Spotted in an American Cancer Society resale store:
Until there’s a cure for cancer, please do not ask us to lower our prices.
A great sign to combat the “can I get this for less?” mentality.
Wonderful non-profit thrift store find.
September 9, 2011 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw
9 Responses
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Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
My response is simple and certainly far from profound. I respond with appreciation for their interest, (rather than frustration) and verbally communicate to them that I would not be doing my consignors any favors by allowing price reductions and that is exactly why we do our best to offer competitive pricing on all our merchandise. 9 times out of 10, they buy anyway because our pricing can’t be beat and our customers know it.
Just yesterday I was thinking that it would be fun to advertise every now and then for a “haggle” day. I was thinking during the hottest part of summer or coldest part of winter when there are no fun yardsales to go to. Just use it as an advertising tool and get a few people in to the store (that we have not opened yet!) and maybe sell a few things that have been sitting too long. 🙂
Kindra, this could be a fun day. You could call it your OBO Day, and make big tags for a number of things and label them $[price] or OBO! or have a monthly Market Day, as in “what is this worth on the open market?” Not sure how you’d structure this so people can go home with a deal… but when they DO, be sure to get a shot of them proudly displaying their treasures, with a model-release form signed so you can use these pix on your site, blog, and FB!
i have not negotiated from day 1. Word gets around–you do it for one, and the next thing you know, everyone’s hitting you up. My shop has been open for 14 months and very rarely get asked to lower a price because I “trained” my customers how I conduct business from the very beginning.
Very good, Kathy. Perhaps you could Share with us your short and polite and image-enhancing reaction to the question Will you take less for this?
Hallelulah! Anyone have any ideas for a comparable “for profit” sign?
I need one, too, Kim!
Hey, every penny counts. Apparently more for her than for you.
Your message reminds me that we have a free download for an amusing sign regarding this, on the Treasured Sponsors private page. If anyone who’s a Treasured Sponsor of http://HowToConsign.com wants the directions to this page (which of course has lots more on it!), please email me!
Love it! – We have similar “We prefer to not haggle” signs. Not that anyone pays attention to them, but whatever. We have planned/scheduled markdowns, so no need to haggle! I had a lady ask me for a senior discount the other day, so I gave 10% off. Total came to $14.86 after the discount and she still had the nerve to say “is $14 good enough?” Gah! The electric company doesn’t allow me to haggle. Oh well, unfortunately, it’s the nature of our business.