A consignment shop owner said recently, in response to a shop still in its first year and struggling with cash flow:
Sometimes what we envision as our “dream shop” doesn’t necessarily translate to making a profit
It’s wonderful to have dreams, and it’s imperative to have them, otherwise we would never try something new (like opening our own store!) But once the shop is open, we have to pay close attention to what people want and often revise our dream to focus the business on what will make a profit… because without a profit margin we can live with, we’re simply spinning our wheels.
Now, as I say in Too Good to be Threw Complete Operations Manual for Resale & Consignment Shops,
What will be a “success,” in terms of money? Write down a yearly income that will satisfy you. Go ahead… it can be $10,000 or $1,000,000.
Maybe we originally dreamt that the back room in our chosen location could be a gathering space for new mothers… but within months, we realize that what our community really needs, that can help pay the rent, is a space where we can sell nursery furniture. So we change our dream a bit, and offer those new mothers a way to keep their budget in line by selling gear they need in that space.
Or maybe our “dream shop” was full, in our imaginations, with clothing that could be worn to the Oscars…. until we got to know our marketplace a bit better, and learned that what the people of our town were willing to buy was something a lot more every-day and, well, even mundane. To make a profit, we start accepting workaday wear. Because without the type of profit we see as success, we might as well, as another shopkeeper said
be working at Mickie D’s.
Sometimes the best advice is the most boring to potential and newbie consignment, resale, and thrift shopkeepers: Listen to what your customers want and give it to them. Not nearly as much fun as building that Dream Shop in the Sky, but a lot more rewarding.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
I just learned of this site. I started an upscale ladies consignment store 5/1/12. I love the work I do & the people I meet thru the shop. I have brought in a few new product lines that I think are great & easy to promote (ie., made of recycled materials). I find my customers are people who have a social conscience. They like to recycle, care for others, care for the Earth, etc. Since I opened, many other such shops have opened in my greater area. This is not a business that will make you rich, but it does offer steady employment & opportunities for creativity thru the merchandising of items in your store. Customer contact is so crucial. I tell my customers about the new items I have & notice that people remember & come back to purchase these items when they need a gift. I enjoy working with my customers, whether it’s finding a dress to wear to a wedding, or finding a gift for a friend.
Great technique, Karin, to use your new product lines as your word-of-mouth instigators! Making unusual items available in your community is an ideal way to get people talking, get non-resale shoppers in so you can show them how great your gently-used goods are, and it’s even more valuable as an “excuse”… for when the shopper who doesn’t care to be “seen shopping secondhand” runs into an acquaintance!
I laughed when I read Kitty’s comment because I can’t give away overalls now either. You know every brand makes them, but no one wants to buy them from us, so we stopped accepting them as well.
The best advice I can give here is to pay attention to what your customers want. That’s what’s going to sell.
I am opening a women’s fashion shop in may and although others in the business keep telling me I will have so many clothes, I am panicking. I am trying to come up with an advertisement in my local paper to get consigners early before I open but I’m at a loss. Any suggestions please!!
Welcome, Janet, and best wishes! This is a frequent question, and my best answer is on our Start A Shop page on my website at TGtbT.com. There is absolutely NO reason to “get consignors early”, and of course, Too Good to be Threw Complete Operations Manual for Resale & Consignment Shops will tell you all about getting your shop looking good, from Day One to infinity! The Table of Contents for the 200-page Manual is here.
We have been in business for barely a year and we have noticed a change in many items, but we are still learning. When we first opened our shoppe, we were located in a very hard-to-find warehouse. After about two months of putting out “garage” sale type signs every day (and having to pull them up every night so they would not get stolen), we found a lovely retail space and finally (after eight months) got a sign out in the front of the shoppe that is lit up at night. When we were in the warehouse, we sold lots (and lots) of tools, but now that we are in this cute space we call “home,” we don’t sell as many tools as we used to. We find ourselves not buying as many tools as we were in the past.
I had grandiose ideas of handcrafted items as well, but that doesn’t seem to be what most people come in to our shoppe looking for, so I don’t consign or buy handcrafted items at all. Vintage items (Tupperware, etc.) seem to be very popular, so we try to get that in as often as possible.
What else changed for us is that we also do a lot of eBay selling. It helps to get our items out there and not just locally. A paycheck is a paycheck, and while eBay might be a little expensive with fees, etc., it is a popular site and we have seemed to do well with it, especially for vintage and collectible items.
Now, I have a question … we have a “no return” policy. However, if something just does not work, I will consider a return or I will consider giving the customer store credit. However, they must have a receipt in order for me to even consider a return. Am I wrong with this? I had a woman come in today that bought a DVD player about a week or more ago and she said it would “read CDs but” it gave a “disk error” with any DVD. I asked if she was using a store-bought DVD vs a home-made DVD and she said she was. When I asked for her receipt, she got beligerant with me. “Don;t you remember me?” “You do look familiar to me, but I see a lot of people each week. I just cannot do anything without a receipt.” I handled it the best I could. I do have a POS system that I keep track of customers and their purchases, but to be honest, I did not recognize the DVD player that she had in her hands! Am I wrong? How should I have handled this situation?
Thanks!
Pat
How about those “new, with tags still on” buntings? Why don’t they sell? The original owner never used them either! Well, maybe it is because they have to be strapped in tight in the pumpkin seats, and it is impossible to do that…and now parents wrap the babes in blankets and cover the seat…buntings have gone the way of buggy whips!
They are on our “no buy” list!
How things change! What in blue blazes is a pumpkin seat? Are parents considering their children gourds nowadays? 😉
My dream was to have hand crafted items, well that is not what my customers want soooooo, out with the handcrafted in with the other decor items.
Yes, Ruth, I had that dream as well, being a frustrated crafter myself 😉 Have you explored a special event just for crafters? I always thought a “craft fair” would be a good promotional event, drawing some non-resale shoppers in to experience the shop itself while they looked at the crafts.
Great advice. I have been in the resale business almost 22 years now and we are constantly listening to what people are asking for and deleting things that end up on our clearance racks often. When I first opened my store children’s overalls were a hot item. Now you can hardly give them away. Someday they will be back in style, but for now, we’re not taking them. You have to go with the flow but not give it away if you want to stay in business.
Great thoughts, Kitty. I know you have a very large and busy store, so how do you decide? Is there one staffer whose task it is to keep records on requests/ extrapolate knowledge from final markdowns, etc?