Whatcom County Dahlia Society assigns a unique seller number and barcode to each seller that has signed up. One of the volunteer officers will email templates to sellers for the labels, that the seller can fill in and print out. Previous years they even had “new seller packets” with a bunch of templates already printed out. My first year I was handed an envelope that had instructions and a bunch of printed out templates that had my newly assigned seller number & barcode already on them. I just wrote in the information on the template, and also attached a picture I had printed out when I stapled the label to the bag. The emailed template has 6 to a page, and includes “picture here”, “Name:_____”, “Size: _”, “Color:”, “Form:___”, and the seller # and barcode in the upper right corner. People can use their own templates, as long as they have the same info & include the assigned seller number and barcode in the upper right corner. This year there was someone who printed out barcode stickers for any seller who needed that, for instance if they don’t have a precise enough printer to have the barcode work. Anyone who prints out their own barcodes is asked to bring a sample sheet to a prior meeting, to test that the barcodes work with the cash register scanners.
Each seller is asked to package their own tubers in baggies without any or not much medium like vermiculite or shavings (no peat moss as it is dark & makes it hard to see), in order for it to be easy for buyers to quickly see the eye & condition of the tubers. It’s suggested to poke breathing holes in the baggies. Staples should be placed horizontal so they don’t align with the barcode & confuse the scanners.
A low tech version without barcodes would be to still assign a seller number, and have each cash register make tallies next to each seller’s number, for each tuber sold. Might be slower, but could work.
It hasn’t been an issue having each seller package their own tubers.
Prospective sellers must sign up by a certain date, commit to helping with set up on the sale date, attend an informational meeting prior to the sale, and meet certain deadlines for emailing a list of what varieties they think they might bring to the sale (in order for the club to have signs ready for each variety that might show up.) Anyone committing to these requirements will likely be able to follow the instructions for packaging up their own tubers just fine.
A reward for being a seller is getting to shop before the sale opens to the public. There are only a limited number of volunteer spots to sign up for, to help with the sale in other ways, that would allow one to shop early. Despite the requirements set, there are still plenty of people that participate as sellers.
All tubers are sold for the same set price, $7 this year, with half going to the club & half going to the seller. The club holds an auction, separately from the sale, for special donated varieties, the club meeting before the tuber sale. All the money in the auction goes to the club. Tubers can go for a lot at the auction.
The special varieties that are sold for only $7 at the tuber sale are just one of the charms & attractions of the tuber sale. Since one of the club’s main goals of the sale is to provide low-cost good quality tubers to the community, those members that qualify to shop the pre-sale have a cap of 2 tubers of any one variety purchased at the presale. So no one person is as likely to buy out all the Hollyhill Masquerades, GG K2’s, or RH Purple Shadows (some finds I was excited about), in one fell swoop. Spreads the joy around more.
