PTO did a Jinglel Bell Shop on Dec. 8th.

We got a local Dollar Tree store to sell us items for $1 normally the do not take merchandise back but the store agreed to take back what ever didn't sell.

We charged $2 for each item. We had holiday cookies for everyone and played Christmas music. Every child in the school go to shop for ONE item, if they wanted more they bought in $2 per item.

We selected the items from the Dollar Tree stock. Working with the manager on quanities of items. We choose 10 items or so.

Including Stainless steel Travel Mugs, Tommy boy/girl cologne for men another for woman, Flashlights, 500 piece boxes puzzles, 2005 Calendar with matching planner, 3-coloring book pack, double deck playing cards, that is all that comes to my mind,,,

we did check into funservices and found that items like those listed above would be about $6 or more... so we did feel like the kids got good quality merchandise for their $2.

Check out was a breeze as each item cost the same amount.

here is how we did it... student checks in, if they are shopping for 4 items they pay $8 and recieve four name tags. Student goes to a writing table and fills out the name tags, then they go to the shopping area and select the gift, stick on the name tag and go to the bagging area, where we put the items in a plastic bag and tied it shut! No peeking or playing with other people's gifts during school!

We used only STICKY back name tags. All items were pre-wrapped with only one item on display. There were about 5 different puzzles but only one was displayed and you didn't know which one you actually got as a gift. So if you are considering doing this yourself, note that on a varity of calendars and puzzles that are different in each lot that you'll either have to sort or label them or just pot-luck it as we did, or select something else to sell that is not different.

We thought we were running out at noon and went back to the store and picked up more mechandise... that went quickly and we went back around 2pm and got even more!!

We had done a pre-survey prior to the store, but we sold much more.

The great thing was we didn't have to inventory, we didn't loose any money, it was one day, and all gifts were valued at the same dollar amount - all receivers were valued at the same amount by the gift giversm, it was only a matter of what you wanted to give.

we had only one problem, one parent called as there were two sticky name tags on one package. Which meant they left the store minus one gift. It was a quick and simple fix.

Well Volunteers is a must!
Because of the short notice we did not have many at all. Seems like at the beginning of the year when everyone is "gung ho" signs up for everything---then when it comes time for an event it seems to be the same people (and few) who volunteer.........
I am so tired---my back and feet are killing me too. It was chaotic. From what I understand last year it was M-F and the PTO made $1.42!
This year they are doing this M-W only, with a raffle. We shall see after tomorrow. I am afraid that it was not too organized to make any $$$$.
Live and learn by your mistakes!

We just finished our Gingerbread Shop with added Holiday Bazaar on Saturday.

We purchased all of the items ourselves - Dollar stores, Target's $1 bin and Michael's Crafts $1 bin. We offered all of our items at $.50 or $1.00. We provied baskets for them to shop. It was located in our music room so we used the risers as tables.

We do our shop on Friday afterschool from 3-7pm and again on Saturday from 9-3pm. This year we decided to also host a holiday bazaar in our school to bring in more customers. It worked.

We invited a face painter and offered a Make-it and take-it section. We got some fleece donated and pre-cut it into scarves, the kids got to add beads to the ends. We purchased the supplies and let the kids assemble some snowman soup in a decorative snowman mug. We bought flat ceramic plain ornamnets from the craft store and let the kids use rub on's to make a cute chirstmas ornament. This portion of the holiday shop was very fun. It also only cost $1 for the kids to make one item.

We purchased a cash register off of Ebay for $9.00 this year and that made it a bit easier and smoother. We gave the children 2 gift bags regardless of how many items they purchased. Our only problem was adults hoarding the items and purchasing over $50 (in some cases). I feel that was our fault for not having proper sinage stating the shop was for CHILDREN only. We remedied that situation on Saturday.

Our PTO does not make money on this event it is strictly FUN for the kids. We don't lose either, we break even. We have 3 volunteers in 2 hour shifts. We asked seniors and adults without kids (but who enjoy kids) and had they really enjoyed themselves. We offered our volunteers a small candy thank-you at the end.

It was a grand success!

Glad to help. Kids Go Shopping is my favorite. I love that their merchandise is of good quality. Now here is my secret: Check out the top sales when you do your inventory. Make a note of what and how many sold and for what price you paid/charged. Next year, order the top selling items from Oriental Trading for a fraction of the price. Next year you can add these items yourself to the stuff they send and either mark the price the same as you charged this year (for a huge profit) or mark the price down and pass the savings along.

We use Fun Services ( www.funservices.com/ ) which has reasonably good merchandise. You do have to take inventory upon shipment and then again before returning unsold merchandise. This can be time consuming so you need to make sure you have volunteers for set up and breakdown as well. We don't mark up too much - our holiday bazaar is a service not a fundraiser.

You guys are the BEST
I just went on the site Kids Go Shopping---
Loved it!
Sent for the info! Thank you Thank you

Are there any other RELIABLE, catalog shopping
for school fund raisers (not just for "Holiday Shop") We have used Crystoline for years and everyone in Johnston seems to use them , to be honest boring and expensive! Half the stuff winds up in next years yard sales LOL!