacement from the waiting list, you can let the other person back out. Along this same
note, do not cash checks for the sale until the sale has actually happened. You never know
what may happen. It is much easier to return a seller's check, than re-issuing a refund from
your organization checking account. I would also clearly state that there is no packing up
early or they will not be invited back to future sales. You paid to advertise a sale to go to a
specific time and you need to honor that advertising for the buyers that are sale hopping.
FINDING BUYERS
I cannot emphasize advertising enough. To have a successful sale the magic minimum
traffic number seems to be 500 buyers. You need to attract 500 buyers to your sale. A
blowout great sale are the ones that get close to that 1000 mark. Those are the sales that
are on my list that I start e-mailing the organizers months before their next sale to get on
their list. These sales are the ones that have 50-80 tables and are sold out 4-6 weeks
before the actual sale.
If you don't attract the buyers, you have no sale. If your sale bombs, then you have frustrated
sellers, and very little chance of repeat sales. I have been at sales where they only got 100-
200 people through the door and the mom sellers were hopping mad and bringing all of
their stuff to the sale and only selling $20-$30 in items. It is not a good scene. Mom2Mom
sales are a great way for your group to raise money and if done well there are many sales
that do 2 sales a year for more than a decade now and earn thousands of dollars for their
organization each time. Again, you may advertise your sale at no charge on this site, Just
e-mail me at CanadaMom2Mom@timeoutmom.com.
USING SIGNS TO ADVERTISE YOUR SALES
St. Edith in Livonia and Lakeview Cheer Team in St. Clair Shores do a fantastic job of
putting out at least 25-35 signs before their sales. They invested in several dozen
professional signs just like the political signs you see. They made them so they can be
used over and over again. Their signs say:
- MOM2MOM SALE
ST.EDITH CHURCH
123 Address
THIS SATURDAY
9:00AM TO 2:00PM
Red, Purple, or Royal Blue. They get these signs all surrounding their sale on the Monday
before the sale. That means these signs are up for 6 days advertising in the surrounding
area. Some sales add balloons to their signs on the day of the actual sale too.
USING ADS IN LOCAL PAPERS AND WEB-SITES TO ADVERTISE YOUR SALE
So, they are advertising their sale to all of the drive-bys all week long. They also pay to
advertise in their local papers. It is money well invested. Also, be sure to go the free route
and get your sale listed on as many free web-sites and listings as possible. Keep a master
list of these and put someone in charge of doing these listings at least 8 weeks before your
sale.
PASSING OUT FLYERS IN THE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD
This is great to do a day or two before the sale. This is a great task to assign to a youth
group or your teenage kids to do. I even handed out flyers with my 5 year old and 8 year old
and they loved it ! They took turns running up to the houses and putting the rolled up flyers
in the screen door handles.
ADMISSION CHARGE
All sales these days charge admission. This is a great way to keep track of your door
count. Many sales charge $1 Admission. A new trend with sales is to allow Early Birds to
come in an hour before the regular time for an extra dollar. So, if the sale starts at 9am and
the charge is $1, then the Early Birds pay $2 to get in at 8am.
HANDING OUT FLYERS AT THE DOOR
It is great to hand out a flyer at the front with a list of other mom2mom sales that month on
the front and ads for the vendors at your sale on the back. Sell a business card size ad to
the vendors for a nominal fee of $5-$10 per business. This will pay for all of your printing
costs. It is great to advertise other mom2mom sales and have them also advertise yours.
Women who shop mom2mom sales don't just go to one a year. They go to many a season
and appreciate information and recommendations about other sales. This is a service you
can provide to your buyers that makes your sale more valuable and professional.
STROLLERS OR NO STROLLERS
I have to say that I am opposed to the sales that do not allow strollers. Then they are too
crowded and have too many tables. Some moms cannot get a babysitter to go shopping at
a mom2mom sale and sometimes it is near impossible to bring your kids to a sale with all
these great tempting items if you have an active toddler that cannot be restrained in a
stroller and entertained with a few early toy purchases. You want to cater to your buyers
and help them out. You want them to have an enjoyable experience.
BIG ITEM ROOM OR AREA
You need to be well staffed and well organized to take this on. Most Mom2Mom sales
charge a percentage, such as 10%, of the selling price of the item. They also use simple
index cards to record the items. They have the seller fill out 2 index cards for each item.
One gets taped to the item stating the Seller, Selling Price, and Item Description (in case
card gets detached). The other index card is in an index card box with alphabetical tabs at
the table where the Large Item Money is to be collected. You need a minimum of 2 people
at the money collection table and 2 people in the actual large item area. Warning: people
get crazy and cuckcoo in the Large Item Area - such as, one person grabbing the chair to a
Little Tykes Vanity Set and another person grabbing the table and them fighting over it. You
need 2 people policing this area. Now, the latest thing I have seen at sales is to have the
women stand in line at the big item area and only allow a limited number of people in at a
time. I highly recommend making this an entirely separate area or room. I have been a
buyer next to a big item area and had dads and grandmas parking their strollers in front of
my table while they were waiting for the mom to duke it out in the big item area and had my
table blocked at one sale for 2 hours. I was not a happy camper. I spoke to the organizers
and they said they knew that the area was too small for the big items, but they knew it would
be only for the first 2 hours. This is horrible. They were totally not thinking of their sellers.
The women around the big item area paid the same money to rent a table and shouldn't
have been treated this way. Remember - happy sellers = happy buyers = good sale.
HELPING OUT THE SELLERS
I love that the Tri-City Christian Mom2Mom Sale Organizers in Canton Michigan have a
fantastic team of moms that run the sale. They have volunteers relieve the moms from their
tables for a quick bathroom run, take food orders for them, and deliver their food. I can't tell
you how much I appreciate this when I rent a table I am by myself. The more you can help
out the sellers, the happier they will be, the more they will sell, and they put you on the top of
their list for your next sale.
FOOD & BEVERAGE SALES
Most sales these days also sell hot dogs, slices of pizza, chili, potato chips, pickles on a
stick, pop, bottled water, candy bars, and bake sale items. I love when the sales have
volunteers like 8th graders going around with a cart and bringing food to the sellers who
often cannot get away while selling. Some sales even sell bagels, muffins, oj, and coffee in
the mornings too.
BAKE SALES
This is a great time to set up a table with bake sale items from 2 cookies in a baggie for 25
cents to a whole plate of cookies to single cupcakes and 6-packs of cupcakes. Bakes
Sales have been huge hits at the Mom2Mom Sales I have coordinated and attended. Not
only are the sellers hungry, so are the buyers. It's also nice to take home a plate of cookies,
brownies, or cupcakes to your family. I recommend makings sure everything is nut free. It is
just not worth it to have items with nuts. This is also a great way for parents to participate
by donating baked goods if they are not able to help out with the actual sale.
VENDORS
It's nice to have local moms with their hand-made items and home businesses. Some
sales limit the vendors to 25% of the total number of tables. Some sales put all the vendors
together in their own room or area - this is NOT recommended. Vendor tables should be
mixed in with the re-sale tables. This works out much better. We have had some great
mom vendors that our mom shoppers and table sellers have asked them to come back like
Heather the Hairbow Lady, Melissa the Moms Rock T-Shirt Lady, Stacey the Rhinestone
Lady, Susan the Knitting Lady, etc. St. Joan of Arc charges the same table fee for vendors,
but asks all of their vendors to donate an item valued at $20 or more for their raffle. Each
vendor donates an item and they line up these donations on a couple tables. Each person
that pays for admission and each seller gets a raffle ticket. Then they can put their ticket in
the brown lunch bag next to the raffle item they hope to win. Additional raffle tickets can be
purchased for a fee of 25-50 cents each.
WHAT TO DO WITH ITEMS AFTER SALE
Arrange for a local charity truck to be there to pick up any unsold items. I know that after a
sale I have items that I will not want to take home and bring to another sale, even if it is just
one garbage bag full. A lot of other moms feel the same way. I have seen some sales
donate 50-100 bags of items. It's good for the moms and good for the charities.