Check out Michaels' as well for under 1.00 gifts--
They have a $1.00 section that they rotate regularly-- so the older items go down to .50 cents and .25 cents--
Have gotten great candles, stationary, kids toys and more-- and this happens all year long so these are not just for Santa shop we buy for other events as well.
Wow! These are really great ideas! We did our first Holiday Store this year and it was a HUGE HIT! I bet 95% of the kids shopped. We didn't do it as a fundraiser, but I almost wish we had as I suppose we could have made some money. We went through Kidz Giftland, a Geckler Co. and were very pleased with the variety and selection, plus they overnighted reorders to us when we ran out of certain items.
I was wondering who the online wholesalers are that some of you go through.
I was also looking for more under $1 gifts, and you all have given me some great ideas!
We purchase own stuff. Lots of stuff on clearance as mentioned before....Most items priced at .25 to $3. No prewrapping, but precut paper. Kids love it....As far as those that don't have money.....don't feel obligated to make sure they shop....Not fair to parents that send in $20 and then find out that someone didn't have to pay....Sad....but really the fairest way to handle things......There is someone at the school that takes care of the children that are in "need" for Christmas....don't feel like it is PTO's place to get involved in these matters....just an humble opinion.
I read in one post about who can shop and who really doesn't have the money to come. We sell our items from $1-$5.00-- we also get a a list from our school social worker as to which families can't afford Santa's shop- those kids get $3.00 to purchase items-- but they also shop from a special .50 cent table that we set-up-- these are items that maybe we only have a few of, or have been around awhile-- the teachers also help with the kids that might not be able to afford it-- but we let everyone come down on their day to shop- that way the kids that forgot money, can come back on the last day and bring their money, but they have an idea of what we have to sell also-- we also have a family shopping night the last night of Santa's shop and open it up to teachers and all school family members. We have had a great turn-out in the past and this helped deplete the inventory in order to get new items for next year's Santa Shoppe. My suggestion for any school wanting t purchase their own Santa Shoppe items like we do is shop after Christmas, you can get great items for everyone at reasonable prices-- Our Santa Shoppe is known for having great gifts now-- Parents come in and do a lot of their Christmas Shopping now, and we end up making a profit on something that is more of a service to the kids-- and parents and extremely happy with the gifts they are receiving now. Christmas Sweatshirts for $5.00/ Men's Sports themed Sweatshirts for $5.00/ whole sale companies are a good way to shop/ and always be on the look-out for sales, after mother's day, Father's Day/ end of summer-- good luck!
wow..... we must be one of the few schools still using a company. our company ships us the products and we place reorders and they come the next day. the merchandise range from 50 cents to $15 dollars.
we are a year round school meaning there are so many kids, we go all year. it's broken into "tracks": A, B, C, D.
we run our shop 8 days so each track gets 2 days. one day to "preview" make their lists, bring it home to mom/dad, get money. the next day, they "shop".
we have registers and bags to give out.
it is VERY volunteer intensive but we manage every year.
we promote it in our newsletter one month before the shopping days and beg for volunteers.
we explain this is a warm and safe environment and kids can earn money for the shop doing chores at home or whatever. the kids just love getting to shop for mom and dad without having them know what they are purchasing.
we charge 5-10% over to cover taxes and lost items.
at the end, we pack everything up and the company comes and picks it up.
we have thought about doing it ourselves next year by purchasing the products on our own. the concern is having enough items or if something doesn't sell, what do you do? do you return it or do you "eat" the cost?
We have operated our Santa Shop on our own for three years now (instead of using an outside company). Those companies are a lot more convenient, but way overpriced. We purchase items from local Dollar Stores, as well as catalogs (if your school is like ours, you probably receive a lot) - Oriental Trading, Good Time Attraction. Nothing is over $2, and we also have items for $1, 50 cents and 25 cents. We discovered, after our first attempt, that some kids come in with very little money, and a long list to buy for! It will touch your heart to see kids buying a Christmas pencil for a quarter for their mom or dad because that's all the money they have. This reinforces our decision to hold our Santa shop this way - it makes it available to all students, even those who don't have much money. We also purchase the paper bags from dollar stores. Just staple them up and put a name tag on them and they're ready to go.
