NCT Leeds Nearly New Sale

Autumn 2010 Nearly New Sale

Sunday 17th October

2:00 to 4:00 pm

Ramgarhia Sikh Sports Centre

8-10 Chapletown Road, Leeds, LS7 3AP

Don't have a Sat Nav system? Why not use one of the following links to find us:

Find the Leeds NCT Nearly New Sale with Google Maps or Multimap or Streetmap

Seller registration is now open

You need to download and read the sellers' guide at the bottom of the page first, then download the seller registration form which needs to be filled in and returned with a £10 cheque as a deposit.

If you sold at the Spring 2010 sale, the seller's guide has only a few minor changes, but it would be really worth reading again just to remind yourself of the important points. If you have not sold in 2010, please make sure you do go through the guide in detail as many things have changed since previous years, most notably the timings and the commission calculations. The FAQ section below does highlight some of these, but the guide is your definitive place to look.

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How does it work?

The process runs very simply and is explained in plenty of detail in the seller's guide, and is summarised as follows:

• Look at what you have for sale and check items are on the list of things you can sell
• Register as a seller by filling in the registration form from the bottom of this page and you are sent a seller number in return
• You label all your items with your seller number and the price you wish the buyer to pay.
• You bring all your items on the day of the sale and volunteers put them out on tables / rails for you - you don't have to wait around to sell your items (but you can join the queue and come and bag a bargain for yourself!)
• People buy your things and at the till we cut off and keep one part of your label
• At the end of the sale volunteers put unsold items back in the boxes you brought them in
• You come along to collect any unsold items
• We add up all the labels with your number on so we know how much you sold and send you a cheque for the total value, less the commission which goes to the NCT to help us continue our charitable work

Pricing and Commission

We changed our pricing and commission structure in Spring 2010 following feedback from sellers and members, and tried to simplify things where possible to take account of the increasing scale of the NNS.

Items are now priced in multiples of 50p; minimum ticket price £1 for any one item (previously 50p)

We will deduct 35% of the sale price as commission, up to a maximum of £15 on any one item.

This "cap" is in direct response to feedback that it is really hard to put the right price on larger items such as top brand strollers and prams so that they are cheap enough to make sure they are bought, while still making enough money for the seller. By limiting our commission on these larger items we hope that the reduction in income will be made up for by the increased number of large items offered for sale and actually bought on the day.

Sellers who also help out on the day of the sale will benefit from a reduced rate of 30% commission, (again to a maximum of £15 on one item).

We deduct a fixed fee of 50p to cover the actual costs of administration, stationery and postage from your final cheque. If you don't manage to sell anything, you won't pay anything since we don't need to send you a cheque.

Please note:each branch organises its own sales and these rates may vary between areas (although we are trying to make this as uniform as possible). If you intend to sell at other branches' sales, please make sure you check their rates first.

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Frequently-asked Questions

Q: Can I become a seller even if I am not a member?

A: Of course! Although most of our sellers are members, many are not. Being a member does mean you are more likely to hear about the sale in plenty of time, but it is not a requirement.

 

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Q: Can I browse and buy things if I am not a member?

A: Certainly, please do come along and bag a bargain. In line with our goals to support all parents across Leeds and surrounding areas, we welcome anyone to come along a save loads of money on those essential items which can otherwise be so expensive.

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Q: How many people go to the sale?

A: For the last couple of sales we had over 100 sellers, and in October 2009 over 420 buyers came through the doors (over 300 in March 2010 too). We only count adults, not childrern, even if they have brought pocket money with them!. We sell between 2000 and 2500 items throughout the day, ranging in price from 50p to over £100.

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Q: I've heard that I should turn up early to get the best deals, does that mean if I am late there won't be anything left?

A: Do get there early, but if you can't there should certainly be loads of opportunities to get some great items at fantastic prices. Sellers who also want to buy tend to go straight to the queue after dropping stuff off, so the lines start building from about an hour before the doors open.If you have a large purchase in mind (such as a buggy, cot, highchair or garden toys) you should really get there before the doors open if you want the best choice. Although you might still find something suitable later, for obvious reasons the best deals go first.

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Q: Do members get in earlier than non-members?

A: We have two queues - one for members, one for non-members. As soon as all the members are in the non-members will also start to come in, so although there won't be a big gap, the earliest members to arrive at the front of the queue will certainly have some advantage over non-members. Some other branches have done this for years, we tried this out in March 2010 and it proved to be very popular so we are carrying on with this.

Note: we will expect members to be able to show their membership card. If you can't find yours, please email the membership secretary with your name and address who will send you a reply with your membership number so you can print this email and bring it as your proof instead.Of course if not a member yet there may still be time to join the NCT before the next sale.

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Q: How will I manage to carry all the things I want to buy?

A: If you are getting a few large things and lots of smaller items, your best bet will be to pay for the largest things then go back round again for the smaller stuff. That way you are making sure to get the most savings compared to the high street. There's nothing to stop you coming through several times, but unfortunately we can't put things on one side for you, in fairness to all our customers

We provide Ikea shopping bags (for a small refundable deposit) to use as "baskets", and your purchases are transferred to large carrier bags at the tills, or feel free to bring along your own re-usable bags for items that have been paid for. Please don't use your own bags to carry things before you have paid for them, though.

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Q: How can I pay since I don't like carrying lots of cash around?

A: We don't like having loads of cash around either, so we would encourage you to bring your cheque book. This is quicker for us to process as we don't have to count it all twice at the end of the day, and more secur. As this is only a temporary venue for the day, we have no facilities for payment by debit or credit cards, sorry.

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Q; How did the sale go in October 2009?

A: Our Autumn sale was a huge success, thanks to a great team of volunteers before during and after the event. Overall we sold over 2,500 items and made over £3,000 for the NCT to put to good use. You can read more about the March 2009 sale here and see a couple of pictures of the controlled chaos

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Q: Will I make money this way?

A: After our Autumn event our top seller received a cheque for £323 from their sales. In total 18 people made more than £100 by selling things at the October 2009 NNS, and 8 in March 2010, which we think is a pretty good way to get something back for things you paid good money for in the first place - and maybe can be put towards buying things on the day too!

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Help us promote this event to make it our biggest ever

In order to help us to get the most out of the Nearly New Sale, why not print out one of our posters (link below) and put it up where you think people might be interested to hear about a great place to find all sorts of bargains under one roof for people with (or expecting) young children.

Alternatively you could print off a few A6 colour flyers and keep them handy to give to your friends and family when you meet up, or even leave some at your child's nusery or toddler group for people to pick up if they are interested.

If you are a seller, this is a great way to make sure we get even more buyers than ever before. We are using the same large venue as last time and there's loads of room, so let's pack them in and have a sell-out day.

Just one poster in your office staff room, local cafe or child's nursery could be seen by dozens or more people - even if they are not interested they might mention it to someone who is.

Alternatively, email your friends and family using this link so they can read these details for themselves:

Email details of the Nearly New Sale to your friends

If you use Twitter you can tweet about the Nearly New Sale or for other similar social networking sites, use this short link to tell your network all about the event: tinyurl.com/LeedsNNS

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Report from the Spring 2010 Nearly New Sale

The Spring sale held on 21st March was a great success despite competing for sellers, helpers and buyers with various Sport Relief events taking place that day.

We sold nearly 2,000 items for takings of over £6,500 in sales to about 300 buyers, about the same as this time last year. Our top seller will be receiving a cheque for over £270 - a great Easter present! Five sellers managed to sell over 50 items each, a great achievement which probably helped with the Spring cleaning clear-out too.