You might recognize one of my email addresses on your consignment, resale or thrift shop’s e-mailing list. I love to hear about what’s going on in your businesses and how you’re “talking” with your followers/fans/friends, and I love getting your consumer news in my email in-box. Especially because many times, my “correspondents” have won an honor…
not just “Best Consignment Shop” but more & more, “Best Fashion Boutique” or “Best Furniture Store”
or the like. As in, best even when compared to the “real” stores, those new-merchandise retailers with massive advertising and marketing budgets. Isn’t that incredible… that a local, small (miniscule, often) business gains the loyalty of a marketplace and beats out the Big Boys. Kudos to all of us!
This is all wonderful. But
(and it’s a big But) I can’t help some of you spread the word. Why? Because my love of you, and of the resale industry, often goes unrequited. And I am not one to pine for businesses that I have the greatest respect for, but who seem to turn a cold shoulder to our industry. Seriously. Would that business have thrived without a little, teeny bit of help from the very industry that gave birth to it? So why wouldn’t every shop in our industry include their name and live link on HowToConsign.com?
But when I’m feeling bad
about not helping a peer spend the good news about her business as far and wide as I can on the Internet, which is not just Facebook and our site but also our blog and Pinterest and even the TGtbT.com Facebook page…. I just remember
Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.
Washington Irving
So here’s to ALL the consignment, resale, and thrift shops out there in the trenches, who simply forgot that they really wanted to join their peers on HowToConsign.com and just got sidetracked by the
excitement of owning a resale shop, a chain of consignment stores, a seasonal sale or the world’s BEST thrift store?
Want to join the community you already belong to? Want to get your business noticed? Want to stand up for the philosophy of ReSell RePlace ReJoice? We’d love to have you. And help you spread the word. About your business. Which puts money in your pocket, and pride in your step. Heck, it might even soften and purify your heart.
The photo may be from http://photographingmay.deviantart.com/ or may not. Hard to track down. But thanks to whoever created it.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
Hi Kate-
I am so grateful for all the hard work you do, to assist store owners like myself to make it in the resale industry. I have purchased several of your written materials and employ a variety of techniques that you have advocated: window décor tips for increased sales, engagement on Facebook showcasing our staff personality, finding the positive way to communicate a policy/message etc… heck, I even think my email signature has a chance of passing your scrutiny ;).
I value your insight and experience and there is only one reason I am not on your sponsor site and feel I should make it known out of respect for your efforts to help me succeed.
As an owner of a Thrift Store, I count on the 5-10% of my donations that are of high quality (consignment-level quality) to make my bills each month. I have put many, many hours into SEO work to show up on page 1 of search engines in my highly competitive market. And in some of my desired categories, I have finally succeeded. I simply believe that I risk losing some of my online searchers to your website highlighting the consignment option, which is an alternative to my store. And that is why I have not signed up with your sponsor site.
Ok ok, there is also the fact that my store website and our exterior curb appeal need improvement, so I’ve been waiting until those projects are completed before making myself known on your site.
Ahhh my conscience has now been cleansed…thank you for taking the time to read this and for all of your helpful wisdom on TGtbT!
With great appreciation,
J
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Thank you, J, for your appreciation and for your honesty. I find it alarming that you feel that because the site is named HowToConsign, and highlights ReSell RePlace ReJoice, that somehow, people knowing your non-profit is in the same industry would be detrimental to your profits. Obviously, for all you have learned from me, I missed an all-important lesson: Secondhand is considered secondrate by the majority of the public, and banding together shows that we are NOT.
Do you, in your daily life, claim “I don’t know” when a customer asks if there are any other “stores like yours” around? I know some shopkeepers do, for fear that there would be dollars lost to their business, overlooking that A: It’s good business to support your industry; B: It’s good ecologically for used goods to relieve the pressure on new manufacture; and C: If your shoppers find something they like/need at a 2ndhand price elsewhere, that saves their shopping budget to continue patronizing your store.
In respect for your opinion that showing your thrift’s support of the resale industry would harm your business, I have removed the URLs of your shop that you placed in your message here on AuntieKate.
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