2012 Yard Sale Planning is Under Way! There's still time to become part of the TWYS planning team--the first of an expected 4 planning meetings is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 10, at 4 p.m., Public Safety Building. There is only a small time commitment involved, and most of the work's already been done! Past planners have created "templates" for what needs to be done, when. All we have to do next year is execute! To join, just show up at the meeting, or contact Lynda King at l.king42@verizon.net or (978) 365-3314. Bolton 2011 Townwide Yard Sale a Success, Survey Reports Results are in from the Bolton Townwide Yard Sale follow-up survey, and the majority of sellers were pleased to have participated in the second annual sale on May 14, 2011, sponsored by Bolton Local as a community building initiative and the “ultimate recycling event.” Twenty of the 43 participants returned surveys. Seventeen checked “yes’ to the question: Were you glad you participated in the sale? Two respondents had mixed feelings, while only one wrote that he was not glad to have been part of the sale.
The 20 people who returned surveys made a total of $5,020, an average of $251 per household. There was a wide range of sales, from a low of $35 to a high of $650. Six people made under $100, three made $101-$200, eight made between $201 and $499, and three made over $500.
Applying the $251 average to all 43 sales, it is possible that Bolton residents not only moved thousands of items, but also brought in almost $11,000 ($10,793) from the event. The 32 who committed before the sale to donating 10% to a local cause may have given more than $800. People sold everything from 25-cent trinkets to antiques and the survey’s “largest item sold” ranged from $3 to $100. The sale is also a victory for recycling – sold items did not go to the landfill.
Overall, sales were lower than those reported in 2010 surveys that averaged $343 per house, but this year’s group was more charity-minded, with 10 more participants agreeing, on the honor system, to make a donation after the sale.
Recipients of contributions include Bolton Local, Friends of Bolton Seniors, Habitat for Humanity, Just Cause/Healing Garden/Cancer walk, PMC Kids Ride (Jimmy Fund), Relay for Life, Second Chance Fund for Animal Welfare, and Lucky Horse Equine Rescue.
In addition to yard sales in Bolton driveways and garages, there were two central locations in 2011, Great Brook Farms and Bolton Orchards. These businesses plus Country Cupboard also supplied maps free of charge. At Great Brook, there was more traffic than on a typical Saturday, according to owner Bruce Slater. “The yard sale brought in more business,” he said. “We’d be happy to have more vendors next year.”
Apparently there wasn’t a clear correlation between the amount of money people made and their satisfaction. Four people who made less than $100 were happy to have been part of the event and the single negative came from someone who made $250!
One low-sales participant wrote: “It did help us to clean up stuff and we may have discovered something valuable we then did not put into the yard sale, so it may have been worth the effort.” Another indicated that the biggest reward came when two different visitors, both of whom frequent town-wide sales all over the state said, “this is the best map we’ve ever had.” She said it was “interesting to see how far people had come – we had shoppers from Gardner, Concord, and Orange.”
Although the map got high marks from several respondents, copies left at Country Cupboard, Great Brook Farms and Bolton Orchards ran out early, and respondents suggested printing more next year. The Yard Sale Committee printed 300 in 2010, and nearly 400 this year.
“This was a very positive experience. Having a town-wide sale drew lots of attendees,” one participant wrote. Another said she “got a ton of traffic, got rid of everything and made some money. The customers were very nice and we made some new friends.”
Although most (14) checked off that they got good traffic, six respondents did not get a lot of visitors. One wrote that “all of the other sales provided more competition than aid as a lure to bring in customers.” Although it wasn’t detailed in surveys, some shoppers said a few locations closed early. The yard sale committee got kudos from participants, including one who telephoned a weary committee member after the sale to say thank you for the planning and work it took to run such an event. The committee included Lynda King, Holly Camero, John Balco, Barbara Parente and Libby Murphy.
One person wrote: “The advertising was great and you do an unbelievable job organizing. It was tons of fun. We sold lots of stuff and felt good about making a donation to charity.” Another was particularly enthusiastic: “LOVED that we got tons of traffic... way more customers than when we’ve done it alone. LOVED the suggestions beforehand (which) helped us with expectations and pricing. LOVED the list of consignment/charities that came out beforehand.”
Bolton Local urged residents not to trash their leftovers, but donate them. WHEAT, Salvation Army, Furnishing Options, Friends of Bolton Public Library and Good Will were some recipients, while several participants said they are storing unsold items for a future sale.
Suggestions for the future, from survey respondents, committee members and a meeting at Bolton Local, were to print more maps, provide balloons to sellers, hang signs at street intersections, urge people to enlist their neighbors (since grouped locations got better traffic), ask sellers to mark their exact location on a town map when they sign up (to save a committee member hours on Google maps), curtail sale hours since yard sale shopping drops off after lunch, coordinate the date with other events in town, consider a fall date, and get feedback from buyers to make sure Boltonians are offering the kind of sale that customers are seeking.
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