Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

(The final episode in this mini-series. Read Episode #1 and Episode #2 and Episode #3.)

Get serious with your consignment, resale, or thrift business. You can’t afford to fail now. Last episode in the series.

Have you ever had some well-meaning person ask you about “your little shop”? I did, just recently. Since I live in Florida now, and my shop was in Ohio, the question was “And where was your little shop?” My answer was: “Oh, I didn’t have a LITTLE shop. My bustling, successful shop…the one that enabled me to retire at the age of 48…was in….”

That poor woman, who was only trying to be pleasant, was darn lucky she wasn’t standing in my shop when she asked that. Of course, if she had been she would have seen that it wasn’t a “little shop”, not because it was large, but because I wasn’t playing store. Racks matched, as did hangers. Staff dressed appropriately with name badges. Merchandise was presented well. Handouts and signage were neatly done. All that stuff. But mostly, my shop did not come across as a “little shop” because of my Brag Wall.

Yup. The nasty word, that word your Momma told you never to do: BRAG. I bragged all over the place about my business, but the most obvious spot was my shop’s Brag Wall.

What goes on a Brag Wall? Photos of your first day, of the sidewalk sale for the benefit of Children’s Hospital, thank-you letters from charities who receive your no-thank-you’s, and awards you have been given. Snapshots of the neighborhood’s kids coming in for Halloween and the after-hours Divine Divas party.

But most of all, on your Brag Wall must be your professional affiliations. Every group, from NARTS to your local Chamber of Commerce to HowToConsign.com, issues a frameable membership certificate, and chances are if you are active with your groups, you’ve received a certificate of appreciation for what you did. Frame them and hang them. Be proud. Brag. Include your professional memberships on your business card, your shop stationery, your web site and blog and every handout.

Your Momma doesn’t work there. (Or, if she does, she’s braggin’ on you like crazy already!) Brag.

Show them you’re not just playing store. Brag.

It’s amazing the amount of respect a simple framed “This shop belongs to..” will bring you. You know what you’re doing…so let your public know you know. Brag.