Suitcase Rummage Success

The Sunday last Jane and I tried our hands at small stall holding. It was the monthly Suitcase Rummage sale. Dozens of stalls took over Reddacliffe Place (opposite the casino) and it seemed that thousands of people drifted through the square over course of the afternoon in search of a new second-hand wardrobe and slightly off-kilter christmas gifts.

 

The organisers had sent Jane an email with instructions for the day. We were told to be set up by 12noon on the dot. We were at the square with our suitcases and camp chairs for registration at 11:30 and even then the place was swarming with stallholders and bargain-scouts. We were given a space at the far end of the square near the Victoria Bridge. Not prime real estate but we were fortunate to get one of the benches so people didn't have to bend down so far to look at all our amazing offerings.

Our stall in the sun. 

The market was packed with people through the whole afternoon. The intense heat in BCC's poorly designed dark grey square was truly awful but didn't seem to deter buyers from searching for a second hand bargain. Like most of the stall holders we hid beneath our umbrellas and drank copious amounts of iced tea.

 Hiding under our umbrellas as buyers peruse. 

Neither of us were there to make a fortune. We each had a pile of things we wanted to get out of our bookcases and wardrobes and thought it was worth trying to sell them for a fiver before putting them in the Lifeline bin as per normal.

We were at least partly successful. Jane more so than me. She managed to sell a DVD player she wasn't sure would work, a boxed set of the Harry Potter novels and piles of books and DVDs. I sold a fair few clothes and many pairs of shoes - three pairs to one very satisfied customer.

At the end of the day, I had an extra $122 in my pocket, Jane had $154. Not big bucks but a lot more than we'd make on any given Sunday. Despite the heat and a little disappointment at not selling more, it was a good day. The people-watching was excellent and the time flew past in amongst the five minute chats with customers and trips for bottles of water. I'd recommend participating in Suitcase Rummage to anyone with a pile of goods worth selling. It's an easy, fun afternoon even in the baking December heat and you never know your luck.