Christmas bazaar ideas

I've seen them at about $8 a dozen or less. Google it, or Amazon. Sounds like a great idea!

thanks, much appreciated

I don't know what state you live in and your intentions are great and much appreciated; however, my red flag automatically goes up anytime someone mentions a "raffle".

For your own protection and that of the people running the bazaar, you should check with your state's regulatory authority - typically either the secretary of state's office, the attorney general's office or the public charities division - about whether you need to register or get a permit/license in order to conduct a one-time public raffle.

Richie C. posted:

I don't know what state you live in and your intentions are great and much appreciated; however, my red flag automatically goes up anytime someone mentions a "raffle".

For your own protection and that of the people running the bazaar, you should check with your state's regulatory authority - typically either the secretary of state's office, the attorney general's office or the public charities division - about whether you need to register or get a permit/license in order to conduct a one-time public raffle.

is that like some cities requiring parents get a business license for kids to run a lemonade stand for a few hours

I think it's a little more complicated than that because you're selling raffle tickets on a game of chance to the public as opposed to simply selling a product like lemonade and some people may question how the winner is selected, favoritism, how much profit is being made on the raffle, etc.  It's your call - just putting it out there FWIW.

A couple of weeks ago in Mass we had a very enterprising 10 year old with a small street corner stand and cooler and a sign that read, "ICE COLD BEER". You couldn't believe the ruckus he raised and the complaints to the police, mayor's office, etc. A cruiser was even dispatched to check him out.

In small, barely legible letters above the word "BEER", he had written "Root" !!

I would never raffle anything off without checking with the authorities first.  The consequences if not legal/permitted could be great...

Ritchie has a valid point. See if you could run it thru your local church. 

A village near here decided to raffle a new house. Turned out that is illegal so they had a hospital run it. The winner was the wife of the guy the village hired to photograph everything.  First rule of a contest should be NO ONE employed by the Raffle OR their families can participate. 

I appreciate the comments thus far.  I will look both ways before crossing the street.  The scope of this post was about finding train related trinkets at wholesale prices.

Anyone have good experiences selling some small/cheap/popular goodies at a booth in addition to modeling items? What items are popular besides wooden whistles and engineer caps?

Thanks!

https://www.orientaltrading.co...chMain?keyword=train

Jon

Here's one more:

http://www.trainparty.com/traintoysgifts.html

-Greg

You could consider selling something non-train related, but helpful to the general public of the event, such as reusable tote bags.  Who wouldn't need a bag to carry all their new purchases in?  That way you could drive traffic to your booth and sell something to anyone, even if they are not interested in trains.  They can be purchased relatively cheap (under $1), so you could make a little margin on the resale.  If they buy a whistle and a hat, bag is free.

for Christmas, i know quite a few kids on this list...

of course, live steamers completely miss the point.

You could also perhaps partner with a local hobby shop or hobbyist looking to sell a few train items and split the cost of the booth.

overlandflyer posted:

for Christmas, i know quite a few kids on this list...

of course, live steamers completely miss the point.

Funny...one Christmas when we were kids, my older brother gave me a lump of coal, knowing I would love it.  He went on a backpacking trip out west and part of it was along a railroad that hauled coal.  He grabbed a few spilled lumps as a souvenir for me  

Here are some pics from the bazaar event over the weekend.  This is the construction phase.  I built it to be modular for easy breakdown.  It needed to fit in my van if it was raining.  If not, it was easily transportable in the back of a pickup without taking it completely apart.  Started building it in the garage then moved it into the house for the wiring phase.  A 4x8 slab of foam insulation is the horizontal surface.  Easy to shape, easy to move, and reduces sound

this is a placeholder for the wiring phase.  I will post pics later

overlandflyer posted:

for Christmas, i know quite a few kids on this list...

of course, live steamers completely miss the point.

But what if your engine burns oil?

here is the finished layout.  there are 11 operating accessories mixed in among the village houses and trees.

and here's the video of accessory operation.  in the pics above, you may have noticed red and green buttons along the front of the layout.  each button activates a separate accessory.  the kids LOVED pressing these buttons, some little ones for almost an hour back and forth.  many parents commented that they have Christmas layouts at home but the buttons/accessories take it to a whole other level.  many grandparents remembered setting up layouts decades ago with similar accessories.  the event was a huge hit with kids of all ages

Nice work. Like the alternating colored buttons.

Richie C. posted:

I don't know what state you live in and your intentions are great and much appreciated; however, my red flag automatically goes up anytime someone mentions a "raffle".

For your own protection and that of the people running the bazaar, you should check with your state's regulatory authority - typically either the secretary of state's office, the attorney general's office or the public charities division - about whether you need to register or get a permit/license in order to conduct a one-time public raffle.

Charge a small admission per person then offer a free raffle ticket after they pay the entrance fee.

This way you are not selling raffle tickets. They do this at almost every train show
Just a thought.

If you or your friends have old model railroad magazines offer those for free.

Just make it fun and try to plant the model train seed into as many heads as you can.

RonH posted:

Richie C. posted:

I don't know what state you live in and your intentions are great and much appreciated; however, my red flag automatically goes up anytime someone mentions a "raffle".

For your own protection and that of the people running the bazaar, you should check with your state's regulatory authority - typically either the secretary of state's office, the attorney general's office or the public charities division - about whether you need to register or get a permit/license in order to conduct a one-time public raffle.

Charge a small admission per person then offer a free raffle ticket after they pay the entrance fee.

This way you are not selling raffle tickets. They do this at almost every train show
Just a thought.

If you or your friends have old model railroad magazines offer those for free.

Just make it fun and try to plant the model train seed into as many heads as you can.

great idea about the old magazines