Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

When the just-pre-Christmas and the just-post-Christmas ads started appearing, seems like all you saw, heard, were yelled at about was percentages off. Now maybe it’s just because I’ve made a life-long career out of retail, but aren’t you, too, the teeniest bit suspicious about how the stores manage this?

Don’t you start thinking: Well, sure, it was overpriced to begin with, so 50% off is prob’ly just about right, and if they think I’m falling for that, well, by golly, I’ll show them. I won’t buy ’til it’s 75% off.

Well, maybe it is just me. Maybe everyone (read: your customers) is impressed with as high a number before that % sign as possible.

Trouble is, as resale shopkeepers, our prices are always 50,60,75% off the “new” price. So when we want to stimulate sales, how do we compete? After all, if Macy’s is advertising 50% off … what’s so darn special about your shop having a 50% off sale? How could you stand out, and show your readers that their money really goes farther at your shop?

This thought was brought home to me when I received an email from Elsie’s Emporium, a resale shop, bragging about 50% off. Ho-hum I thought, what’s the news here? Isn’t everyone everywhere 50% off? Why should I drop everything, gather up my shopping list, and hightail it into Elsie’s Emporium?

You know what really would have made me skedaddle into Elsie’s?

Showing me the money. The hard cash…or rather, exactly what I would GET for my hard cash. Forget the percents off. Can I get something for Aunt Milly and Cousin Patty and Chatty Cathy that’s a great deal…and tell me exactly how great a deal it is!

Here’s what I would have done, had I been Elsie I would have whipped out my trusty digital camera and taken a photograph of great, even extravagant holiday gifts:

* A colorful sweater AND coordinating earrings and bracelet All this for $20!

* A small occasional table, topped with a pretty floral arrangement, with a ceramic cat statue tucked under it All 3 Pieces just $55!

* A complete toddler outfit…plus a toy Perfectly $10…

There’s no way any pie-in-the-sky 50 0r even 75% off can beat a multi-item purchase for those prices. Throw in “free gift wrap” (those pretty shopping bags that cost you, max, $1, along with tissue and curly ribbon) and you can bet… no getting mauled at the mall for ME! Elsie, stand back, there’s a stampede at your door, hugging and kissing you for saving them real money.

See what $10 ( or $20 or $50) will buy. There’s a headline for you, heading into winter clearance time. Add a few photos to your email, and even better. Just don’t forget to tell them everything in our shop is one of a kind, so get in soon!