Selling at an NCT nearly new sale - help!

[snottagecheese]

First of all, I'm not sure where to post this so please tell me if I'm in totally the wrong place (I've also posted in Chat)

I've booked a seller's table for a sale this Saturday but have had no reply from the organiser re my various questions (grrr) and having had a look on here I'm starting to totally rethink what I should be selling. I'd been planning to sell lots of the 'nicer' brand clothes I've kept like John Lewis, Jojo Maman Bebe, Mini Boden etc but it seems these will sell for nothing compared to eBay so maybe I shouldn't bother? On the other hand it seems toys and books are the thing - so should I focus on those (and what sort of prices should I be giving books, for example? Should it just be very young boardback books, or older paperback picture books, e.g. Julia Donaldson? I have no clue!)

I also have some baby/toddler equipment, particularly a pram and a Maclaren that I'm keen to get rid of (both in good nick) - but it looks like things like an Ergobaby sling will again go for peanuts compared to eBay, so should I just head to eBay instead for that? And what does sell well at NCT sales, for a reasonable price? Sorry, I probably sound really greedy, but it just seems a bit daft to knowingly sell stuff for much less than it could potentially raise (and I'm not doing the NCT out of any money - it's one of the sales where you just pay a table fee, then all money made from sales is yours to keep).

Thanks for any advice!

[Floppy5885]

I would put your boden stuff and your baby equipment on at the price you hope to achieve. If it's nice, people might pay it. If it doesn't sell it's no loss.

Single used books £1 or £50 depending on condition. 1.50 or £2 for a large hard backed special Book. Ie) a Book with a collection of 8 mog stories.

[Floppy5885]

All books sell

[toobreathless]

I sell on ebay a fair bit with good success, Boden and Joules do particularly well. I only bother selling items on ebay that are in excellent condition and the right season. I bought a boden reindeer dress in March for 99p (ebay) and resold it last November for £21. Remember ebay will take a cut.

Anything supermarket and low end high street is simply not worth the postage on ebay. If you have a table booked anyway why not take the higher brands and just don't budge on the price you want or them.

Books 50p or £1 and encourage people to buy multiple so 6 '£1' books for £5 etc.

The price you will get for bigger items on ebay will depend on where you live, we are very rural so those things actually sell better at the NCT type sales if you are prepared travel the 40 mins or so to a reasonable sized town to sell them. No one wants to travel out to the middle of nowhere to look at or collect a pram for more than about 99p here. But if you're in London say I suspect you would do much better.

Personally I would try the Ergo baby on a sling Facebook buy and sell group? Or at least join a group to get a rough idea of a realistic price I suspect they will sell better there than either Ebay or NCT.

[PosterEh]

I find people are looking for cheap clothes at nearly new sales and that a lot of more expensive (but actually good value) stuff is left at the end (I got a mini Boden duffle coat for £5).
Sell all the supermarket stuff, the equipment, anything difficult to post so you would have to do collection only.
Basically anything it's not worth putting on eBay.

[PosterEh]

Soft toys don't sell well either.

[mandy214]

I don't think books will sell at £1 or £2 - most books can be bought new fairly cheaply now from Amazon or The Book People - at every sale I've ever been to / helped at they are never more than 50p each (mostly 10p or 20p) - and there will be hundreds.

My tip would be to make your stall look pretty - I know that sounds idiotic, but if the stall looks nice, laid out nicely, maybe a table cloth etc, it will attract people and they'll think you've looked after everything and possibly be prepared to pay more. I think Boden, Jojo sell well if they're priced correctly - I think the standard rate is about a third of what you paid.

Equipment always goes well - slings etc. If you're not paying any commission to NCT, and you don't have the faff of photographing / posting items as you would have to for Ebay, think its definitely worthwhile.

[snottagecheese]

Oh, thank you - just seen that this thread's perked up a bit

So, books at 50p or less, that's a good idea - hadn't though of books but we have HUNDREDS so would be great to have a clear out. Wasn't going to bring soft toys as I've heard before they don't sell (and our local children's charity shop always has a huge basket of them which no one ever seems to go near).

mandy good tip about it looking pretty - fool persuade people into thinking that your stuff is better cos it looks nicer That psychology totally makes sense, though.

I think I will take the nice branded clothes and try and stick to the price - the sale's in quite a well-off area of London so I'm thinking there should be people who'd pay a bit more for some well-cared-for Boden etc stuff. We'll see!

I've tried without success to sell my pram on local sites, so will try here first and then eBay if not. It's a good point about not having to pay commission if not on eBay though - so I could knock 10% off Ergobaby and buggy straight off, which might make their prices more appealing to people.

Wooden toys - a third off the 'new' cost too? And is it worth trying to sell my Medela Swing breast pump?! It was barely used and they're soooo ££££ to buy new, but I don't know if people are squeamish about that sort of thing...

Thanks all!

[snottagecheese]

Oh - and sleeping bags (not Grobags but good brands - John Lewis, Jojo etc) - will they sell, and how much should I charge?! Also a Little Life tent, which works as travel cot as well as actual tent. Thanks!

[snottagecheese]

And stairgates??! (Sorry, will stop now!)

[eastmidswarwicknightnanny]

Sleeping bags I have seen at nct sales non grobag are £3ish
Books 50p each often bundled into 2 for £1
Clothes outfits £1-£2 each

Ours is one you label n drop they sell n take 30% plus you pay £2 for a 50 label sellers pack so bundle smaller items together.

I priced sleeping bag at £1 each, outfits at 50p-£2 and tops at 50p-£1 brands varied from bhs to next to boden, puzzles 50p-£1, games £2, lamaze toys £2, Fisher price rainforest play Mat £10, I priced cheap as want gone.

[rookiemere]

Maybe too late to this, but I found that NCT sales were really only good to get rid of stuff at rock bottom prices.

Ebay is great for selling Boden clothes - bundle them up with some less expensive items such as John Lewis/Next and you'll get a good price for them. In a few instances I made back almost as much as I had paid for them.

[Ratbagcatbag]

How did you do?
I surprisingly made more on toys than expected when I last did one. :)

[snottagecheese]

Hi ladies, yes, the sale was this morning! Hmm, well, sold quite a few small items - wooden toys went well, a Scuttlebug, Jojo wellies, a bathroom step, a DVD, one (ONE!) sleeping bag and my Medela breast pump (YES - been trying to sell that for ages, I thought it was a bargain at £25 esp as it cost 135 bloody quid in the first place). Plus some clothes, mostly at the prices I wanted. But it was reeeeaaally quiet, maybe cos it was sunny, maybe the organisers didn't advertise/market it much. I was pretty disappointed by the footfall, much less busy than a Baby Jumble sale I did last spring (but they don't seem to be around any more unfortunately). Am going to try eBay and Facebook groups from now on. The amount of time and effort preparing wasn't really worth the result, I reckon (and I don't think it was overpricing, just not enough people through the door - everyone else seemed to be going home with loads too). Ah well, you live and learn.