It’s Time to Ask for NWTs!

It’s time to get your suppliers, whether you’re consignment, buy-outright, or donations-only, to sort through their unused, “new-with-tags” (NWT in eBay-speak) and bring them in. That way, you’ll have a.

good selection of items to sell as gifts to those shoppers

who are leery of buying recycled items for holiday gifts. And who knows? You may even end up developing a whole new category of merchandise in your shop!

Remind them:

• On your intake receipts message line
• In your monthly/ bimonthly consignor letter distributed with checks or when they pick up payments
• As a separate, card-stock quarter-page “Reminder: Now’s the PERFECT season for…”
• On your after-hours phone message
• On social media
• By broadcast email, postcard, phone calls

And don’t forget those customers who don’t normally bring items in.

A bag-stuffer, in-store signage, and of course good old conversation: If you’ve always wondered how you could turn unused items into cash, now’s a great time. For the holidays, new-with-tags sells really well for gift buying. That blouse that you never got around to returning, or the handbag Cousin Millie Of The Big Hair sent you for your birthday? Bring them in, and walk out with something you like a whole lot better.

With a good selection of these brand-new items, imagine the holiday gift swing shop displays you can have! Your clientele may surprise you: one year I received over 250 pieces of brand-new intimate apparel, things consignors had just assumed I wouldn’t take until I made a point of asking for NWTs. Brand-new Wundervoll undies and Myla Angelica teddies? LaPerla bras? What’s not to covet?Save