Scholastic Book Parties: Running a stall and party at a school or nursery fair

Posted on 1 December 2017

Want to know about becoming a Scholastic Book Champion and running Scholastic Book Parties? Find all the details at the end of the blog!

Our Digital Marketer Hayley recently ran a Scholastic Book Party at her daughter’s preschool’s fete and raised over £120. She tells us how she did it, what worked and what’s worth remembering.

“My daughter’s preschool is struggling with its funding at the moment. Faced with an increase in costs and trying to be a living wage employer, they are more reliant than ever on fundraising just to cover their day-to-day running costs. They recently held a fête and as I’ve been working on Scholastic Book Parties, I thought it could be the perfect opportunity to test being a Book Champion and raise some money for the preschool while I did.

After speaking to the setting manager and agreeing a space for a table I then went on to my shop and opened a party for the preschool meaning they would receive 10% of all the sales I made through that link. I timed it to finish the Tuesday after the weekend’s fete so I could promote the link in advance and also on the day of the fete.

Next (over a large glass of red wine one evening!) I made flyers that the preschool could hand out to parents in the two weeks leading up to the fair. The flyers promoted the party shop weblink, explained how the preschool would benefit and trailed the fact I’d be at the fair with books to buy. I then ordered sample packs (each huge pack costs only £50 each but is packed with books worth £200) to stock my stall.

I made pricing signs before the day as well at various levels so I could fluctuate my prices down as the fête went on. For me I wanted to clear the stock so this really paid off as I sold practically all the stock bar a handful of books.

Pricing is a tricky one to work on. I started at around half of RRP and then came down to £2 a book as the fête drew to a close, plus I offered people deals if they bought three or four books which also worked really well. It’s a good idea to plan your pricing like this in advance.

What sold best? Well of course picture books were the huge sellers (this is a preschool for ages 2-5) and any known authors sold out immediately. Julia Donaldson and classics like Mog or Elmer were popular with the parents. Kids were browsing too though and their pester power was for character books like Spiderman and Hatchimals so the mix of titles from over 70 publishers that Scholastic offer is such a bonus.

Funnily enough, having bought the older age sample pack more to stockfill my stall, I actually did extremely well with these books! There were loads of older siblings going around the fête with their families and the rest of the fête wasn’t aimed at them so by the time they got to my stall I think parents were happy to treat them to a book.

I do think it helps knowing a bit about the books so if you are considering becoming a Scholastic Book Champion (or are one already), getting to know the books you are selling (even just to be able to pick out ‘funny books’ when someone says they like that type of thing) really does pay off. People are so up for recommendations!

In the end I was left with about 10 books which the preschool left on their front desk the week after the fête. They had all sold by the Tuesday so nothing was left!

Finally, through the physical sale and through the commission raised on the online party shop link I raised over £120 for the preschool which the nursery manager was delighted with. Plus I should mention that I also had a great day meeting all the parents who I don’t know that well as I’m often not the one dropping off and picking up. My daughters also helped me on the stall which they LOVED – although one word of warning, your kids will try to spend everything you make on the other stalls if you aren’t careful!”

If you are a PTA, teacher or nursery manager and interested in bringing a Scholastic Book Champion into your setting to run a book sale for your children why not contact us today? You can contact us on email at bookchampions@scholastic.co.uk.

Or perhaps you like the sound of selling the best children’s books at incredible discount prices and would like to become a book champion? You can earn money for yourself and raise money for your school/nursery or if you are a PTA you could donate everything raised. Scholastic Book Parties is incredibly easy to join, there are no hidden charges and you can be selling and earning in as little as 15 minutes! Visit our Book Parties website today to find out more.