Okay, so I hate “reality” TV shows, up to and including “Fashion Hunters” and “House of Consignment.”
That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate their effect on the public perception of our industry.
Case in point: The May 2012 issue of Southern Living by the numbers:
60%
the number of consignment shops included in retail suggestions for visitor shopping in Memphis TN
4
secondhand (from vintage to antique) recommendations if you need “retail therapy” in Louisville KY
3 out of 5
The number of “New Tastemakers” who, when interviewed, included “choose secondhand” as their favorite shopping advice!
How has the new consciousness of consignment and resale affected your business? Comment below!
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
I’m going to tell you what my aunt told me. Her store’s been around 15 years and will likely be around a few more. We actually just had this conversation and I couldn’t come up with any better answer than hers since I haven’t hit that one year mark yet. She said that bringing thrift into the mainstream has made shoppers more picky. Some who would only a decade ago would go into her shop and pay $5-6 for a top will now go to Goodwill and pay $2.50. Ten years ago having to go to places like the Goodwill was an embarrassing thing to do depending on what area you lived in, while her place was considered trendy. Today they’re main-stream and we have a few around here that are as picky as any consignment store about what hits their racks. The town I’m in, I cannot break the Goodwill price barrier…I don’t care if the thing still has the $80 tags on it, if Goodwill doesn’t boutique it then by gosh I better not dream of charging any more than $2.50. It took me a couple of months to figure that out and I ended up with some bad word-of-mouth because of it, it is the market and you adapt. You tag more, sell more, and get by. As for me, I know more people shop resale because of magazines like this and things like the Nate Berkis show. (I don’t watch it, so I hope I spelled the name right.) Some of these things have also created unrealistic expectations though. For instance, I have a beautiful set of Queen Anne chairs in my shop. They’re priced WAY below what any local antique store would put on them, in fact, they’re way below what you’d pay for just about any set of 5 chairs and I just couldn’t figure out why they’re not selling. Then I had a customer look me right in the face and tell me that she’s not paying for something that Nate Berkis can pick up off the sidewalk for free in New York….and her and the girls (aka the matriarchs of the town) were just discussing it the other day. I’ve learned to turn the conversation at these points. I knew this particular customer had cats, so I turned it to them. Anyway, I think the trade-off is still a good one since you are getting the customers and generally they will buy something. Even if they don’t, they came in and hopefully you left a good impression so they come back to look around again.