How To Hold A Flea Market
Some Tips

The following are some thoughts on holding your flea market to benefit Mission of Mercy. Remember, these are only suggestions, and can usually be tailored to fit the needs of your particular event and area.

• Select a date.
  Do this at least two months in advance of the flea market.
  Ideal date should be on a major holiday, such as Memorial weekend, Labor Day weekend, Columbus Day, etc., when people might be looking for "something to do."
• Set a financial goal.
  Aim high, e.g. $1,000
• Establish the location for the flea market.
  Large garage at home with good-size driveway to allow for placement of tables and maneuverability of automobiles.
• Empty garage, as much as possible, to allow storage of items to be sold.
• Acquire items for sale.
  Ask family, friends and neighbors for contributions.
  You may want to exclude clothing and large, bulky items (these take up too much valuable space and often remain unsold, and you are responsible to move and discard unsold items).
• Advertise.
  In church bulletins within your town, asking for specific donations.
  Ads should stress "all money received to benefit Mission of Mercy" (include a brief description about Mission of Mercy).
• Signs should be prepared at least one week in advance and posted in local places of business.
• Signs should be placed two days in advance of flea market on trees, posts, etc., of street where event is to take place.
  Stress distance to house or public building where event will occur (a local EMT building, for example).
• Plan ahead to borrow large display tables.
  Schools and churches will often donate the use of such tables.
• Have tables delivered and set in place two to three days prior to sale.
• In advance, plan on the assistance of at least five friends to set up the tables and "man" them on the day(s) of the flea market.
• Price all items before the day of the sale. You can always negotiate on prices later.
• If weather is favorable, set up tables one day before the flea market.
  You won't have to sticker each item. If you group same-priced items together, one sign can be used to display the price for an entire group or table. For example, you might group together all glassware, dishes, pocketbooks, books, vases, linens, etc.
  Use "wall" display for pictures, mirrors, etc.
• Have your assistants meet at the site early (1½ hours before the flea market begins) to take care of any last minute donations, prepare coffee / bagels for crew and to be prepared for early birds. Gather together and pray for success.
• Take pictures of your crew with items before and during sale. These might be used in a future Mercy Perspectives Newsletter, and could encourage others to help in this same way.
• Have two people assigned to the check-out table to take care of purchases.
• Have Mission of Mercy and MOM's Family brochures on the check-out table.
• Have free raffle tickets to win a Mission of Mercy sweatshirt. Important: Save raffle tickets and send to Mission of Mercy office. This helps us to build our database; future newsletters will be sent to these addresses.
• Have a donation basket (or "Donation Jar") for those who might want to contribute a "free will offering" to Mission of Mercy.
• Remove all signs, after the event.
• Send out thank you notes to your assistants.
• Another thought.
  If weather is hot, have a large waste basket filled with ice, bottles of water and cans of soda to offer to thirsty patrons.
• Questions? MomsFamily@amissionofmercy.org

Good Luck And May God Bless You!

The Mission of Mercy Office will gladly provide these items:

• A Mission of Mercy banner
• Mission of Mercy Brochures
• MOM's Family Brochures
• A Donation Jar
• Free Raffle Tickets
• The Winning Sweatshirt