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Volunteer Information

Benefits of Volunteering

  1. You will receive 70% of the proceeds of your items sold. 

  2. You will be entitled to shop at the pre-sale starting at 7 am on Saturday morning.  Clean-up volunteers get to shop the pre-sale at 6:45 am (equipment clean-up volunteers shop at 6:30 am). 

  3. Volunteer for two shifts and you will be invited to shop even earlier at 6:30 am.  Please indicate on the registration form that you will be working two shifts. 

     

    Shift   Shopping perk
    Floor & cashiers                     (11 am - 2:30 pm)  

    7 am volunteer sale

    1/2 price sale for 15 minutes before doors open to the public

     

    Clean-up                                 (1-5 pm)

     

    		  

    6:45 am volunteer sale

    dollar dash for 15 minutes before doors open to the public

    Facility clean-up

    (3-6 pm)

     

    		  

    6:45 am volunteer sale

    dollar dash for 15 minutes before doors open to the public
    Rack move (4-6:30 pm)   6:30 am volunteer sale
    Double shifts   6:30 am volunteer sale
    All other shifts   7 am volunteer sale

Please read all Volunteer Pre-Sale shopping information. 

Important Notes About Volunteering

  1. Volunteer cancelation policy -- Any volunteer that cancels her shift within 2 weeks of the sale will only be able to register for the next sale with "New Volunteers & Consignors".  Please understand that cancelling your shift within 2 weeks of the sale requires a lot of work on the management team to replace you.  "No shows" will not be able to register as a volunteer at any of our future sales. 

  2. All of our volunteer needs are important!  When you register for a volunteer shift, please put that commitment  on your calendar.  When we confirm your shift, we close that position to other potential volunteers.  If your plans change and you find you cannot work your shift, please notify us ASAP!  Understandably, some situations are not preventable.  But, if you do know in advance that you cannot work your shift, please give us as much notice as you can.

  3. Bring your own water and snacks!  The sale is a very hot & dry place and water is not provided for volunteers.  With over 300 volunteers, we cannot provide everyone bottled water.  Also, if you are working a double shift or for another reason think you will need a snack, please bring something from home.  Food & water is only provided for the committee.   

  4. Please be on time!  As a volunteer, please arrive a few minutes early for your shift so that you can check in and be in position on time.  If you are late for your shift, you will be asked to stay an additional period of time.  If you are working Friday evening, and also dropping-off your items, please sign in twice – once as a consignor and once as a volunteer.  When you check in for your shift you will be given your volunteer name tag.

  5. If you are consignor volunteering on Friday, you must plan your time accordingly!  You will not be able to drop-off your items during your shift.  If you are working Friday set-up (3:30-6:30 pm), you must drop off your items after your shift.  If you are working Friday drop-off (6-9 pm), you must put your items on the sale floor before your shift.  Please allow ample time to park, sign the consignor agreement and get your items on the floor. 

  6. If you are working the Saturday 8 am shift, it is very important that you complete your purchases and be ready to begin your shift on time.  If it seems that you are having a hard time getting through the line or loading purchases into your car, please find your team coordinator before 8 am, so that she can advise you what to do.  (Volunteers working later shifts can continue to shop.) 

  7. If you are pregnant, bringing a young infant, have physical limitations, or for other reasons would like to be fairly stationary during your shift, please make sure that the Registration Coordinator knows that when you register.  Remember, no children (other than young infants) will be allowed to remain with you during your shift. 

  8. Please be sure to sign in and sign out for your shift. 

Shift Conditions

  • Hospitality is ideal for volunteers who would like volunteer benefits (shopping at 7 am & 70% of their consigned items selling price) but cannot work a 3 hour shift.  In exchange for providing a specific hospitality item(s), the volunteer will earn full volunteer benefits.  You will have to pay for & transport the item to the sale at the designated time. The financial outlay per hospitality volunteer will be approximately $45 (maybe slightly more, maybe slightly less).  Examples of hospitality items are 10 cases of bottled water OR sodas, cookies, and chips OR a tray of subs from Subway OR bagels and donuts, etc.   The list of specific hospitality choices will be available to the hospitality volunteers in order of their registration.    

  • "Distribute Flyers" 2nd shift option is an additional 2nd shift option in publicity (please note, this can only be added on as a 2nd volunteer shift for 6:30 am shopping privileges).  To earn this 2nd shift privilege, print & make 100 copies of the half sheet flyer in English (or Spanish, if your audience is Spanish speaking).  Cut these sheets in half for 200 flyers.  Distribute these flyers to approximately 10 different locations, leaving 20 copies in each place (ask for permission from the manager of the location first).  Examples of places to leave the flyers include day cares, dance centers, children’s gymnastic facilities, etc.  Please let us know where you have left the flyers so we can double check & add you as a 2nd shift volunteer.  You must distribute all flyers and contact the registration coordinator by the Monday before the sale .  

    Do you have other ideas to advertise the sale??  We are open to other ideas!  For example, write an article for a local paper, advertise with your on-line network of moms, or submit an ad to your HOA.  Let us know in advance & we will work with you to add it on as your "distribute flyers" 2nd volunteer shift.  Thanks for helping to spread the word!!

    Note:  There are 2 different types of publicity positions. 

    • The 1st is a general publicity volunteer shift in which we will tell you exactly what we need you to do (for example, place signs along roadways, etc).  There are a limited number of these positions & you do not have to be registering for 2 shifts in order to request this general publicity volunteer role. 

    • The 2nd is the "distribute flyers" 2nd shift in which you put flyers at the places you frequent (as described above).  This will be up to you to find appropriate places to place the flyers.  You can only register for this shift in addition to another volunteer role. 

  • Donations is a good shift for experienced consignors who need the flexibility to complete their 3 hour volunteer commitment during their own schedule.  When we have received donations, you will be contacted by the donations coordinator.  You will arrange a time to pick up the donations from her (please respond promptly or she will move to the next person on the donations list).  You will receive donations equivalent to approximately 3 hours of tagging for an experienced consignor.  You will need to provide the hangers, index cards, safety pins, etc.  Follow this website's instructions for tagging & pricing your own items, except mark the items as consignor #1.  You will be responsible for storing & bringing these items to drop-off Friday night & placing them on the sales floor.  Please check in with the donations coordinator on Friday to ensure that you get credit for the donations shift.   Because you will be tagging & pricing these items, you must be an experienced consignor in order to volunteer for this shift.  It is recommended that you have a 2nd shift choice because if we do not have donations to tag, you will not get volunteer credit.     

  • Absolutely no nursing babies or other physical limitations at set-up (Friday, 3:30-6:30 pm), facility clean-up (Saturday, 3-6 pm), or rack move (Saturday, 4-6:30 pm). 

  • Early morning sale shift (Saturday, 6:30-9:30 am) is ideal for consignors who want to meet their volunteer commitment, but do not need to shop.  This shift works during the volunteer pre-sale and the first rush of the public sale.  These volunteers will have completed their volunteer responsibility by 9:30 am and still have most of Saturday with their family.  However, this shift is not able to shop the pre-sale. 

  • Although the 11 - 2:30 pm shift works 30 minutes longer, they will get to shop the half price sale before doors open again to the public. 

  • Cashiering positions are limited to those individuals who have participated as a volunteer for more than 3 sale or are known by the consignment committee. 

  • Although the Clean-up shift (1- 5 pm) works 1 hour longer, they get to shop the dollar dash sale before the doors open again to the public.  In addition, the 1-5 pm clean-up shift gets to shop the morning pre-sale at 6:45 and the 4-6:30 pm rack move shift gets to shop at 6:30 am. 

  • Equipment clean-up (2:30-6:30 pm) will be the last group to leave the facility site.  This group will be putting equipment back, mopping the floors, etc.  These volunteers will follow the truck to the storage unit in Ashburn to unload the equipment truck.  We will be moving the clothing racks and other equipment, so please no pregnant women, nursing babies, or anyone who has physical limitations.  This is an ideal shift for husbands.  (Members of this shift also get to shop with double shift volunteers starting at 6:30 am). 

Shift Placement

To aid in the placement of shifts during Saturday's sale, we have divided the positions available into two groups: cashiering and floor (which is everything other than cashiering).  We have done this for a variety of reasons.  First, we require that anyone who registers for a cashiering position be known to the consignment sale committee.  All other positions are lumped as "Floor" positions.  Anyone assigned to floor could be doing a variety of different things including door guard, hold bay, general floor assistance, tagging, etc. 

 

If you have a special request, please include that on the registration page.  We will do our best to accommodate you. 

 

Shifts  

The following list is the potential volunteer shifts for the sale.  Keep in mind what is on this list is not necessarily what is still available.  The list of available shifts is on the registration page.  As the shifts fill up quickly, please be sure to pick more than one shift.  If you cannot work any of the shifts listed, in the additional information box, please let us know what shift you would like to waitlist for.  If you are waitlisting for a shift, you will be notified Wednesday (3 days before the sale) if there is any space for you in your waitlisted shift (only waitlist for shifts you are absolutely sure you can work).  Keep in mind, Friday almost always has a long waitlist. 

Before the sale

Publicity

Donations

Hospitality

Friday

3:30 - 6:30 pm Set-up

6 - 9 pm Drop-off

 

Saturday

6:30 - 9:30 am (this shift cannot shop the presale)

8 - 11 am Cashiering (must have consigned/volunteered at least 3 previous sales)

8 - 11 am Floor

11 am - 2:30 pm Cashiering (must have consigned/volunteered at least 3 previous sales)

11 am - 2:30 pm Floor

1 - 5 pm Clean-up (shops the pre-sale at 6:45 am and Dollar Dash first)

3 - 6 pm Facility clean-up (shops the pre-sale at 6:45 am and the Dollar Dash first)

4 - 6:30 pm Rack move (shops the pre-sale at 6:30 am)

 

After the sale

Tag tally

 

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