Anyone sell at just between friends sale?

[melrose7]

After having a rummage sale this weekend and making some money I still have a lot of clothes left and a lot of nice clothes, worn once, nwt, name brands, and was going to go to resale shops but we have a just between friends sale coming up next month. If I would volunteer and get 70%, and minus the $10 fee, can I really make money? I know it will be a pain to tag everything, I have 9 storage bins full clothes so it's going to take awhile but I could start whenever I wanted. Just want to make sure it's worth it.

[SammyeGail]

I did one years ago. I put in a lot of work to make things look nice to sell. They didn't have enough racks so everything was cramped together, the whole thing was disorganized.

If you feel good about the one in your area, I would look into it. It's great you can volunteer, I never did another because the gas for 3-4 two hours round trips wasn't worth it.

I may check into a consignment shop here. I don't know when and if I could get all the stuff I have photoed and listed.

Good luck!

[melrose7]

I've heard good things about the one here about space and good crowds and it's only 10 minutes from my house. I know they moved to even a bigger place than they were 2 years ago when I first heard about it. So it's growing in popularity around here but for all the work I want to see if it is worth to sell. It seems like to make a profit you need to list things a little higher than you would for a rummage though, right?

[krocodile]

I sold a some items in our local JBF sale last spring. I felt like it was worth it for the nicer items that you will never get that much out of at a garage sale, yet aren't quite worth the craigslist effort. Things are generally marked higher than a garage sale. In fact I think clothing has a $3 mininum (although people will put 2 t-shirts for example together on the same hanger.) Clothing was also checked at drop-off.

I'm in MN, we have a lot of sales around here but I think most are run by different organizers so there could be some difference just between sales. I've been to a few different ones though and from a shopping perspective they were good.

Entering and printing the information for the tags was easier than I first expected and then you can track which items have been sold online at the end of each day, which was kind of fun.

[melrose7]

The one thing I didn't understand was the tagging. How do you actually tag the items after you print out the tags? I couldn't understand that part from the website. The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards doing it so that I know I am hopefully getting what I want for the nicer things I have.

[MommyofAmaya]

We have 5 different JBF sales here and I have sold at nearly all of them. I have found the shopping best at the bigger sales and the selling best at the smaller sales. I often sell at two or more by picking my items up at the end of the first sale and saving them for the next. You cut and attach your tags after printing. You can use safety pins or a tagging gun for clothes and tape for toys, etc.

I think each item needs to sell for $2+ so if you have lower priced items they need to be bundled together. Our sales are relatively strict about quality and season, ie. not even tiny water marks and no brown mary janes in the summer sale!.

If you are selling at ony one sale, you can price on the high end and then choose to go to half-price on the last day. I don't usually volunteer b/c it is an extra 5% and that works out to about $15 for me (usually sell in the $300 range). Not worth the hassle IMO. . I will sometimes do the barter option if it is cheap and I can get into the larger sale earlier. I buy most of DC's clothes at the JBF sales, though there usually isn't a great selection for size 5+ so I will have to start looking for other options.

[melrose7]

Thanks for the tips. I think the one I am thinking about is the biggest in the area with then a few smaller ones close by. I think I will try the big one and then save the stuff for a smaller one in October. I was hoping to make around $250+ so hopefully between the 2 I can sell most of the girls stuff and not spend too much there. Then if I like the sales we have 1 more smaller one in the area.

[melrose7]

I think each item needs to sell for $2+ so if you have lower priced items they need to be bundled together. Our sales are relatively strict about quality and season, ie. not even tiny water marks and no brown mary janes in the summer sale!.

so your sale doesn't take off season stuff, or it will just sell better for the upcoming season? I have a lot summer dresses that I might be better off waiting for the spring sale then. I guess I could always list them and if they don't sell try again next year.

[nfowife]

I'm prepping my stuff for our upcoming one(s). We have the big JBF and then a few smaller ones after that I've done in the past as well.
I think the key is not overpricing. I've seen gymbo outfits (not NWT but in great condition) for $25. Come on, people. I can get a new outfit AT GYMBOREE for less than that on sale. Think about what you'd pay for the outfit as a stranger and price accordingly.
For big gear stuff I do craigslist first as I think you get higher prices selling that way. But for clothes, if it's not high end like Hannah or Boden it's not going to do great on ebay so the sales are the best way to get rid of stuff you don't want anymore quickly.
It does take a lot of prep, but since we have multiple sales once my items are hung and organized I just retag for each sale and donate what's left at the end of the sales.
Ours are seasonal so the upcoming sales are for fall/winter clothing only. In the spring they do spring/summer stuff.
I also like to consign so I can shop at the pre-sale before everything gets picked over. I can't volunteer with DH's work schedule and a nursing baby, so this is the best way for me to be able to shop early.

[MommyofAmaya]

Thanks for the tips. I think the one I am thinking about is the biggest in the area with then a few smaller ones close by. I think I will try the big one and then save the stuff for a smaller one in October. I was hoping to make around $250+ so hopefully between the 2 I can sell most of the girls stuff and not spend too much there. Then if I like the sales we have 1 more smaller one in the area.

Most JBF sales here will not accept out of season, though the more established ones are more strict with the rules. Two of the areas are newer and they are more lax. I don't know about other consignment sales. I only do JBF b/c I only have to tag once and they coordinate their dates so there is no overlapping.