In a similar spirit to Darren Wright's UN-lamington-drive, here is a case
study for your consideration.
 
Kippax Uniting in Canberra's suburban north-west decided several years ago
that a Fete was a lot of work and worry. No-one wanted to run a stall at a
fete: It's too much trouble! So, a few of the blokes decided to have a
quarterly Garage Sale instead. That's much easier to arrange, and who can
resist a sale? The event quickly blew out of all proportion, and is now the
Monster Garage Sale, complete with monster plant stall that takes much of
the large foyer except the morning tea and haberdashery sections, the
monster clothing sale that takes all of the worship centre, and everything
else that's offered for sale -- electronics and computers, crockery and
glassware, books, toys, home and car products -- takes up all of the hall.
The grassed area in front of the main building has the furniture and garden
equipment. The smell of sausages and onions on the bbq helps the lively
atmosphere, and also serves to feeds the volunteers. 

Goods are dropped off in the foyer in the week before the garage sale, or
are picked up by arrangement on the few evenings before the sale. The night
before the sale, items are categorised and prices applied by sticking a
piece of masking tape on and writing a price with felt pen. 

On the day, the church people walk about with a sign that says "Please pay
me" pinned to their clothing. Sales people ensure that the bargaining is
always fair. We know that some professional market-goers take us for a ride,
sometimes. We also make sure that university students and the needy get
great bargains. Some real bargains are had. Turnover is the aim, not profit,
but the garage sale typically takes over $5,000. What is left over is put
back in the 20ft shipping container or the loft space, until next time.

Peter

------------------------------------------------------
- You are subscribed to the mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED]
- To unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put in the message body 'unsubscribe 
insights-l' (ell, not one (1))
See: http://nsw.uca.org.au/insights-l-information.htm
------------------------------------------------------

Reply via email to