I work with a small middle school, and we hold Murder Mystery Dinners as a fund raiser, and they are a lot of fun, but we can only sit 150 to 180, and by the time you buy the paper products, food, etc...we only make about $600 to $700 - which I'm pretty sure we could make doing a shake-a-can at our local supermarket for an afternoon...but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun!

 

Mary

 

Also, if you do murder mysteries, do them for different groups, i.e. elks, hibernians, etc. and partner with them as a fundraiser for them also.   They provide the dinner, you provide the show and set your ticket prices accordingly.  They make money, you make money, everybody's happy.

 

Sue

In the last trip our dealer came, she took a lot of items, but it only took about an hour, and she can spot a find in a pile of many thousands of pieces.  A coat worth $350, a gold jumpsuit worth a few hundred, a designer gown worth over $1000.  And some of these things you wouldn't guess were valuable unless you study collectible vintage.  I had one 60's cotton dress with dogs on it (little cartoons) that's worth $250--trust me, I never would have guessed that was worth money until recently.

 

Please be mindful of the donations you get.  I read on a vintage clothing board once that a vintage seller met a woman who helped organize a community theatre costume space, and she was tired of the extra mess and told the seller she could come any time and take whatever she wanted out of a couple of different rooms for free.

 

Don't forget your costume jewelry space!  Makers like Trifari, Weiss, Matisse, are common enough that you probably have some but could be worth more to you if sold. 

 

Early, early morning or late, late at night the birds mysteriously land in someone's yard.  This person has been "flocked" ... lovingly named by a friend (or foe?!) ... and it will cost the individual to have the flock removed and/or moved ... $10 for removal, $15 for removal and naming the next target, $25 for removal/naming the next target/insurance against future flocking. 

 

There's also a note (in VERY small font) thay says we will remove the flock free of charge if someone isn't willing or able to participate.  We've only had one person select that option.

 

Each bird is tagged with the important information about what's going on and how much it costs.  It's good, clean fun that's raised A LOT of money for us.  It takes about 10 minutes a day to remove a flock and reflock elsewhere.  We've even flocked houses in the middle of the day when the people have been home or have left for a couple of minutes to take the kids to school.  Great fun!