3-22-10: Update: there will be no winner this week of the Wacky Wednesday Giveaway because the minimum participation was not reached.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And it’s Wacky Wednesday too…how lucky can we get??
Wacky Weds is our free Giveaway for consignment, resale, and thrift shop owners/ managers.
This week’s question for consignment and resale shopkeepers, which makes you eligible for our free Giveaway is:
What’s your favorite Blarney when you need to tell a supplier that you are not interested in accepting a particular incoming piece of merchandise? For example, when I encounter a particularly-worn item, I’ll say Looks like this was one of your favorites for years…
So, what’s your best line when deciding something’s an NTY?
This week’s Giveaway: for current (as of Sunday March 21) Sponsors of HowToConsign.com , a full year’s renewal of your listing at the Clickable Map & Directory plus the ZOOMABLE Map until June 30 2011. For those who are not yet Sponsors, a listing at the Clickable Map & Directory plus the ZOOMABLE Map until the beginning of the next sponsor year, which is June 30 2010. Max value is received if you begin your Sponsorship now (and that’s no Blarney. You can be a Lucky Leprechaun with your inclusion in the #1 Google site, HowToConsign.com!)
Read the rules for our giveaway. Your comment must be posted by midnight Eastern time Sunday March 14 and we must have at least 20 entries (so contact your resale buddies and ask them to enter too!) Read previous Wacky Wednesday entries and GREAT responses from consignment, thrift, and resale shopkeepers.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Darn, no winner this week.
We try to start by saying something positive such as “I can tell you’ve taken very good care of your things”…. “but, unfortunately, you’ve held on to them just a little too long”, or “our customers’ preference set our guidelines and these items [brand] just don’t sell very well. Thank you so much though for letting us look through them… here’s a few suggestions on what DOES sell well (as I hand them a brochure).” This is one of the hardest things I’ve had to learn how to do but my customers preference MUST set our guidelines. I’ve learned that your tone of voice can make the difference too, on how that supplier feels when they leave my store. It’s important to make sure the supplier understands WHY we didn’t accept their things so they can become better consignors in the future.
Sometimes it’s difficult to be tactful. My most common line is that “they have just been a little too loved.” Most of the time you just really want to say that their things are just “ancient, gross, or filthy.”
I’ve found that using humor just doesn’t work with my crowd. I guess they are just too attached to their old stuff. They look at me like I have three eyes when I try to be funny. Guess I just wasn’t cut out to be a comedian.
Now ask me what I say when they ask for a discount or when they want to know if the price on the tag is what I’m asking for an item. I’ve got some good answers for those.
For items that are too worn, we might say “These are little too well loved”, or for those that are outdated, we just tell them that styles change–even in infantwear. If it’s a stain–we tell them how they might be able to get it out. Most of the time people don’t ask, but there are always a few per day that we have to explain it to. Even the ones who have been consigning for literally years!! It’s hard dealing with parents as they have memories attached to every outfit it seems.
Next month will be my 1 year anniversary and I honestly can say that I have never had to tell a consignor why I dont take her clothes. I dont check consignors merchandise when they bring it in. I run the store by myself and I dont have the time during business hours to check the consignors clothes. Everything is accepted by drop and run. When I get to the consignors clothes I seperate the No Thank You’s. I write the consignors name and reason for NTY on a small sticker and attach it to the clothes. My reasons are “too worn”, “stained”, “rip in seam” “button missing”,etc. If it is an item that simply is too old or that will not sell I put “NTY” Maybe the consignor has no idea what “NTY” means, but no one has ever questioned me as to why I didnt accept the item. I guess it’s kinda like texting. When someone texts me with their cute text lingo like LMAO or LOL and I have no idea what they are saying, I simply act like I do. Now that deserved a LOL! I have to admit though, my consignors are getting better with following my rules and bringing in nice stuff.
This is the only thing I really dislike about owning a resale shop. Whenever I turn down someone’s too much loved/way too old items and they complain, I feel like I haven’t chosen them for my kick ball team or something. I’ve tried ‘our selections are based on what our customers buy’, etc. etc., but when they come back with ‘they’re nicer than anything in this store’, my first inclination is to answer ‘huh uh, no sir’, but of course I don’t. So I’m reading these suggestions with interest.
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Nudging consignors on to the sales floor while going through their stuff dramatically cut the number of times we’re asked for explanations of why we decline something.
But, if pushed:
Overly worn? ‘Good news! You can refresh your cleaning rag pile with these and save money on paper towels!’
Spring/summer wrinkles? Big sigh of regret. ‘I’m afraid these are just too Sharpei for us’ (Sounds French and no one ever seems to get what I mean yet doesn’t want to appear clueless/not in the know)
OOD? ‘Finally give up on starting your own fashion museum did ‘ya?’
For the obviously touchy and attached I just smile and repeat ‘I do hear what you are saying. But we’re unable to help you with these. They’re simply out of our league’
If it is obvious, I will show them, like a stain, tear or some type of damage. My standard line if, “I’m sorry, we just don’t have the customer for this type of item.
My goodness, all so SOLEMN? Whatever happened to that famed Irish charm, like Carolyn suggested?
Although I WILL admit that I DID tell one consignor that she’d reached the Jackie Kennedy stratum in her closet excavation…knowing of course that she’d laugh, not be insulted.
I have a children’s store and when a clothing item is a little too worn, I usually say that they must have got their money’s worth out of this one because it looks a little too loved to sell again. They usually chuckle because they can see what I’m talking about as far as maybe washing it too much and it being pilly, etc. I really try to let people down easy with the baby items because a lot of emotion sometimes comes with consigning baby clothes.
Most of the time they don’t ask. When they do I am honest and tell them nicely. I’ll say its a little older than we take, or if its something that has new tags like a Alfred Dunner outfit I just say that brand dosen’t sell well for me. Or if something is too worn or stained I just tell them that.
Well I come across hundreds of items every week that are not acceptable being a children’s store. Like the 50 onesies every week that have formula stains on the neck line or the red juice stain on the center of the shirt and of course the grass stains on the knees so I almost never explain why items are not accepted unless asked.
But then there are the those lovely consignors who go though each peice and only bring a small basket of beautiful clothing in and there just happens to be that one shirt with a tiny stain on the collar. I simply say “Everything looks great as usual, just this one didn’t make it”
Sometimes I have the ones who bring me a small batch of beautiful dresses from their 8yr old starting with their 12 month size dress and one from each year. I have to sugar coat these ones because when they bring them in on hangers and in mint condition after saving them for this long, I don’t want their feelings hurt. I start by looking at the biggest size first and talk about how lovely they are and how well they will sell. Then once I start seeing I’m into the outdated ones, I skip through a little faster and say “She had some gorgeous dresses, I bet she looked so cute in these. I just think they are going to be a little hard to get sold for you. My customers are always looking for the newest styles, even for infants.” That usualy works just fine. Some still try to convince me that they would sell but most agree.
I like it when we say: you must have reached really far into the back of the closet for this!
ha ha, but only if they are a good sport. You know, the clothes that have an inch of dust on thewaist band?
or how about “We just don’t have any customers who can appreciate the uniquness of this piece”
Such a tricky one. We women do love our stuff. I simply say, “This is a beautiful piece, however, it is not an item that will sell here in our market. Perhaps you have a favorite charity you would like to donate it to. It does feel good to clean and organize your closet, no need to take it back home”
Focus on the positive!
“You’ve got some great consignments here and just a couple of no-thank-you’s. Would you like to take these few back with you or donate to charity – we work with _______ and _______. ”
I find that very few people want to know the details of why you’re not accepting something. They are many times happy to donate and sometimes take things back with them.
I always thank them for their consignment and ask them to keep it coming 🙂
I am not very creative with lines like this! I just tell the consignor the truth and noting but the truth when it comes to NTYs.
I’ve learned that the more you try to sugar coat their NTYs, the more they try to push them on you!
Whatever the reason is for not taking it, I always end the sentence with “it will not sell in this store and we only take in items that sell”
oh and also, I do not even bother telling them why I didn’t take something unless they ask