Things You'll Need:
- Pens, markers, stickers, labels, rubber bands
- Flyers
- Poster board
- Tables
- Coat racks
- Cash boxes
- Adding machines
- Shopping bags
- Boxes
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Step 1
Reserve your space. You will need to get your rummage sale on the calendar at the first PTSA meeting of the year. We have our sale on the last Saturday before Memorial Day weekend - it's good to have a consistent date from year to year so people know when to expect it.
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Step 2
Plan your drop-off dates and get those on the calendar, too.
We have our drop-offs once a month in Jan, Feb and March and then every Friday from spring break in early April until the Big Day. Make the most of the after-the-winter-holiday purging when people get rid of a lot of old stuff to make room for the new. You can even arrange for neighborhood curbside pickups if you have a truck. -
Step 3
Appoint department heads. Once you get the ball rolling, the same folks will come back year after year because rummage sales are addictive. The first year will be the hardest. Here is a list of some of our deparments:
*Kids toys
*Kids clothing
*Women's cloting
*Men's clothing
*Sporting goods
*Books, music and movies
*Housewares
*Furniture
*Electronics
*Best in Show
Make a big poster board sign for each department and place them up high enough so they can be seen from across the room. That way shoppers know which way to go if they are looking for something in particular. -
Step 4
Add a hospitality department. This is the person who will make sure there is pizza for set-up, coffee and bagels the morning of the sale, beverages throughout the day, sandwiches at lunch and something special to snack on during clean up. Having good wholesome snack food around will keep your worker bees happy and onsite.
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Step 5
Start publicizing early. At your first meeting of the year, decide what your theme is going to be. We chose "pirates" last year (aye, matey, hand over your loot). This year, the theme focuses on mismatched items (two different socks, wildly contrasting pants and shirt). Once you have the theme set, you can create flyers and posters for drop-offs. You can also distribute your information on the school web-site and through bulletins.
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Step 6
Arrange storage space. This is critical, especially if you're going to be collecting rummage over the six months prior to the Big Day. We have no storage space on the school grounds, so we seek out empty spaces such as basements and garages. Remember, if your storage space is at a distance, you will also need a truck to shuttle goods from the school to the space and back.
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Step 7
Coordinate drop-offs. Once these have been scheduled and promoted, you will need to make sure there are enough people to handle the flow. We have three hours drop-offs, which we divide into two one-and-a-half hour shifts, with three people per shift. At the drop-offs, you have three basic functions:
*SORTING - don't be afraid to say no to anything that is outright garbage. Don't let people use this as an excuse to dump on you!
*PRICING - price it now, so that you can simply put everything out on the tables when you are ready to set up for the sale. You should have stickers, labels and masking tape at the ready. Some items (like books) do not need individual pricing as they are the same price for all.
*PACKING - pack carefully for storage. -
Step 8
Monthly meetings. Throughout the year you will need to have meetings for your department heads to make sure everyone is on the same page, questions are addressed, concerns are aired and labor is divided. I am the Rummage Chair and if I didn't hand out jobs as the year went on I would be swamped with things to do. Give everybody something to do. Surround yourself with competent, enthusiastic worker bees and you will be happier for it.
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Step 9
Set-up with a floor plan ahead of time. Let each department head be responsible for his or her area, including staff. Be sure to have plenty of coat racks and hangers for clothes and large tables for everything else. You will need a good place to stash your boxes where they don't pose a fire hazard or block an exit. Don't put them in the playground, as the kids will be all over them. You will need those boxes again to pack up what remains at the end of the day. You like to think it will all be gone and you can just chuck those boxes, but don't count on it.
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Step 10
The Big Day. Set up everything the day before so all you have to do is open the doors and you're ready to rummage. Arrange for someone to make cash deposits for you throughout the day. This will be a representative of the PTSA or the school board. Hand out shopping bags as people enter, then their hands are free to handle the merchandise.
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Step 11
Start slashing prices. Two hours before closing, go to half-price on everything. One hour before closing, charge $1 per bagful. Rotate your volunteer staff to avoid burn-out. Have some kind of activity or play area for kids and offer child care if possible. Our fifth grade has a bake sale at our rummage, which gives people something to eat and a reason to shop longer.
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Step 12
The Morning After. At our school everything has to be clean and gone by 7 a.m. on Monday morning. That gives us Saturday after the sale to clean up inside and Sunday to clean up outside. The inside is the easy part. Cleaning up the outside means that all remaining items must be removed from the premises in an timely manner. We used to leave our boxes packed up and ready for removal in the outdoor basketball court overnight on Saturday night for Sunday morning pick-up. Last year, someone posted our rummage leftovers on Craig's List and in the middle of the night the vultures descended. When we returned Sunday morning the remains were scattered all over the playground with the boxes ripped and crushed. When the truck came, the carters refused to take them. Pre-arrange with your local Goodwill, Value Village or Salvation Army to pick-up your well-packed leftovers and make sure someone watches over them until they arrive.
