Oh my. You know how I hate doing math when I shop.
But this message? Really takes the cake. Especially when the thermometer hits the triple digits.
take .
an additional 10% off all summer consignment.
Yellow tags 60%
Blue tags 45% off
Green tags 30% off.
Includes the 50% off marked party rack.
Excludes Yoga clothes marked with a Y and Party Clothes marked with a P.
Let’s start a movement. Kill the color-tag
we-can’t-be-bothered-so-you-figure-out-how-much-it-is
system. Could mean a great surge in consignment, resale, and thrift shop sales. Or at least, a lot more shoppers happily shopping, rather than doing mental math… if they remember what color’s what. Who needs the stress?
Just interpreting this gives me a headache:
Select – Apparel, Handbags, Shoes, Jewelry:
§ 75% off all apparel, handbags and shoes over 90 days-non-red dot tags (dated prior to April 11)
§ 50% off all jewelry and accessories over 90 days – non-red dot tags (dated prior to April 11)
§ 50% off Red Dot Designer Boutique, Shoes and Evening Wear over 90 days (dated prior to April 11)
§ 30% off Red Dot Designer Boutique, Evening Wear, Handbags & Accessories over 30 days (dated prior to June 11)
Select – Home Decor:
§ 50% off Home Décor and Artwork over 90 days (dated prior to April 11). Does NOT Include Furniture & Bedding
§ 40% off Home Décor and Artwork over 60 days (dated prior to May 11). Does NOT Include Furniture
§ 30% off Home Décor, Artwork and FURNITURE over 30 days (dated prior to June 11)
Is this any way to treat your beloved shoppers?
Read also: Oh my aching head. Then read my very first post here on Auntie Kate the Blog. That’s how strongly I feel about this. My first post. Huh. and finally, How to Get Browsers to Buy Less.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
This has been quite an education! We use colored tags and “signage” to
convey the discount. We are left with A LOT of clothing that ends up deeply marked down. NOT GOOD. We have considered a 3 markdown tag however feel pretty apprehensive about that. Seems as though most would agree including you, Kate.
Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Hi Sherry, It IS a lot of work to do hand markdowns, but I am a firm believer (as you can see, if you followed all my links on this post!) that customers actually SEEING how much something is right now (and also NOT seeing how much it would be if they only came back later) is the profitable way to go. For more on the subject, check out the Manual.
I considered the colored tags when I first opened because a certain big consignment chain in my area used it and I figured, they must be doing something right! Luckily, I decided against it. Doing markdowns by hand is certainly time consuming. But it’s the best way to see what isn’t selling, and I can be more discretionary about marking down certain items that may need to be marked down more or not need one yet. Also is a great opportunity to make sure everything is sized right and buttoned/zipped/and tied right on the hanger.
Hanadi, sounds like you read and heeded TGtbT The Manual. That makes all my work worthwhile LOL
[…] more Markdown Madness […]
[…] Explore this concept further: These shops not only require their shoppers to do math, but to parse sentences. […]
We use colored tags, but only for our own record-keeping purposes. We move items that need to go on sale to a sale rack- since I am a sale-rack shopper. Otherwise if we have a sale we do an all-inclusive. Or put things on our dollar rack that is on the sidewalk.
Yes, yes, yes. One year under my belt and I am over the colored ticket stuff. I am marking down merch. on a regular basis. (Even if it kills me) One thing regular markdowns have helped me with is seeing how much crap I have taken.
And that is another thing that won’t happen this fall.
Way to go, Styleplus. AND I see you’ve started your blog! Best wishes and hope that my page about Blogging for Resale Shops has helped. I plan on adding to it, so keep it bookmarked.
I love to shop in other resale shops, but invariably I always fail to notice these signs until I have already passed up items because of price. Then I don’t want to try to find them again to see if it had the right color tag.
Exactly! As per my experience: https://auntiekate.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/how-to-get-browsers-to-buy-less/
And we’re resalers ourselves… if WE run into this situation, imagine how many “regular” shoppers do! Money walkin’ out the door… but “we’re too busy to do markdowns” is the objection I hear 90% of the time.