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Have you ever thought about...
.jpg) Rumour
has it that all some people know of the NCT is that it holds Nearly New
Sales! There is some evidence of that in Towcester, where we have both
buyers and sellers who are not NCT members. But nonetheless, these people
are helping us with supporting the NCT campaigns as well as our local branch
funds. Alongside membership, the sales are a vital source of income.
A
day at the sales!
After the halls have
been booked, the event has been advertised and potential sellers have been
sent seller’s packs...the big day finally arrives...
08:00
Volunteers
arrive, many with family and partners in tow...the more the merrier!
Clothing rails are assembled, tables get moved around and
people with labels start sticking them on tables
(that’s a poem for
you!) and rails to separate clothing into age categories and help
distinguish toys from breast pumps!
08:30
Sellers start to
arrive with a huge assortment of clothes, toys and baby equipment.
Volunteers wait at the door as if waiting for Santa Claus, snatching the
goodies and then dashing around the hall to place them on the allotted table
or rail.
09:15
One of the
volunteers makes the rest of the volunteers a nice cup of tea…while the
coordinators initiate new helpers into the art of a successful sale.
Meanwhile, buyers start queuing outside the door.
09:30
On the whistle,
the lucky volunteers dash off to hunt out the bargains and get fist pick of
the sale.
09:50
Back to work!
Everyone runs around like headless chickens now making sure everything is in
the right place and displayed as nicely as it can be.
10:00
NCT members (are
there any left? — shouldn’t they all be helping out?) jump to the front of
the queue and lead the dash when we open the doors and the crowds flock in,
all eager to get their hands on the best bargains before anyone else.
10:00-11:30
People rummage
through the rails and delve through deep piles to buy BARGAINS GALORE! Never
have you seen so many smiling faces as parents gleefully realise that they
have obtained little Ellie’s entire Winter wardrobe for less than the price
of one skirt from Monsoon, never mind acquiring all of little Sammy’s
birthday presents for a fiver! THEY’LL BE BACK AT THE NEXT SALE!
 11:30
All the buyers
have gone...or at least are being herded towards the exit!
11:35
A new set of
signs come out and corners of the hall are labelled “Sellers A1-A30”,
“Sellers B1-B30”, etc.
11:40
The headless
chickens re-emerge and grab armfuls of ‘stuff’ and pile it back into the
sellers’ boxes, which hopefully are a lot lighter now.
12:30
Sellers return
to reclaim their unsold items (perhaps they’ll be sold in the next sale?).
Meanwhile rails are taken down, tables packed away and the hall restored to
some form of order.
13:00
Volunteers go home...to put their feet up and have another nice cup of
tea...and relieve their partners of the children!
The last Nearly New
Sale brought in around £1300 for the branch, but this final figure varies
from sale to sale. This is the net profit..jpg)
Of
everything sold at the sales:
· 70%
goes to the seller
· 9%
goes the to National NCT
· 21%
is left for the branch
Out of that 21% we then
pay for the hire of the school halls, printing of sellers packs and
advertising (sob, sob, is there anything left for branch necessities?!)
Could you help out at
the next sale? You don’t have to commit all day—an hour or two will be fine.
Please let our Nearly New Sale Coordinator know so that she can ensure that
there are sufficient helpers throughout the day.
Email the NNS Coordinator here!
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