Passing on the joy...

As well as my interest in puzzles I am also a member of my local Pantomime Group. Each year we hold a fundraising fete to help raise funds for our shows – we sell books, have duck races down the river, and since I’ve been on the committee we have also sold puzzles.

Now, this works in my favour. We advertise every puzzle sold as being ‘checked complete’…which means…you’ve guessed it…someone needs to check them. All our puzzles are donated, from friends, family members, local supporters and even members of the BCD. I then check them (meaning I do lots of puzzles for free) and then we sell them.

Last year we decided on a winning price bracket. £2 per puzzle no matter what the size, or 3 puzzles for £5. I can hear the gasps now – ‘£2, you are underselling, £2 is far too cheap, £2 is far less than even charity shops’! And yes, I probably agree with you. However, when we sold them for higher prices, we never seemed to be able to shift them. People coming out for the day didn’t seem to want to lug puzzles around with them or would only buy 1 really nice one. At £2 a puzzle people seem to think ‘why not take a risk and buy a few’, and as we only accept card payments for £5 or more people seem only two happy to add the extra £1 a get the 3! This year we started with well over 100 puzzles and by the end of the day had 7 left…reduced to 5 with a last minute purchase as we were loading the van to go home.

And the best bit – the puzzle chats I get to have with fellow enthusiasts all day long. They go home with some joy (and a leaflet for the BCD) and the pantomime group goes home with a few extra pounds to be spent on costumes.

Photos are before and after shots…