The last three messages I got from resalers across the country (to be specific, the East coast, the middle of the country, and yes, the West coast!) all were some version of
“Help we’re drowning in incoming!”
Here’s what I told them. Maybe one of these ideas will inspire you.
One shop found relief in simply using the undersides of things… and the top sides too! Yup. I had to “give them permission” to tuck baskets of onesies under the hanging infant outfits, to put 2 of the 6 dining chairs on TOP of the table, and to do waterfalls of fall tees on their 4-ways.
One shop had on their FB page “We have Old Navy jeans between $2 & $5”. I suggested they remove these low-end items from the selling floor, since they had a backlog of $10-$15 jeans waiting to go out. Especially now, at the beginning of back-to-school, their young shoppers are more concerned with the cool factor than with saving money.
And the third shop? They concentrated on FB, Twitter, the web site and their blog on getting out an attractive offer that would sell more, faster… so the shop could make room for more great stuff! Postcards, calls to “regulars” and want-list people, window signage and even using all those last-ditch efforts: Craigslist, community garage-sale listings… all those places which may not normally be worth the effort… are helping them draw more customers now, and building business for the future too.
Now I know what each of these shopkeepers wanted to hear from me.
And I didn’t say it. They wanted me to tell them it was okay to halt incoming until they sold enough stuff, in the normal course of events, to make some room. But you know I’d never ever suggest that such a move would be wise in the long run (or in the short run, for that matter.)
Need more? Look in your copy of How to Make More Money, a TGtbT.com Product for the Professional Resaler, or get it today in the Professional Resalers Shop.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
This year I got SO organized (4th year) to get ready for the onslaught of Fall merch AND…. because of the 101 to 103 temperatures in South Texas (a record in triple digits), it’s been very low key. I’m still waiting….
Well, Otra Vez, don’t miss the blog entry you’ll be seeing in a few hours’ time… Auntie Kate anticipates your every need! 😉
I’ve been overwhelmed here as well! Moved from a 350 sq ft store to about 1400 sq ft. The increase in business has been great but I was slipping on what I was accepting! I agree with Tara that the little items just don’t make sense. Onsies, bibs, sleepers. So not worth my time and effort!
So timely, Kate! The last few weeks we have been overwhelmed. Many nights I was at the store until the wee hours of the morning, just trying to catch up on the incoming tagging & hanging. When I ran reports to figure out why I was so far behind (duh, right?) I found that we were taking in 4xs the number of items that we took in during the same weeks the previous year.
Armed with that information, my most senior staffer and I sat down to strategize. We decided, like your suggestion, that the best course of action was to become even more picky and stop taking in the lower end brands. We obviously had no shortage of stellar clothing coming in, so there was no worry there. (we did not notify customers/sellers/consignors of this change…we just limited our incoming to the absolute BEST of the BEST)
For one month, we kept to that super strict incoming policy. We were doing seasonal changeover. In addition to the increased incoming, we also had approx 70 totes of off-season storage to pull out (still working on that). Just this week we went back to accepting all brand levels (we have customers at all income levels and many love those lower price points) and have a good mix.
However, even though we’ve gone back to taking in all brand levels, we have kept our super-pickiness AND done away with some categories of clothing that we realized were just time-suckers without much return (onesies, socks, bibs, infant caps, tights, hand mitts, soft booties).
In the long run, this period taught me a lot about what is worth our time and what isn’t, balancing customer demand with practicality of space and display.
Nothing like an emergency, huh, for getting us to really take a true look at what works and what doesn’t, huh? After all, assuming a shop has the customer for a $15 whatever, why fill that space with a lesser-quality, less-fantastic $7 whatever! The 2 items cost the same in time, effort, and space… and one makes twice as much as the other. Thanks for this, Tara!