What is a Nearly New Sale?
A "Nearly New Sale", "Nearly New Baby Sale", or "Nearly New baby and children’s market" are events where families can buy and sell quality nearly new baby and children’s clothes, toys, books, games, equipment, accessories, and maternity items. Most companies running Nearly New Markets have stalls selling items from birth to 8 years. Baby and Children's markets benefit the local community by providing families an opportunity to clear out items no longer needed and to raise some much-needed funds! It then gives other families the opportunity to purchase the items they need for a fraction of the cost. Families selling items pay for a stall and then keep all the money they make on the day. The main exception to this is some of the NCT Nearly New Sales where they take a commission (a percentage of the money you make). Before selling check that the company is a registered business, with public liability insurance and permission from local authorities (where applicable) to run events. A properly run business will most likely ensure the event is well advertised and therefore very well attended, giving you the best chance of selling lots of your items safely.
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Families wanting to buy items pay for entry. This is done so that the organisers of the event can cover the costs of the Nearly New sale, and of course running a proper business. Paying for entry is well worth it though at the sales run by the larger companies. This is because they often run the large and well organised nearly new sales with many stalls. This means there will be with thousands and thousands of items on offer giving you plenty of choice. Before going to buy at an event its worth checking that the Nearly New Sale is being run by a company running lots of events across the UK and that it is a registered business. Look to see how many tables they have at their events. This is likely to ensure that the Baby and Children's Market you attend, is a large well-attended, properly run and most importantly, safe Nearly New Sale.
Does buying preloved help the environment?
Very simply. Yes, yes it does. For so many reasons that we simply can't cover here. But the main advantage is saving tonnes and tonnes of landfill! By reloving items, especially toys it reduces the demand for plastic. This means less plastic being produced, which helps the environment because there are less emissions from production, and less plastic in circulation. There is also then a reduction in the emissions from transporting new toys, often over very long distances. Most of the above are also the same for baby equipment and to a lesser extent clothes.
Are you a charity?
The Little Children’s Market is made up of several franchisees, all of whom are their own independent businesses under our umbrella. Many of those businesses are CIC’s, which is a Community Interest Company. A CIC operates to benefit the local community and it heavily focussed on giving back to the community. Some are limited companies, but they all support a number of charities via donations or volunteering for them, and regularly have charities at their nearly new sales to help them advertise. There is a strong ethos within the business about supporting the local community and local charities. Over the years we have made a huge number of donations and supported some very worthwhile charities.
Are you the same as NCT Nearly New Sales?
There are lots of similarities between NCT sales and Nearly New Markets run by Companies like ours. At both NCT sales and other Nearly New Baby and Children’s Markets, there are thousands of amazing bargains to be bought. Some NCT Sales are run like standard markets, but some take a commission instead of the usual fixed table fee. This can cost sellers quite a lot more than events with a one-off table fee.
For buyers the main difference at NCT Nearly New sales is that NCT members are allowed in half an hour before other buyers. This means that the best bargains can all be gone by the time you get in. If you join NCT just for the NCT Nearly New Sales this makes entry into the sales pricier than paying the industry norm of £2 entry. As NCT Nearly New sales are not run very often, buyers will have to travel large distances to make it worth the membership fee. If you join NCT for other reasons then it is a benefit to get in early to the occasional NCT Nearly New Sale in your area.
There are other reasons to join the NCT as a member. They offer antenatal classes, postnatal courses, workshops and services to expectant and new parents which you pay for. If you are wondering how much the courses cost with NCT, then follow our link below to see what they offer and how much they charge.
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Antenatal Classes & Postnatal Courses | National Childbirth Trust | NCT
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There are other companies offering classes that are cheaper than NCT and you can find them on the internet. There are also free courses run by the NHS. You can look for free NHS antenatal classes by visiting the NHS website or following our link below.
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Location AZ - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
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The link below will take you to the NHS pregnancy page where you can find out more about antenatal support that is on offer:
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What's the difference between you and other companies?
Other companies like Mum2Mum have been around for many years and have a good following. We came along after Mum2Mum, but we have grown rapidly because we try and differentiate ourselves to the other companies running nearly new sales. We work hard to make our events an enjoyable experience for both buyers and sellers. Our events are well organised and we receive a lot of great feedback about how our events are better run than others. The baby and children’s markets that we run are often bigger with more buyers and sellers in attendance. So while there are a lot of similarities between The Little Children’s Market and companies such as Mum2Mum, we work hard to make sure there are a few important differences, which hopefully those attending our events appreciate and recognise.