School second hand uniform sales - PTA

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How much money does your school make from second hand uniform sales?

How/when do you sell it?

How much?

And how to you display/present it?

Just looking to up our sales and try and give our fund raising a boost

My pta did this as a separate stall at Christmas and summer fayre and other events - £1 for school branded jumpers, 50p for everything else. Made maybe £20 a time.

My previous school had a volunteer who stood at the school gates every morning with a full selection of second hand uniform on display- similar prices to above- they made hundreds of pounds a year but she was a saint as it was a massive commitment!

I didn't think these were to make money, round hear it's always done to help families who can't afford new. (Plus get rid of overflowing lost property bin).

For some reason if you offered free second hand uniforms a lot of people will be offended and refuse it, even if that means kids turning up without jumpers in November. But charge a nominal amount and people feel they've got a bargain.

I've no idea how much it makes, money is paid to reception. It's all hung on a clothes rail in the entrance hall constantly, so you can just nip in if you need something.

We folded ours a couple of years ago. Took up too much time, storage space, and made barely any money. People didn’t like being seen buying used clothes. A facebook page might work but would still involve storage and administration.

Some parents started out a free swap shop instead, a closed fb page where people can simply pass on unwanted uniform. Already working better than a ota sales stall.

Most schools offer it as a way to ensure affordable uniform plus make a few pound for the school. People donate it knowing it's for the second hand uniform sale.

I'm wondering if previous person who did it was trying to charge to much, hence why the poor sales, who wants to but a summer dress for £3 when Sainsbury's do them new for £4

I was thinking more £1 a item and maybe £3 for logo jumper (£15 new) also think the big box with screwed up items isn't appealing and maybe a rail that can appear once a term in playground and fairs etc is a better idea

Our school (secondary) used to be private and is still run on the lines of private schools. Uniform is horribly expensive. They hold 2 uniform sales a year and it's manic. People queue for ages to be first in.

They take over a classroom and have everything out on racks in size order; skirts one side, blazers the other, sports kit on another. They charge a set price, so it's something like £15 for a blazer, £10 a skirt, £8 a jumper etc. As a new skirt is £41 and they are good quality people aren't too proud to buy one new and the rest second hand.

Meant to say when you are selling you can specify whether you are donating it or you want 1/2 the sold cost paid to you.

Our school do cake sales 6/7 times a year and we always sell pre loved uniforms alongside the cake sale.

Op I agree people won't be arsed to rummage in a box - making it easy by organising stuff by item then size will definitely boost sales. And realistic pricing definitely a good idea.

Ours doesn't have prices, it's donation. Apparently people usually give £1-2 per item. It's got a good turnover of stuff as it's always available.

Ours comes out once a week. On a rail next to the tuck shop with other things on a table next to it. 50p per item. Always people having a good rummage, particularly for jumpers and cardigans as they go walkies so often. Not sure how much I makes but as others have said it’s also to help out those who can’t afford new uniform

No, it was realistic. Between 50p (e.g. jumper) to £1.50 (fleece). Might have worked better in a bigger school 🤷🏻‍♀️

Our school and sale are very much like RetreatingWeasel's - the sales raise hundreds of pounds.

Our school can’t seem to get it off the ground. Very halfhearted attempts. All creased and off putting, I want to wash it all and hang it up nicely.

Our private school runs a couple a year and makes several thousand dollars for a local charity, it is very well run and mobbed.

We've just revamped this. But we wash and orson all of the uniform and set up stall like a shop at the summer fair. Last year (before the washing and ironing and sorting) it made a fiver, this year it was just over £100. Well worth doing. We'll do one again after Christmas.

My boys grammar school do one it’s in quite an affluent area - the sales are on once a term and are manic - full pe kit that usually costs £75 for £10 blazers around £15 and they always sell out usually around £500 per sale - no one is in any way snobby about it
My younger children’s primary tried to do the same but quite cheap £1 a jumper etc and raised less than £10. Interestingly it’s in more of a mixed area and I think people were afraid to buy second hand in case they were judged for it

We have a Take As You Need unit as part of poverty proofing school. We charge nothing. Take anything you need. We replenish it from donations and lost property

Oh it’s in reception so you can pop in anytime. I take it all home and wash it and it’s sorted into sizes and categories etc so it’s not just a pile.

Agree that washed and ironed items, on a rail, sorted by size and type, would be most effective. Could be brought out at the Christmas and summer fates, but perhaps also have it available by the office, so people can pop in and buy something discreetly if they need to but feel embarrassed?

My DD's primary used to have stalls at the Christmas and Summer fairs, arranged in size order on racks, as well as at things like McMillan coffee mornings. A PTA lady also used to be available a couple of times a week for half an hour before school finished. It was always very popular.

Thanks for all the feedback definitely think rail is the way forward.

Our is only a very small primary (110) so not expecting to make hundreds I just think it could do a little better.

Space is also a huge issue in our school so I'm more than happy to store the items

Also thinking a Facebook page may be a good idea for anyone who feels embarrassed and wants to be more discreet