Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

As your consignors, sellers, donors tidy up after the holidays, they are faced with the BIG decision: Is this worth keeping ’til next year?

The ugly Christmas sweater, holiday decor, entertaining extras from folding chairs to poinsettia- bedecked table runners. Little velvet dresses and silly family PJs. The Santa that lights up, the twig reindeer.

If their decision is no, they don’t want to keep and store things… and if you want that stuff (keep reading, you will…) …

Get them in (and get them shopping!) with some store bucks!

Here’s how one shop, The Thrift Shop in Ontario OR, is preparing to be ready for next Christmas:

WANTED!!!!! Now that Santa is gone, bring us your no-longer-needed Christmas sweater before January 15 and receive a $5.00 gift certificate on anything in the store!

Now, The Thrift Shop operates on donation, and they, we’re sure, get the twig reindeer without asking… but boy do they WANT those sweaters for 45 weeks from now.

If you’re buy-outright, buying out-of-season is a sure way to get unwanted goods when they are valued at their lowest by the seller, and to prep them ready for a Grand Reveal at the beginning of any season, whether it’s Holiday, St. Patrick’s, any sort of shopping opportunity. (And wouldn’t you love to have a “Ugly Sweater” Showing as part of your Christmas in July festivities?)

If you operate on consignment, you have a choice to make: Hold them for your consignors until a specific date in the future (lots of paperwork and the possibility of error) or simply buy these end-of-season items outright, store them yourself, and use them on your sales floor whenever you wish. This is a great way to dip your toe into buying outright, if that’s on your agenda for the future. 

Yes, you need storage space for out-of-season items. Since that might come at a cost, and since schlepping is worth something, right?… be sure:

• you’re buying what you’ll be able to sell for a goodly profit,
• you’re buying what will “seed” your shop early to motivate more incoming of like items in that season ,
• and that you take the time at your slow time of year to prepare these items to be “voila’d” at Grand Reveal time!