Sant1457;131779 wrote: Has anyone ever done a holiday store without items coming from a large company? Is it possible? Last year we used Lil Shoppers. In 3 days our school took in $7000! We were floored! But... we owed $6000 to the company. We felt that we were robbed.
A few of us were talking and we were thinking of doing it ourselves. Has anyone ever done this? Are we crazy????

Hi Sant --

In defense of these companies that offer these services, most if not all of the companies I've run across don't market these programs as fundraisers. Rather, they're offered as a (fun) service to kids and families, a service that you may happen to make a few bucks at, as well.

In Lil Shoppers case, they tell groups openly to expect about a 10% profit... and you guys made around 20%. Just trying to be fair.

There are obviously groups that go out and do a lot of the leg work on their own, but besides the factors listed above (accepting returns, not fronting the $$), you also should consider the months of volunteer labor and attention that goes into running one of these yourself. For our group, the fairly turn-key (order, unpack boxes, sell, repack boxes) nature of using a company was a big factor.

Tim

We also offer the Santa shop as a service to our children and do not make any money on this event. We start with $1200 (which we set aside in our budget at the beginning of the year) and we buy everything from dollar store in our area. Then we sell the items for a $1. Last year we turned over $3000 in merchandise. We talked to the dollar stores ahead of time so we can be tax exempt and usually we get to shop in their backroom so we also get first pick at the new merchandise. We have an agreement with one store to take back whatever we don't sell. All the stores we happy to have our business, so they we great to work with. We did not end up with much left over, I think $30 worth of items which we donated to two needy families at our school. One more thing the group also gave the children from 3 needy familes a shopping spree to buy for their family. Each child gets to pick one gift for each family member in their household. Our group also offers free giftwrapping and tags for each gift (the paper, tags, and tape are donated by families and volunteers wrap all week). So we have never used a big company nor do we plan too. Is it alot of work you bet, but it is also fun. Hope that helps.

we do not do it as a fundraiser, but as a courtesy to kids. We have parent vendor tables, and the parents buy the stuff all year.. the great thing about parent vendors is that they will give away product, or sell a $1.00 item for .25 if that's alll a child has left in his envelope. Outside " crafters" who do this for a living generally won't do that...

the parents pay $50 for their table for the week, and the money collected from those 8-10 parents goes toward scholarship money for kids who can't afford to shop... it's a win-win.


This past year, we had one grade do a table ( they were fundraising for a special trip).. the 100 parents from that grade all donated " stuff from home" and the table raised 100% clear profit of $1600.

YOu would be amazed at how many new " goodies" we all store at home.. stuff you get as gifts, and never use.. or stuff you buy on sale, with the intention of giving as gifts.. but never do.. we got an amazing and GENEROUS selection of things to sell! Some parents even just bought a few things to donate.....

other Q's or details, just ask!

The catagories that we have available are:
Men: gloves, caps, tools, tape measures, coffe mugs, flash lights, pens, candy

Ladies: Jewelry, figurines, coffee mugs, dish towels, oven mits, stationary, candy, candles, Christmas ornaments.

Teachers: teacher related items

Teen: cd cases, sm purses, colonges, pens and stationary, diaries, jewelry.

Children: Lots of toys!, crayons, books, stuffed animals

Baby: toys, books, pacifiers, night lights

Don't forget PETS!! Almost every child wants to buy their pet a chew toy!

Like I said earlier, we try to purchase everything $1 or under, and resell for $1.50. The parents really, really appreciate the low cost, and the kids just love to shop!

I don't have an inventory list for you to look at but I can tell you what sold really well:
tool boxes , tape measures, screwdriver sets,
clamp sets, gloves, wallets,
candles (any), scented lotions, snow globes,
jewelry, hair clips/bands, stationary,
scrapbooking materials, Christmas Ornaments/decorations ,
Girl's play rings, Nerf footballs (generic brand), misc wall posters,
tattoos , puzzles, Girl's purses,
picture frames, Rubber Duckies for babies (Oriental Trading Co),
stuffed animals from dollar stores , Marker sets,
books,

....that's just off the top of my head. It's more work but I like that we are keeping the prices low and making the parents happy. Plus making a profit. Leftovers just get boxed up til next year. We only have 2 boxes of items that were left over. Our budget last year was $1100. This year we are going up to $1400. Hope that helps.

Amy

For those of you who do your own sale, how many different items do you buy for Mom, Dad, grandma, etc.?

We have 400 kids in our school and I'm trying to figure out how many different items I will need for ours. Then once I figure that out, it's on to how many of each do you purchase so you won't have many leftovers.

If anyone has a sample inventory list of what they had last year and would like to share it here.

Thanks!!