New changes at Hansville event result in ‘best ever’ sale

HANSVILLE — Nice weather, better event organization and no pre-sales are three factors that Hansville Rummage Sale organizer Tony Atkinson believes made the annual event such a success last weekend.

“It went terrifically,” he said. “I’m most certain it was the best one ever.”

The financial books seem to be a reflection of that, as profits from this year’s sale exceeded last year’s total, he said, which was more than $30,000. The proceeds go back into the community through various programs and scholarships.

Because of changes to how the event was organized and operated this year, parking at the Hansville Community Center wasn’t as big of a hassle as in years past and the new cashier set up helped prevent long lines, he said.

“We really walked away from this thinking we did it right,” he said.

Another change included volunteers taking on the massive job of pre-sorting the donations and determining what would go in the sale, rather than putting everything on the table. Because of this new method, Atkinson believes a higher percentage of items were sold in the first hour and a half on Saturday than in the past. Plus, sales from Sunday were better than ever, he said, mainly because there was good quality merchandise still available.

Also, there were no pre-sale transactions for the second year in a row, another change Atkinson believes helped with the event’s financial success.

High end items that didn’t sell, such as a vintage 1955 200-record 45 RPM jukebox and an expensive European stereo, will be posted at www.eBay.com, under the seller identification name “wms58” within the next few weeks.

Having the work delegated to a committee this year also made a world of difference, he said.

“All the prep in advance paid off,” Atkinson explained. “No lines and no waiting and good parking and convenience and no disputes over who bought what. We really had a lot of people walking away saying that was the best sale they had ever been to.”

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