Sundays, for many of us, are for examining the larger picture. Whether in a place of worship or within your own soul:
Are you doing what you are meant to?
If you as a resaler, whether you own or operate a consignment, a buy-outright, or a charitable thrift store, haven’t thought about if your business is going in the direction you originally envisioned, today might be a good day to do so. Here’s some
thoughts to get you started.
You may agree or disagree with my particular viewpoints…but what would YOU write on these two subjects? That’s what counts… what YOU would do. (Oh, and when and how you’re going to do it, natch!)
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Hmmm. I can think of a few things that I would do if I were to start over. The one that is most on my mind today is being very selective about the things we buy or consign. It’s easy not to buy things that you don’t absolutley love. It’s harder though, to turn away consignments.
If someone has brought in 20 things that are likely not to sell or even not to sell for very muich money, it is kinder and better to say “no thank you” from the beginning and hand out a FAQ flier, if they’d like one, for next time, than what I used to do – take the “best” 5 things and hope to heck they sell. If they don’t, which I kind of knew might happen, then the consinor will be irritated at take-in that I turned away 15 out of 20 and then further irritated that the 5 things might not sell for much or quickly either. And let me just get real here – I have also been known to take all 20 items, so long as they are just dated or not “my stlye”, hoping again, that they are someone’s style. I have found a few niche areas this way – who knew that anything with a frog or monkey on it, no matter how odd, will sell instantly in my store? But I digress…
Latley, I have been steeling myself with gentle determination to “train” new consignors from the first consignment. I try to remember: Yes, we want new consignors. Yes, we also want things to be quick and easy. And yes, we want a variety of styles and tastes represented in the store. However, we also want a high level of cleanliness and high level of quality. Anything less must be gracefully and firmly declined. – The ones that take offense or want to press the subject further, are the ones that need the most training 😉 and might possibly be better off trying consignment elsewhere even, if they have a tough time with our policy.
Do I sound convinced yet? I’ve been working on this for over a year now and it is still quite the challenge some days. For me, it is a life lesson in saying no for all the right reasons.
Great comment, Jenni, And of course, the process gets easier and easier as you get more experience (=confidence in your judgment) under your belt. I do find it amusing, as I am sure you do too, that the only review of your shop on your Google place page adores the VARIETY you carry.
Especially with home furnishings, beauty sure is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? All we can really do is determine quality and condition sometimes…pass on the obviously non-favs now, and hope for the best! (And strive to attract the most traffic we can, in hopes that SOMEone will take that tacky couch/ lamp/ dinette set off our hands! 😉 )