[carlyincali]

I am so worried it's going to be a flop. We don't have tons of stuff, but we do have some.

I am going to call the local friends I have and ask if they would like to donate items.

My girls are going to sell lemonaide and homemade cookies.

I was thinking of blowing up a pic of Josie I have and posting it on a table with a jar incase anyone wants to donate that doesn't buy anything.

Other than that, I'm not sure what to do.

I am looking for any suggestions or recommendations.

TIA

[egails]

Have your garage sale the first weekend after the 3rd of the month. That is when government checks come out and people have more money to spend.
Gail

[waiting4shiloh]

We did this with AMAZING success, and last month my brother and sis-in-law did it for their adoption and did even better! We didn't have much stuff, but we talked to friends at church and work and got stuff donated. It was amazing how much people went out of their way to help! We did our sale Friday and Saturday. Be sure to put an add in the paper and use lots of big bright colored signs with arrows leading to your house.

[Guatemom]

Carla,
We did this last summer and had hit with it. Here are some things we did, things I see when I'm yard-saling, etc.
*qty is not it...QUALITY...ie, *big ticket* items like ELECTRONICS, BABY/CHILD items (toys, clothes), etc. and furniture of any sort is always a hit. Got an old nightstand? Lampstand? Mag rack? Anything. Figurines, pictures and just pic frames, tools, etc. People love them. Home decor/furniture stuff----go thru your house! I've even seen old avon perfume bottles...someone collects just about everything.
*Big turnoff--not having items CLEARLY MARKED. You can get the bright stickers that have pre-printed prices on them at the dollar store or Walmart. Or, good ole tape and write on it. But make sure it's priced! Steer clear of any "make offer" kind of things. You'll get the short end of the stick there,
*Make your *big ticket* items up front....people are notorious for drive-by's. So place things up front that will be eye-catchers. Make them want to stop! Ie, don't put a pile of clothes out front...Even a table of knick-knacks is better than nothing.
*Make your signs for your sale short-n-sweet, and CLEAR. Like
"SALE 5/16/08, 8AM-?
123 YOUR ST
---------> "
Nothing kills a sale like bad directions or advertisement!
*If possible, get local churches involved. Most of the time they are happy to either donate items or help you collect items from others.
*Yes absolutely----Blow up pics of Josie, and esp. have one at your table with something like "Help bring me home". So that no matter what, when checking out--they will see her face. Just to say it's an adoption fundraiser--not enough. She's one in a million...so make them see her face.
*Believe it or not, presentation is everything. When you use tables for your items, make sure they're clean and it never hurts to put a cheap table cloth on them.
*For bulk items, use totes. Label the tote only. Like, for books...put all hardbacks in one and say $2 ea or whatever. All paperbacks in another.
*Make items easy to find; ie, group like items together: Housewares, toys, clothes, etc. Nothing's worse than going to a place where it looks like someone's tossed things outside and hoped for the best, lol. Some people will take time to root thru, but not many.

Ok, I need to run to pick up the boys. Will check this later and add more if others don't beat me to it, lol. I love to yard-sale can you tell?

hugs
Mel

[Guatemom]

I forgot----
We got rid of all our VHS tapes (and we had TONS we'd collected over the yrs). They were another of our 'tote' items, and someone came and bought the whole tote!
So check for video games, VHS, DVD's, CD's, etc. stuff, too!!!

[TeeTee]

We did this also and had great success. We did have a ton of stuff donated to us. As other posters have stated, be organized. People don't like to dig for stuff. Also have things priced reasonably, as to not turn people off. Big things out front is a good idea. We also had a jar for donations and the kids sold donuts and cokes and popcorn. We had a pizza chain give us pizza cards that had buy one get one free 16 times. We sold them for $10 and we got 100% of the profit..we sold alot of those. PM me and I will tell you which pizza place as I am not sure I can say on here. Try to get lots of people to donate..your church, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors...Good luck, Carrie

[Tammy2005]

Maybe a car wash too at your home the same day, or go to places like a carwash or car repair shop, sometimes they will let you raffle off something they will provide and you keep what ever money you make on the raffle. Even local super markets will raffle off a turkey, or even a basket of different foods. Good luck, Tammy

[rapf777]

Hi Carla,
I have had a few garage sales too. A lot of people are posting awesome advice. What I did also is if you have any old gold that you are willing to sell. I did that and made an extra $1200. All i got rid of was a bracelet with cheap diamonds and an old engagement ring from my ex husband. I got FULL price on what he paid for on the ring. Stand your ground on the prices. They wanted to offer me originally 200 less for the ring and I said NO. They will move on the price. Also a salon I worked at did an raffle for me too. What we did was (I sell candles) put a candle holder with a dozen tealights and it was $1.00 a chance. I could not believe the amount of money that was raised. It was over $100.00 that we raised. Plus people were also donating on top of that and made an additional $300.00. Lemonade and cookies are also a great idea. Also have soft drinks like soda and water and sell them for a buck or 2. when people are thirsty they do not care. Also since its early morning what about selling breakfast items like coffee and muffins. Also maybe have a raffle there at the garage sale but make sure on the law about something like that. Also my DH company had a bake sale in our honor to raise money. There is soo much you can do.

Let me know if you need any more ideas. I know I can come up with a few.

Rose

Rose

[skiouro]

big Signs!!!! Easier For People To See And Stop

[Guatemom]

Ok, not really 'yard-sale' per say, BUT...something else I did to help with $...I SOLD A TON OF BOOKS ON EBAY!!! I made almost $200 just doing that. I collect accounting, business, and legal texts anyway (I know I'm such a nerd) plus a bunch of my old texts from just college in general (HR and mgmt books were great sellers, btw too)...
If it's still the same, I think you have to go to half.com which is the text-book side of ebay. It's so easy, I know I sound like a commercial but seriously-if I can figure it out I KNOW you can!

[carlyincali]

Thank you everyone for your replies. Last night, I printed them all out and read them and got so excited.

When I woke up this morning to hear about what the birthmom's are being offered to change their minds and keep their babies, it made sick to my stomach. Kind of put a damper on my fundraising mood. But hopefully, things will change over there in GC by the first weekend in June.