wimborne Folk Festival

[watervole]

Another good day at the festival.

Did a bit of shopping around the stalls and bought a pair of *very* brightly coloured patchwork trousers for exalted_mugwump and a Lord of the Rings board game for micavity If you haven't played this one, it was designed by Reiner Knizer and is excellent for 2-5 players working as a team. The rules take a little getting used to, but it's worth it as there is a real sense of danger as you play. It's not at all uncommon for all the players to die before the ring is destroyed and you frequently only make it by one person heroically sacrificing themselves.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/823

It only cost a fiver and was still in its shrink wrap. I find I get a little annoyed at the way charities often underprice things. Someone donated them a game that was worth nearly £30 and they virtually give it away for a fiver. I'm sure they could have got ten for it. Another charity stall had a Tiffany lamp priced at £2. Those things often cost around £90.

There were some stalls that were pricing sensibly. You don't need to ask a fortune, but at least try and charge something that reflects the value of what was given to you.

Great dancers, lots of Appalachian clog teams, a group over from Brittany in France (the mean age of the dancers must have been around 60, but they danced their tradational dances and were made very welcome by one and all). Bourne River were *still* dancing well right to the end!

I love the sound of morris music. That's what makes the festival for me. I don't see much of the dancing as I have my back to the teams when I'm collecting. It's the music that carries me along and takes my cares away. I really love this festival - there's music wherever I go.

Comments

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you amended it, I was wondering how one played exalted_mugwump's trousers.

[jophan.livejournal.com]

Charities often cannot afford to sit on things because storage space costs money. It's more important to get the goods sold than making the most of it. Been there, done that. That doesn't mean that they don't underprice out of sheer incompetence, like in the case with the lamp, but then they are not trained in pricing stuff...

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I used to work for Oxfam, so I'm well aware of the storage problems charities have (the back room got seriously dangerous with sacks piled higher than my head). Part of the solution is to be ruthless about what you sell and junking the stuff that is not of good quality. The other part of the answer is staff training. Oxfam do book training courses among other things. I still remember waveney salvaging a first edition of John Masefield's 'Box of Delights' from a pile that another volunteer had earmarked for the bin. It later sold in the shop for a couple of hundred pounds. We'd already been on the book course and knew how to check for first editions. We also knew how to use the internet to see if those first editions were rare/valauble.

The other trick, which isn't always possible, is to recruit volunteers with the right skills. There's often someone around with an interest in pottery who can spot stuff like Clarice Cliff teapots - shops often don't think to advertise for retired people with specialist interests. They're often only to glad to have an outlet for their skills/knowledge.

I could tell the stand that had a pottery expert. Their carnival ware was sensibly priced (not horrendously expensive, but not giving it away either).