Years ago, I visited a shop and saw the owner sorting her sold tags for posting. (Now don’t you roll your eyes at me; this was pre-consignment software.)
But these weren’t tags, they were FRAGMENTS of tags with itty-bitty little writing on them.
The owner was getting three or four uses out of every price tag. She’d write her info at the very end, and when she removed it from the sold item, she’d cut off the pertinent info and re-use the remaining tag. Just like that, she saved 2/3 or 3/4 of the cost of using tags! She was so proud of herself. A thrifty shopkeeper, to be sure. A mite thrifty for my tastes, but then that’s me.
And now for something completely different. A memorable moment in consignment for me. I went to a shop, bought something, don’t even remember what, but
I do remember how my transaction was handled.
The staff member folded my purchases lovingly, wrapped them in a sheet or two of bright purple tissue, sealed the overlap with a golden store sticker, and slid my purchases into a clear plastic bag. It
looked like a gift I was giving myself.
Since that day, I’ve investigated how much that merchandise presentation cost the shop:
14 cents for a clear bag, 10 cents for 2 sheets of nice tissue paper, and 4 cents for an embossed golden label… or 28 cents, versus the 4 cents you might pay for those common-as-dirt and about-as-attractive “Thank You” bags. Roughly. Quick Internet search. You can probably do it cheaper.
A quarter more than ho-hum. Just a quarter, to go from AU (Absolutely Unremarkable) to GOLD (Good Original Luxurious Detail.)* If your shop’s average purchase is $25, that’s 1% of what the customer just spent. And I’ll bet you that raising your prices on many items by a dime or a quarter to cover this GOLD wouldn’t make any ripples at all.
Best of all, this idea is more important than ever now, with people glum about shopping, cautious about spending, and feeling, well, kinda down. It’s a Lipstick Index kind of a marketing tool. And so easily done.
Would you pay a quarter to get your town talking about the ELEGANT consignment or resale shop?
To make your customers feel pampered and to cheer them up?
And it would be such fun to change the tissue color to match the season…red for Valentine’s Day, yellow for summer, russet for fall…and turquoise for resort wear!
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
[…] Wow ’em. […]
what great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing!
[…] Would you pay a quarter to get your town talking about the ELEGANT consignment or resale shop? […]
Probably for about the first 18 months in business, I would wrap each and every customer purchase in decorative leopard print tissue paper (my store is The Fashion Safari, so the animal print was perfect). Then I would place a fancy seal on it and slide it into an attractive gold or green plastic bag. Jewelry was placed in small leopard print jewelry bags. Customers absolutely loved it! My regulars even worried it was costing me a lot of money and said that I didn’t have to waste the “fancy” stuff on them. Well I still use the fancy jewelry bags and the green plastic bags for clothing, but I have to admit that I got frugal and stopped wrapping in the tissue print (even though I still have a little stack of it left over). You’ve inspired me to start using it again! Thanks Kate!
Love it and buying MORE tissue paper.
During after Christmas clearance, I snatched up a dozen large packages of lime, fuschia, purple, & tourquois tissue paper with glitter on every third sheet. I thought it would be nice to replace all my purse stuffing with something bright in my shop colors. It does look pretty in the purses, but the glitter is another story. It comes off inside the purses and even with daily vaccuming the carpet sparkles! 🙂
I am not loving what it leaves behind – but buyers have commented they sort of like it, gives their purse a little bling.
This post came on the VERY SAME DAY my huge order of lavender tissue arrived. I think it’s a sign.