Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Now you know that a big bugaboo for me, when I am evaluating consignment and resale stores, is making your shopper do her own math re markdowns.

But as a consultant in the real world of volunteer-staffed thrift stores in the non-profit world, I agree that

the mark-it-down-with-a-red-pen method is unsustainable.

That’s why “the “color tag” method doesn’t really bother me in large, high-volume, thrift shops.

But watching how the stores word their signage is vital. I mean, who in heaven’s name wants to pay full price?

Even worse, what’s a DNR*? Sure you know, but do your customers?

How about, for signage like this, you replace “Full Price” with a simple, motivating phrase like “New Arrivals“? And the DNRs? How about “Boutique Goods” or “Exceptional Values“? That way, your customer doesn’t feel like a sucker when she covets something with “the wrong color tag”?

A deeper discussion of markdowns, and why the way you handle and do them is so important to success, in an earlier entry here on the Auntie Kate blog.