Garage sale - children selling drinks?

[Gokstate]

You guys are awesome! I think I am going to get bottled water, lemonade (only because my daughter insists on pink lemonade and I don't mind if we don't sell any of it), and possibly some regular and diet pepsi since that's what we drink here. If I somehow find a lot of extra time (ha ha) I'm thinking of making a big batch of homemade cinnamon rolls and have them individually packaged on a plate under saran wrap with a fork. I'm going to have my daughter make signs this afternoon because it will be a fun project for her and hopefully let me have a couple of hours of peace so I can sort through more stuff!

Thanks for all of the suggestions - I really appreciate the help!!

 

[sharon_wv]

My 5-year old niece sold lemonade at a community yard sale with my Mom. What's funny is that my mom made a whole $10.00 selling her yard sale stuff; my niece made over $50 selling lemonade!! She had the best time and it kept her out of trouble all day because she had something to keep her occupied.

 

[katied]

I happliy buy cold bottled water or cold cans of soda at a garage sale. Also, snacks are great.

 

[robinb]

Although my kids do not have allergies, I would be sensitive to them. If your daughter happened to give a cookie to someone with an allergy there could be legal issues. I would have someone supervise her and make sure that a parent was present when handing out food. Don't mean to be a old fart, but unfortunately, these are the times we live in.

I'm sorry, but I find your comment completely ridiculous. Legal issues for a kid's bake sale?!? Give me a break. Sure, some people are alergic but it is THEIR responsibility to know what they (or their kids) are eating. I guess if the OP is extra paranoid she can tell her kids not to give anything away to other kids without their parent's permission.

 

[pfp258]

Although my kids do not have allergies, I would be sensitive to them. If your daughter happened to give a cookie to someone with an allergy there could be legal issues. I would have someone supervise her and make sure that a parent was present when handing out food. Don't mean to be a old fart, but unfortunately, these are the times we live in.


I agree with the previous poster, how ridiculous that you would even consider others food allergies. Parents with children that have food allergies will bypass any home made treats. If the children aren't old enough to know better it is the parents repsonsibility to watch their children and monitor what they are eating not yours!

 

[melancholywings]

I would only buy prepackaged food from a yard sale. I don't trust anything that is open or homemade. Who knows what germs it may contain or the condittions in which the food was made. Your home may be spotless but there's no way for me to know that standing on the yard.

 

[LilyWDW]

I would only buy prepackaged food from a yard sale. I don't trust anything that is open or homemade. Who knows what germs it may contain or the condittions in which the food was made. Your home may be spotless but there's no way for me to know that standing on the yard.

Then don't buy it... but I can tell you plenty of people do, myself included.

Every August we have a HUGE yard sale in an area known as the "Tree Streets". It is normally the same weekend as move in weekend at the local college and is right across the street from it. There are TONS of kids who are selling drinks, a few bake sales, one person who sells ham biscuits and coffee, and plenty of people who pull out the grill come lunch time and make some hot dogs and burgers! It's SO much fun!

 

[Hannathy]

I'm sorry, but I find your comment completely ridiculous. Legal issues for a kid's bake sale?!? Give me a break. Sure, some people are alergic but it is THEIR responsibility to know what they (or their kids) are eating. I guess if the OP is extra paranoid she can tell her kids not to give anything away to other kids without their parent's permission.

I agree and she is talking about SELLING the snacks not handing them out. If the child is old enough to PAY for a cookie then they should be old enough to know what they can and can't eat.
Goodness it is time for people to be responsible for themselves and their own and not have everyone else do it.

my only addition is don't make the stuff too expensive, better to sell 10 at 50 cents than 2 at a dollar.

 

[melancholywings]

Then don't buy it... but I can tell you plenty of people do, myself included.

I wouldn't. There are so many people don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. They should but they don't. Add in lack of hygine, children who don't understand basic food handling safety. Kids who pick their noses. People who allow their cats on the kitchen counters. With their furry little cat litter paws. Ever see the show Hoarders. It's all so gross. Sure resturants have their issues but they are held accountable to certain standards and are far safer than eating some strangers's baked goods on their lawn. It's like a little time bomb of salmonella.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

canned sodas and juice boxes for kids sell great!

 

[Gokstate]

Thanks again for the info everyone! Although I appreciate the allergy reminder, I'm not going to worry about it because I too believe that it is a parent's responsibility to manage that for their young children. I am going to make home-made cinnamon rolls and have them individually wrapped up on plates so when my daughter does sell them, she won't be touching any of the actual food. I know it grosses some people out to buy home-made treats so I won't be overly shocked if we don't sell a ton of cinnamon rolls. But they are delicious, HUGE, and we're pricing them at a buck each so hopefully they will be popular. If not, more for me!!

I bought bottled water and Diet Pepsi and Coke so I think we're all set. I've got my fingers crossed that my DD can earn the last $30 she needs for her American Girl doll. I don't mind giving her the money but there is such a sense of satisfaction when you spend your hard earned money on an expensive toy. I'm fondly reminded of circa 1985 when I bought my cornsilk Cabbage Patch kid from Wal Mart for $33 which took me FOREVER to earn..... aaaah, good times!

Thanks again - you all are fabulous!

 

[r&kmommy]

Although my kids do not have allergies, I would be sensitive to them. If your daughter happened to give a cookie to someone with an allergy there could be legal issues. I would have someone supervise her and make sure that a parent was present when handing out food. Don't mean to be a old fart, but unfortunately, these are the times we live in.

*RME* People in the world are so sue happy?

OP, I personally wouldn't worry about it. Let someone try and sue me for selling them a chocolate chip cookie that they bought themselves, and ended up being allergic to.

My area isn't a yard sale type area, but I would stop and get a drink from a kid if I were alone in my car! (ie - I'm not going to pull my kids out of their car seats to buy lemonade from a stand if we're on our way somewhere LOL!) I would also buy a snack if I was hungry

 

[Muushka]

Thanks again for the info everyone! Although I appreciate the allergy reminder, I'm not going to worry about it because I too believe that it is a parent's responsibility to manage that for their young children. I am going to make home-made cinnamon rolls and have them individually wrapped up on plates so when my daughter does sell them, she won't be touching any of the actual food. I know it grosses some people out to buy home-made treats so I won't be overly shocked if we don't sell a ton of cinnamon rolls. But they are delicious, HUGE, and we're pricing them at a buck each so hopefully they will be popular. If not, more for me!!

I bought bottled water and Diet Pepsi and Coke so I think we're all set. I've got my fingers crossed that my DD can earn the last $30 she needs for her American Girl doll. I don't mind giving her the money but there is such a sense of satisfaction when you spend your hard earned money on an expensive toy. I'm fondly reminded of circa 1985 when I bought my cornsilk Cabbage Patch kid from Wal Mart for $33 which took me FOREVER to earn..... aaaah, good times!

Thanks again - you all are fabulous!

What a great value to pass onto your daughter. I hope she earns her $30!

 

[Hannathy]

I wish I was closer I personally would get her 1/5 th of the way toward her goal just on the cinnamon rolls! lol

You might want to throw some Capri sun pouches in for the kids. It is a lot easier to buy each kid a pouch and know they can drink it before getting back into the car than buying each kid a whole soda and waiting for them to finish. easier to say yes than no that way

 

[hambirg]

Good luck! We always do pop (Coke, Diet and some non-caffeine type. . .Sprite?). I think your cinnamon rolls will do very well. Some people don't like buying non-packaged items, but some would much PREFER homemade. The first time I ever did something homemade was chocolate chip cookies. I didn't know how they would do. . .but Holy Moly! I had people showing up just asking for the cookies they heard about. . . will you be making more for tomorrow?. . .lol! I know I make a good cookie. . .but dang! We did hot dogs once. . .they went ok. I think if you have a grill and somebody out there manning the bb-q they go pretty well. I know I can't usually pass that up when I'm out hunting down treasures.

I know next time I will definitely have water. People do ask for it and I always forget to have it.

 

[Pembo]

When my kids were little, they always set up their "pop" stand at my garage sale. People are suckers for little kids sitting at a table with their drinks. We never sold food...just pop. GL

 

[summerrluvv]

my kids love to have "LEMONADE' stands. Unfortunately nobody will buy!!!! It's pretty sad when I have to call my friends to drive by and buy lemonade.

So true!! We got a stand from the Sunkist promo, decorated it with autism ribbon stickers, put where our proceeds were going (to the local chapter of the autism society). We set it up during my very busy yard sale last year. My son, who is on the spectrum and VERY shy, finally got the courage to ask a few people and they all said no. I was so upset for him. My friend came buy and bought a bunch. I will never do a lemonade stand again. I hope you have better luck than us!

 

[CC12005]

Funny, saw this today & I remembered reading this yesterday so thought I would just share this article.

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/08/05...rs-shut-down-7-year-old-girls-lemonade-stand/

 

[disneymom3]

I would definitely buy a drink. I'm a sucker for a kid selling anything!

Me too. Even if we are just driving by and see some kids, my kids and I always stop. My youngest was "selling" lemonade earlier in the summer. He gave up selling and just started bellowing "FREE lemonade!!!" There were some polics officers across the street at the park working with their police dog. Not only did they come over afterward and let the kids play with the dog, they bought two glasses of lemonade for $1 each. My son was over the moon!!

You guys are awesome! I think I am going to get bottled water, lemonade (only because my daughter insists on pink lemonade and I don't mind if we don't sell any of it), and possibly some regular and diet pepsi since that's what we drink here. If I somehow find a lot of extra time (ha ha) I'm thinking of making a big batch of homemade cinnamon rolls and have them individually packaged on a plate under saran wrap with a fork. I'm going to have my daughter make signs this afternoon because it will be a fun project for her and hopefully let me have a couple of hours of peace so I can sort through more stuff!

Thanks for all of the suggestions - I really appreciate the help!!

OH, I hope it goes really welll for your daughter! Mine, who is 14 sold cinamon rolls at a sale in May as a fundraiser for her missions trip. She raised quite a bit of money and we had several people come back or walk up and say "I hear you have really good cinamon rolls for sale."

Another thing my kids love to sell and that goes really well are freezy pops. (You know, the kind you get from the store in the plastic tubes that can melt and refreeze with no problems ) They sell them for 25c each and always sell out. We have an outside freezer so that helps a lot.

 

[LilyWDW]

Funny, saw this today & I remembered reading this yesterday so thought I would just share this article.

http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/08/05...rs-shut-down-7-year-old-girls-lemonade-stand/

Just so you know, this is a totally different situation. I saw someone post this on reddit, all ready to throw these "mean" and "horrible" people to the dogs. However, the poster got thrown to the dogs.

In the situation in the article, you had a parent purchase the supplies, drive the child to a city approved festival, and set up shop. The city requires all vendors to have the appropriate permits to have a stand there. Since the girl did not, she was asked to stop selling. I do not feel sorry for the parent or child. If everyone else who sells as a part of the festival, then so should they. Just because it was a 7 year old child doesn't mean they should receive special treatment...