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Archive for the ‘economics of resale’ Category

Cheapskate. Wear the badge proudly.

Posted in economics of resale, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on August 22, 2011| 3 Comments »

Consignment and resale shopkeepers are COOL with CHEAPResale industry folks are known far and wide for being cheapskates.

.

Free, salvaged, donated is their favorite price, with a buck or two not far behind.

With that in mind, we consignment, resale, and thrift managers and owners still adore to shop. We just shop FRUGALLY. One of the most popular pages on the Too Good to be Threw web site is our Let’s Shop page with ideas of what to look for, from garage sales to seasonal clearances.

And one of the most cost-shaving Products for the Professional Resaler? Resale’s Cheapest Tricks & Best Buys from the Luncheonette page of TGtbT mini-Products (“cheaper than a grilled cheese sandwich“!)

Got a Cheapskate Choice of your own to add? How you recycle bubble wrap into “snow” for your ski window, the thrill of finding something on the curb, or how you repurposed a useless item into… well, something useful for your shop? Comment below and let’s hear

just how cheap you are!

(A word, though. This post is meant to be light-hearted, but there is a danger in being indiscriminately cheap. Read more on the difference between FRUGAL and TRULY BADLY CHEAP.)

 
BTW, this cool button graphic? Create your own for free at Cooltext.com. Imagine its uses!

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Tired of the slow lane in your consignment shop?

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk on August 19, 2011|

You plug away and plug away, trying to get your sales increases up, your word-of-mouth louder, your (more…)

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Absolute price? Absolute Rubbish.

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on August 16, 2011| 1 Comment »

Pricing guidelines for resale, consignment and thrift shopsI got an email the other day, from a resale shopkeeper who attended my workshop, The Price is Right… or is it? at NARTS Conference in June.

She (or he, the complainer was anonymous) complained that I wouldn’t tell her

precisely what something was “worth.”

There is absolutely no absolute value for anything, as much as the complainant wishes there were. To think there is is

absolute rubbish.

The consignment, resale, or thrift shopkeeper missed my main point, that there is no such thing as what something is specifically “worth.”

She complained that I told her that

the value of any item in her shop was worth what she did.

Well, it is. Everything a shopkeeper does, from such large issues as location and advertising to the mundane like vacuuming, opening ten minutes early, even whether she shopkeeps clad in jeans or St. John, sets the price for her goods.

Don’t miss the free PDQ from my workshop. And for goodness’ sake, if you don’t have The Money-Wise Guide to Accepting & Pricing, better get it before all those lovely new-season things come in. Jeans or St. Johns, couches or crib sheets.

Save

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Hire right… fire less.

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on August 2, 2011| 1 Comment »

The absolutely top, hands-down winner of the most detested job of any boss is firing people.

Even when the person being fired has been a drag on the business, has degraded the vision you’ve had… even if that person was stealing (not only her/his paycheck, but actual stuff)…

No one looks forward to firing staff members.

In fact, (more…)

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Is George winking… or flinching? Balanced budgets in Consignment

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on August 1, 2011|

Are you handling your money wisely and responsibly?Since the Federal government seems to be having problems handling our money recently, it’s time for us consignment, resale, and thrift shops to

take a look at balancing our budgets and handling our funds responsibly

and with a goal of growing our business and making it stable. Here’s some areas to look at:

1. Are you meeting obligations?

If you are a consignment shop, you know the joys of being able to stock your showroom with goods that have a cost of attainment of, basically, zero. But with that joy comes responsibility: is every penny of the money you owe consignors set aside where it will be safe from spending on other obligations like rent? If it’s Consignor #4521’s money, it’s not yours. Simple as that.

If you’re a buy-outright resale shop, your open-to-buy is the same obligation. Don’t spend it on anything else, and make sure that your OTB grows as your business does.

2. Are you maintaining your reserves?

You know that old saw about having 6 months of business and personal expenses in reserve? It’s an old saw because it’s true. Whether your shop is 4 months, 4 years, or 4 decades old. So keep those sawbucks safely aside, because it would be a shame for your business to go down the tubes simply because you think you’ve gotten this far, nothing will stop you now. Keep that reserve fund up, keep it reflecting today’s costs, and do not spend it on something else. It’s your cushion, your parachute… and you wouldn’t turn your parachute into a ballgown simply because they’re throwing a gala on that airplane over there and ballgowns are more fun to have than parachutes.

3. Are you using profits wisely?

Recently, a thrift shop manager crowed to me about how she got a truck-load of used fixtures for $3200. Great deal… had she needed that type of fixturing. The thing was, these were not the fixtures that the store needed. It ain’t a deal if it doesn’t add to the growth of the business. She might as well have thrown that $3200 away. Worse, actually, because there were much better things to invest in for that store, so spending the money foolishly meant a loss of the potential revenue she could have had, had profits been invested where needed. So the money was gone, and so was the income the money could have generated.

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