Consignment

It's that time of year again! Twice a year, local churches and groups put on consignment sales, where individuals can hang and price their own used kids clothing and toys, baby and sports equipment and bring it to sell during the weekend sale. The space used, a church or rented space, is set up with clothing racks, shelves, tables etc. to hold all the toys and clothing that people bring in and Volunteers run the sale. I have been participating in these since Bethany was a baby because it is a great way to make money selling the stuff my kids outgrow and then having some cash in my pocket to purchase new things for that season. There is one sale in Sept. for fall/winter items and one in March for Spring/summer items. It takes me about a week to get out all the bins of clothing and tous that I've stockpiled in the garage as we've cleaned out or outgrown for the past few months. I have to hang the clothing on hangers and fill out tags to pin to each item with size, price etc. I also enter in a log sheet, which the volunteers will use to calculate how much you've sold so you can get paid.
I am part of the leadership team for the one I've been doing here for years at The Brandermill Church. It just means I'm involved in the planning process and am in charge of a certain volunteer area. My area is Receiving. I am in charge of checking the clothing items when people bring them in to make sure they've followed the guidelines for tagging and hanging and to make sure the clothes are in good condition and the proper season.
We usually set up the room space with the racks and tables on a Wednesday night, receive items on a Thursday afternoon/evening, sell on Friday and Saturday and by Sat. at 5pm, we're cleaned up and done!
Recently, the kids have gotten excited about cleaning out their rooms during this time, pricing what they want to get rid of and sending it along with me so that they can earn cash for their items as well. When i receive my check from the sale a few weeks after the event, I dole out to the kids what each of them earned.
They are always excited to reap the benefit of their work and sometimes I find some cool stuff there to bring home for them.
When it is all said and done, it's a great win-win for everyone involved. Lots of struggling families are helped because they can buy their kids clothes at a reduced cost, we also help needy families by giving them clothes for free. Regular middle class families can come and sell their old stuff and pick up some new wardrobe items at the same time---recycling at it's best! When the sale is over, different charities are contacted and can come and pick up the leftover items. Each consignor makes 80 percent of the selling price, the sale committee earns the other 20, which gives a portion to the church and other to different outreach ministries.
It's a lot of fun to be invloved in this and very rewarding as well.