Have your say!
I invite you to “comment” to this post if there are ideas and concerns you wish to share with your consignment, resale, and thrift peers. I do hope, as well, that you’ll answer the concerns of others here. You can even choose to reply to a specific comment (old or new) if you want to add your viewpoint.
See? Auntie Kate clicked “reply” to answer Tissa (so did Rene), and tpresson “replied” to Rene. (Click the graphic to enlarge)
Our industry is all about helping others…
as we would wish to be helped. The latest comments are at the end of the list, and you can “reply” directly to ANY comments, new or older by clicking the “reply” word directly above the poster’s gravatar/image.
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Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Recently, we have on occasion had some of my consignors respond with excitement over their total payout for a group of items, but then become slightly critical on the return amount on a particular (brand name) item when further investigating their itemized payout. We would be interested in hearing if other consignment shops have experienced this and if so how they handle the situation. These consignors still continue to consign with us but it makes us apprehensive when taking their items or when having to discount them which does not make for a proficient process during intake or discounting. Some verbiage I have trained my staff to use is “your overall item average was really substantial” or “some things unexpectedly move faster than other items and our goal is to get you the biggest return on each item as quickly as possible.” Any other tips or suggestions is appreciated. We enjoy seeing our consignors (and customers) happy with their experience with us and it is frustrating to watch them exclaim with excitement on the payout but find disappointment in what they received for a particular item.
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How about “Isn’t it interesting how some things sell for less than you hoped someone would pay, and how they’ll pay a lot for things you didn’t think were worth nearly as much as we were able to get for them?”
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For consignment/resale store owners looking for inspiration for their window and store displays, we have several boards on Pinterest – arranged by season and they of merchandise. This one has DIY and budget friendly window display ideas: http://pinterest.com/mannequinmadnes/consignment-store-displays/
And you can stretch your visual merchandising budget by buying gently used mannequins and dress forms like the ones we recycle from retail chains when they close or remodel stores. A designer mannequin that normally cost $700 brand new, we sell for $175 and it is in mint condition. http://www.mannequinmadness.com/used-mannequins/?sort=featured
Our inventory changes all the time and so check back if you don’t see what you are looking for or send us an email with your request.
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Kate–I totally agree. Consignors funds MUST be available to them at all times. We have a separate bank account for paying consignors, and every day we figure out how much of our sales that day need to be paid to consignors and that money is left in that special checking account. (It happens to be the checking account that all money from Visa/MasterCard/Discover purchases goes into.) I never end up having to deposit money into that account, but I take out the excess twice a week and put it into the operating account. I’ve been doing it this way for 18 years.
If you aren’t able to pay your consignors, they will lose trust in you and word will spread like wildfire. Do anything you have to do to pay them. It will be hard to set aside “double” the money to pay people in the future, so set up a plan NOW, stick to it, and use some of the money that would have gone to your salary to put toward paying consignors now. Encourage your consignors to shop with their funds–then it’s not cash out the door. Sure, you’ll have to pay the next consignor but you will now have put that money away for that purpose. Don’t be discouraged–just set a plan in motion and follow thru with it. Good luck!!
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Kerri, a good going-forward plan for this shop, which might help them nip in the bud this crucial aspect of the shop. No resaler wants to see another shop default… it hurts all of us when even a single, small shop doesn’t honor their business arrangements, by casting doubt and worry over the public concerning consigning.
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90 Day consignment of furniture and Slow Summer Months
The business does not have enough to funds to cover consignment checks – what do you do? What is the proper way to let the affected consignors know? They will eventually be paid, however it may take an extra month. Do you even let them know? We will not use personal funds.
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Dear Anonymous, There is no proper way to tell your consignors that you have spent their money. As the consignee, you are expected to safeguard their goods and the moneys received from the sale of the goods, which apparently you have not been diligent about. When you say you “won’t use personal funds”, I am confused. You have already spent THEIR money, but YOUR money is yours, too?
I’d like to restate to all readers that if reserving consignors’ proceeds from sales is a problem, separate checking accounts for operating funds and money due consignors should be maintained carefully and with full fiduciary caution. If this is not something a resale shopkeeper is prepared to do, it would be better to obtain merchandise through purchase rather than making a consignment promise which is already broken. (And in my experience, Anonymous, “an extra month” never comes.)
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pay them NOW! You will be out of business in no time if you keep this up. It’s just not the way to operate. Everything Kate said…ditto.
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Thanks, Carolyn. One NFP consignment shop I worked with made sure to pay everyone. They even, 2 months before the end of their fiscal year, cleared even the smallest accounts of debts. 2 months allowed time for consignors to cash their checks and keep the profit-&-loss statement for the year clean and realistic, so they could make wise business decisions for the upcoming year.
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Don’t ever say you won’t use personal funds. Also I would definitely pay my consignors even if you do have to use your own funds. I make sure I pay my consignors and to protect this money in the lean months, I pay rent and utilities from my personal checking account. I also hope you aren’t paying yourself before you pay the consignors. I have yet to pay myself because my business is not solid enough yet so I can.
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HI, I’ve had my business open for approximately 10 months, however, it is not driving the traffic that I would like. It is located in a 5 year old strip mall that have a salon, dog grooming, restaurant, insurance place, martial art place, and a therapy message place. The area is approximately 1.5 miles outside the county, approximately 3 miles from a middle and high school, and trailer park. However, I’ve notice that the other listed business are not getting that much business. How can I get more people in the store.
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Hi Serbernia!
SOCIAL MEDIA will help tremendously! We update our Facebook page several times a day, posting pics of newly arrived merchandise, notifying customers of sales, etc. Every week there are customers that come in commenting that they saw something on Facebook and came in because of it. Craigslist is also a tremendous help to us for the furniture we sell — again people come in daily because of something they saw posted online. Have just started using Instagram & Pinterest so don’t have as much feedback on those just yet. But I highly recommend Facebook & Craigslist — both are free! Hands down they have given us more sales than any paid advertising we have done.
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I have thought of opening a consignment shop for 3 yrs now. In many ways I feel I am ready, but there are some nagging questions I would love help on. Someone made the comment to me “make sure you are completely out of your own personal debt before starting this venture.” I value families input, but if that’s the case, and I continue working my crazy full time job now, and bills seem to be a constant in life, how will I ever be able to try this and take a risk? I also found a prime location, one with 2300 square feet and one with 1200 square feet. What is the best choice in space when finances are not substantial starting out? Will I limit myself too much in 1200 square feet? Also, this place asks for a 5 year contract. I would really like this space. If they are asking for a 5 year contract is there anyway to negotiate that down to less? And for a new consignor, what is a reasonable length in years for a contract?
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Sherri, One of the things you have to really imprint on your thinking is: Starting a new business is TAKING ON MASSIVE DEBT. For example, signing a 5-yr lease, even if it’s something modest like a $2000-a-month rent, is agreeing that you will pay your landlord $120,000.
And rent is the least of it. Equipment, fixtures, advertising, utilities, the loss of your earning power at another job… now you know why having at LEAST 6 months’ business overhead and family expenses is crucial. I cry when I see some new shopkeeper put her savings, her pride, her bloodsweattears into something that COULD have been a success, if only she’d had been able to survive the lean beginnings.
Now 99.9% of people who are selling a how-to manual, such as my Too Good to be Threw operations manual, will gloss over this. They don’t care if you make it; they only care that you buy their product. But I’d rather not see another shop start up, then fail… both for the personal effort involved and for the damage to the industry. Be sure you can, comfortably, live through the start-up of a new business, and that you won’t fall into the trap of making bad decisions for the future of your shop driven by current-day financial crises.
Do a business plan, examine your personal needs for income, and go from there. If you’ve thought about starting a shop for 3 years, you should by now have an excellent background of learned knowledge and experience as well as a tidy little operating fund. If that’s not the case, start in from this day forward.
Best wishes!
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I am not going to discourage you I am just going to give you my personal experience. Are you good with bookkeeping or are you going to have to pay someone to do it? Are you really ready to give ALL your spare time to your business? Do you have children? Can you live without a salary for at least 2 years? Are you ready for the other consignment shops in town to try to beat your prices? I have been in business now for 15 months and it has been a real struggle. I started out with 800 square feet and a month to month lease but the rent was 700.00, not much but it was a struggle to keep that money put aside in addition to what I have to keep back for paying my consignors. The pressure of the rent and all the utilities was stressing me. I now have a bigger place with less rent and even with the higher utilities it is still less than what I was paying before. I am bookkeeper, software engineer, maintenance person, painter, and anything else I can do to keep my costs down. I run the store by myself because I can’t pay anyone to help me.I run to the bathroom in between customers and I don’t take a lunch but eat at my desk. I am rarely able to pay myself but every now and then I can take out a little. We live off my husbands salary and what we have in our savings which stresses me even more. You really have to have a good business background and an accounting background helps also. I have both and that has helped me more than anything to keep from making unwise business decisions. There’s one shop owner in this town that doesn’t have a clue whether she makes any money or not because she told me she doesn’t want to know. I am constantly looking at my books and trying to find more ways to save money. The business is slowly growing at my new place. It has better traffic flow and closer to the street. I am not trying to sound like a downer, but this has been my experience so far. I know it will get better, I just have to give it time. Good luck to you.
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Hey this sounds just like me 🙂 2 years now and I’ve had an employee for a little over a year. I was so afraid to hire but it’s about 5-10 hrs a week and it gives me most of the day on Saturday off as well as room for errands, cleaning house, and taking my kiddies somewhere fun at least once a week. It’s been very rewarding but extremely stressful. I’ve seen 4 other business close in the last 2 years, it’s scary. What has gotten me through the tough times is the fact that I expected all of this prior to opening. I knew what I was getting into. But it would have been nice of I were wrong and became rich over night 😉 sigh….it could happen
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I agree with the others…I researched and dreamed for a year and then took the plunge. It will never happen without taking risks. My shop has been open now 9 months and I kept my day job (which is actually evenings) so I work 14 hrs every day. I have learned a lot and will continue to I’m sure. I dont know if I will keep it forever, if it gets to be too much I will sell. I often use my personal money to float extras (like shelves or airconditioners or advertising) But I made my dream come true and its very satisfying to be your own boss.
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Hi Sherry
I am curious if you ever took the plunge and went for it?
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I started out with a bad location, so I started scouting for a new location at the end of last month. WAY early in advance. Well, it’s paid off. I’ve been offered a spot in on of those Wal-mart anchored strip malls for when my current lease ends. Have any of you had one of these spots? Pluses, minuses? I know it’s going to get a heck of a lot more traffic than I get now. This mall has a Pizza Hut and four other business not including the Nail Salon and Hair Salon I’d be sitting in the middle of. This particular Wal-mart services three counties in our rural area.
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I don’t know what kind of shop you are so this may or may not be applicable. Are Walmart shoppers your demographic? I would think they would be extremely price conscious. I often find those that like to frequent discount stores are not the type of customer who likes to buy second hand because they “can buy their stuff cheaper new” and clearly they aren’t terribly concerned with quality.
Again, it really depends on who your target market. And then there are the snakes to watch out for of course.
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I have a little bit of everything. In the town I’m in now there were two resale shops when I opened and now there are twelve. In their infinite wisdom they’ve started a price war against each other. I took what seemed like the higher path and just price matched the Goodwill since I would be getting a lot less if I played their little game and when they started it my sales started dropping. The strategy seems to have worked well and sales are up. Many people, like myself, grocery shop at Wal-mart and then buy their clothes elsewhere. In many of our areas we just don’t have a choice as the Walmart has driven the mom and pop grocery stores out. I, personally, won’t buy clothes from Wal-mart because they don’t shrink uniformily. At least, I’m hoping I’m not the one odd-ball in the bunch. There is the option in the lease to give 90 days notice if it’s not going to work out. I’m hoping increased traffic will lead to increased prices. (At least a little higher than the Goodwill!!) Thanks for your thoughts on it though. I guess I’ve never really thought about Walmart crowds being cost-concious since it’s pretty much the only place to go. As for the snakes, I’m going over this contract with a fine-tooth comb. The biggest snake is the rent hike in years to come, but at least I know about it in advance.
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I personally despise Wal-mart and won’t go there even for groceries. I also moved 2 weeks ago and it has been a struggle for business. I have gotten some new people in but it has been really slow. I have about 4 blocks from the Goodwill, but ours is really nasty and stinks. One reason I moved is because the rent is low and in 2 years, it will still be lower than what I was paying at the old store and the new store is bigger. If it is best for you, then move, but I personally would not want to be next to a Walmart. I am dealing with another consignment store a block away that would love to see me go out of business. She will go first, because she has rotten customer service and she doesn’t pay her consignor consistently.
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That’s a big step and there are so many things to consider. I absolutely LOVE my location and I am paying double what I would have been paying at another location I almost signed a lease on. Every business is different but this was my experience. The first location I almost picked because it was anchored by one of our major grocery stores. The rent was cheap and I was sure I could pay it. I was always in love with this other location but it was expensive, right smack in the middle of all my competition and easy to find and near the freeway. I chose my location because I knew my customers wouldn’t want to drive far out to find me, they wouldn’t want to have a hard time with directions, if they didn’t find anything at my competitors shop then they may not drive so far to find me so I wanted to be close. Another thing was the look of my location. It looks like a cute boutique and I was at first near a salon and bead shop…now we have a bridal shop and cupcake/cake shop!!!! I like to think I attracted them there 😉 We all compliment each other. The first location was not pretty and was located next to a check and cash place and rent to own furniture. Not exactlly where my target market is constantly stopping by. One other thing you should consider (that I have heard from many business owners) If you are next to a Walmart people might see you but they are going to Walmart and they usually don’t want to stop anywhere after that. Personally I am always at Walmart and can’t ever remember which side the auto service is on which might mean I am not looking around I just want to get in and get out. I hope everything works out for you!!!!
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My new shop is located next to Sears. I have gotten new customers because their husbands are in Sears and the ladies are in my store. My previous location was located next to a barbershop and a check into cash place, but the parking was lousy and it was too far off the street. Being closer to the street has helped and my mannequin outside has helped a lot. I also hope things work out for you.
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Parking is one of the biggest issues at my current location, too. People don’t want to back into traffic to leave. This particular town currently doesn’t have a decent resale shop, so I’m hoping it will work well. After driving it, I realized it’s only fifteen more minutes on my drive each day and when you live in the middle of nowhere 15 minutes is a drop in the bucket. A brand new Sonic is opening in the building right next door in July. Also, the upside of this growing town is that they don’t have resale shops. The only consignment store they have is located above a funeral home (where we all want to be, right?) and is only open Thursday-Saturday from noon-5.
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I offer free giftwrapping in my store. We’re getting more and more customers ask if we sell cards–kid’s birthday, baby shower, etc. to go along with the wrapping, and we do not have any at this time. Does anyone have a reasonably priced source for cards? Thanks in advance.
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Hmm… see if you can find someone local who makes handmade cards. You can offer him/her some space in your shop to sell their cards for a small % of the sale. Maybe even let them put up a small sign advertising their handmade card business? You get unique cards to sell without the cost of buying them up front.
Hmm… maybe ask around at your local scrapbooking/craft store to see if they no of anyone who makes cards. Just an idea. Good luck!
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Peaceable Kingdom has some really cute kids cards
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I have been asked to speak at a local women’s group this fall (similar to the red hat society) and I have some ideas, but being so new to the industry (I have been open for just about 6months) I am a little intimidated. I have 45 min. to fill. Haa anyone else done something like this and have an outline or bulletpoints, or powerpoint presentation you could share to help me get started. Thanks so much.
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I find it helpful to find out what my audience is interested in. Are they looking for a talk from you on fashion or consignment? Are they looking to see models? Do they want your to provide models? How many are you speaking to? I don’t have a limit to the number attending but I do weigh out the possible return and opportunity. I have one event this Friday and they want to see how Consignment shopping can help you rock a fab wardrobe. It is a good opportunity to share your shop and what your business has to offer. They provided 4 models – the models each made appointments and my staff fitted them for their outfit. I will take the clothes the day of the event – most will purchase the entire outfit so make sure you take your calculator! It is also helpful to bring a helper if you are having models. Have fun!
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Thanks Fifiskn. I have to speak to about 150 I think. I was planning on doing a sampling of clothes on models to showcase what we carry and how you can dress for less. I also thought I would speak a little to the “green” part of the business and funds we are putting back in the community.
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I just wanted to share a site I just stumbled upon. It’s called Smarter.com. I’ve struggled with pricing some brands because I had no idea where they came from. I like this site because I can search by keyword, price, clothing type, and even store. It’s all in one place. It’s kind of as close as I can find to an original price guide. It’s not perfect, but better than some of the other sites I’ve found. It could be a valuable resource in pricing.
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Kay’s Kloset in Punta Gorda , Florida recently did a fund raiser of sorts for women who were victims of domestic violence.. We partnered with SOMA the lingere division of Chico’s to collect bras to be given to the women… In my wildest dreams I was hoping to collect maybe at most 200. With help from my local chamber of commerce, direct emailing to customers, and consignors. Friends telling friends we collected 866 bras in only 5 weeks. People who had never been to my shop would drop by with a bag full. I would come into work early morning and find bags attached to my door full of bras. We donated all to our local domestic violence shelter in Punta Gorda, C.A.R.E and they too, were speachless but very much appreciative. We were only a catalyst for a very good and needed cause.. People everywhere are really giving and caring if you only give them the gentle push they need.
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Thanks, Kay, for your inspiration! I’m going to use it as the basis for a blog post soon, because (believe it or not!) there is a wide-spread need for bras and this type of promo is so good for attracting customers who might not yet have explored our shops!
Might be a good thing for me to recommend to our HowToConsign.com FB and Twitter followers, if I didn’t worry that people might show up at a non-Sponsor shop and get rebuffed. I’ll have to mull such an industry-wide promo for a little while…
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It is award time again. Last year our local kid magazine decided that they would let anyone vote as many times as they wanted. I let my ad rep know that I totally disagreed with that policy. I feel it is deceptive to the readers and in fact the shops that won, while they are fine shops, I’m quite certain did not win just on a one by one vote from their customers.
This year they have decided to allow one vote per email address. Yeah… I think we can win. One thing I had previously thought about is to send an email offering a $1 donation per vote. I’m not sure i’ll know the votes so I was thinking about promoting that if we win I’ll donate say $1,000 to one of our charity partners.
Do you think that could be viewed negatively as buying a vote? If I didn’t win I’d still donate. I just think it would create positive energy and goodwill in the community by doing that. By promoting it this way we would get more recognition.
Thoughts?
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I don’t think saying you’ll donate if you win would be a good idea–even if you did still plan to donate without a win–your customers wouldn’t know you were doing so and it would still look like buying votes. I don’t think buying votes would convey a “positive” about your store. Perhaps a better idea might be something like–(I’m assuming people can print out the page “Thank you for voting” or such)–have people bring into the store that printed out page and you collect these and donate $1 (or$5 or whatever) per page brought in. This would be “encouraging” people to vote, and not buying votes–and you would be donating whether or not you won and everyone would know about it.
I personally hate these voting award things. I feel like it turns into a popularity contest on who can reach the most people thru email and get them to vote. It doesn’t tell at all which shop is the “best”–just who could entice enough votes to win. I say this even after winning a few times–I still don’t like them. And–it seems like there is always another newspaper or daily running the contest and then asking you to advertise in their paper. There are about 6 or 7 of these in my area. I also don’t like the idea that big box stores are included–if they’re going to run these contests, my feeling is that it should be limited to “locally owned” stores–not franchises like grocery stores and giant booksellers. OK–I’m getting off my soapbox now. Happy Selling everyone!!
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Anybody interested in sharing their interview process. My last hiring process took way too long. I felt the interviews themselves went well. I had read the retail doctor book and it was helpful as far as making sure I was focused on letting them talk and asking just a handful of questions.
However, I had so many false starts and ended up hiring three people and I was left with one of the three after a lot of training, money and harassment.
I have learned two major things so far. One don’t hire people who don’t NEED to work. Two, listen very closely to what people tell you. If someone tells you they have been fired before be very, very careful no matter how convincing their reasons.
Does anyone else have something to share that they have found makes the staffing process any easier? I’m finding myself just really unable to move forward and I really need to find another two employees quickly.
Thanks!
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Hi! I have a question about carrying things out to the car… Do you do it all them time like I do? Shoppers often times need a hand with something large and I end up helping load it into the trunk or seat. So do you do it? Have them sign something? What if the car gets scratched or the item gets damaged?
Hope you have some experience to share. TIA!
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Hi Jenni, Guess everyone’s busy with family this weekend… or has never worried about loading things into a customer’s car! I can’t imagine that you need to curtail customer service for fear of being sued. (But then again, people can be weird, huh?) Does the grocery store not help with groceries because of this? Do they have a shopper sign a legal document before they roll the Pizza Rolls out?
Actually, my main concern is that you are leaving the shop short-handed while you’re out in the parking lot wrestling with a recliner ;)…. It will be interesting to see if other furniture resalers reply to this… all hard-goods resalers are always saying they wish there’d be more discussion about their niche…
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Well, we aren’t furniture but we always help our customers our with their items when they need help. Actually we most always offer, particularly when they are buying gear. It never dawned on me to worry about harming their vehicle, bu then again we hold their babies and help them put their babies in carriers, and even watch their babies for a minute while they run to the car.
Sometimes I think that isn’t a great idea but I won’t live the worst case scenario life. It interferes with building of community.
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Just thought I’d share that I had a $1.00 Sidewalk Sale this past weekend, and it was a HUGE hit! I was very nervous about it, because it was the biggest sale I’ve had since I opened about 2 years ago, and 2 days before the sale, I heard the rain was coming. I had a TON of new customers, that heard about it from friends, our Mailing List, Facebook, or were just driving by and saw all the tents and racks and stuff out front. We had Women’s, Men’s, and Children’s clothes, handbags, & shoes ALL for $1.00. I punched a hole in all the tags, so I could determine whether it came from the sidewalk sale, or inside the store. It did end up raining for about 20 minutes, so we covered tables in plastic, and squished the racks under the tents, but it didn’t scare anyone away! The sale also really helped clear out my back room! We bagged up all the remaining items, and donated it all to two local clothing pantries.
Thought if any of you were looking for a sale idea..
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I would like to know how other users of ConsignPro process Groupons. Ladies?
Thank you!
Anne
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Eileen, you should definately plan on attending conference this year. Kate has given you excellent advise and Conferecne provides you a more personal venue for getting to know and speaking with these brilliant minds in person. My only input from your first post would be to be very careful who and when you share business growth opportunites, One of the awesome things about our industry is we get to know our customers – sometimes more than needed:) the down side to that is this- not everyone you meet is your “friend” If you are looking or talking about being successful and happy, know who your audience is. The people I have met thru Narts understand professionalism and Intergrity.
Happy Selling!
Julia Austin
Fifi’s Lake Norman
FifisLKN.com
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I hate to ask another question this soon, but I want your opinion on this situation. I had a consignor who was one of my absolute best. I had mention out of turn in a conversation one day that if a certain building in town were open when my lease was up that I might look at it because it is just so much bigger than mine. (My mistake and I know that now!) This consignor does storage auctions and has a ton of stuff. He went out, rented the building I wanted, then he showed up at my store last night and pretty much told me that he’d rented it and would be opening a store, but because I’d been such a good person to work with he wanted to give me the option of ‘sharing’ the store. His definition of sharing was using my established business name and splitting the rent 50/50. He would have wanted me to continue working the five days a week I am now and then he and his family would work two. What I did NOT like about it is the way they went about it, not to mention that he didn’t just want me involved but he wanted his wife, son and son’s wife. It is a better location, BUT they pretty much phrased it as they were doing me a favor by offering since I wouldn’t be able to compete with them. They want me to continue to consign their stuff until they can get their doors open. I politely expressed to them that I was not interested in a partnership in large part because of the increased liabilities associated with a partnership. In reality it’s because I feel that resale is more of a hobby to them and I don’t want to see my business fail just as it is really starting to make a profit. Not to mention, I like it being my business and not having to consult others when I want to do something. They’ve been buying at storage auctions and selling online without a business license and they did not want a formal partnership agreement. Before they’ve even tackled a first store they were talking about expanding to a second. Auntie Kate, I’ve been blind-sided by this entirely. I think in this community it would be bad turn to return their current consignments, but my instinct is to refuse any more. Also, I feel bad because in the back of my mind I keep thinking it’s a win-win situation. They bombard me with so much stuff on a regular basis that I can’t keep up and this would allow me for at least a little while to play catch-up. The idea I feel really bad thinking about is that I did really like the building and if they failed I’d have less repairs to do if I ever got it….I REALLY do not mean I hope they fail because I don’t wish that on any business owner. Now that I’ve buried you information, I’ll ask. Any thoughts? Could I have handled this better? Do you think I should just grit my teeth and keep accepting consignments from them until they open?
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Wow. I cannot fathom what you’re thinking here. Especially “I can’t keep up and this would allow me for at least a little while to play catch-up. “… you want your new competition (which, let’s be honest, may never come into being or if it does, may not be anything your potential clientele will enjoy)… to NOT consign with you so you can “catch up”?
Let’s see, what would be the results of that:
* You wouldn’t make your commission off these goods.
* They would be stock-piled for the other store’s opening
* You’d have less selection in your shop, so customers would not find as much to buy which will leave them RIPE for the plucking by a new business opening
* You want to cut back on your shop’s incoming… just when you should be marketing, promoting, and publicizing your shop every waking hour?
I get that you don’t want a partnership and you are put off by these people’s way of doing business/ dealing with you. That’s perfectly understandable. What I DON’T understand is why you aren’t taking advantage of knowing what’s going to happen in your marketplace in the future, and using that knowledge to benefit your business.
Whether or not you “could have handled this better” is neither here nor there. What are you going to do going FORWARD? That’s your mission now!
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Eileen replied: “I guess I didn’t make exactly clear what bombard meant. They will drop off upwards of 30 totes of items a week. I have never turned them down because it’s rarely bad stuff, but between them everyone else it gets where I just can’t keep up. I see what you’re saying about continuing to accept consignments from them, and after a few hours when my hot head has cooled off I’ll likely see your point. (Which is why I always wait at least a day on big decisions.) I guess the question I should have asked was simply, “How would you handle this going forward if you were in my shoes?” I’ve already been pushing marketing, including and not limited to a brand new sign outside the shop and more in-store promotions. I recently moved my entire store around to create more space for a few additional clothing racks and make it easier to shop.”
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Well, that’s GREAT news! If they have a minimum of 30 totes of stuff, and only want to work any store 2 days a week… they aren’t aware of how much work goes into our profession! Which means they won’t be serious competition, perhaps.
Since you have not shared your shop’s information, web site, or social media with us, it’s hard to suggest in any detail what you should do next. I could only answer what you asked and suggest general info for you. Sorry that I couldn’t be of more help.
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Great idea, Eileen, to offer your most loyal shoppers and/or suppliers a special event/ first dibs at deep discounts… if the main focus of your shoppers is price. A recent post on this topic: https://auntiekate.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/agree-disagree-explain-5/
I think you might want to decide what your focus is here, too: to make these loyal fans feel special or to rid yourself of stuff no one wanted at your “regular” markdowns. I’m not sure these are compatible… both are valid goals, but maybe you’d want to separate them out. The “most loyal” folk might feel more valued with an event like a new-season preview of new arrivals, or even an evening-before entry to your regular seasonal clearance sale… whereas the true bargain hunters (AKA, in a nice way, as Vultures) might be more likely to help “clean you out” of the Last Dregs with a surprise sale, announced via your broadcast emails, social media, etc.
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I am starting a new promotion in my shop and I was wondering if anyone else had tried it. My plan is to have an “Invitation Only” sale with some deep discounts on the stuff that’s been around awhile every so often to make space. People would get invitations when x number of their items sold and when they completed a punch-card. (They already get a $25 gift certificate when they spend $25 or more 10 times.) The invitation would state that it is good for themselves and two friends and they would be able to give it away if they couldn’t attend. I was thinking having the sale for two hours only on a day I’m not usually open, Sunday. I do have other sales every so often when I desperately need space, but this would be something special with a little deeper discount than I usually do. I just thought it would be a great way to thank them for spending their time and money at the store or those who take the time to get together really great items that sell. Have any of you done something similar? Any success? Thanks!!
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