NARTS Conference is the eagerly-anticipated annual gathering of resale shop owners and managers, but many folks worry if they have to close, they will miss business and offend shoppers. Here’s our Too Good to be Threw Best Advice (more…)
Archive for the ‘Shopkeeping talk’ Category
Closing your shop for Conference?
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations, NARTS Conference, resale shopkeeping, starting a consignment shop on May 2, 2016| 2 Comments »
Make your Shop Instagram-Worthy!
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Really good ideas, Shopkeeping talk, tagged resale shopkeeping, social networking, web on April 22, 2016|
This is my friend Bill. He’s standing outside the Historical Society of Sarasota County‘s 1902 church, and the promoters of a visitor attraction, Tour de SRQ, have offered him and his buddies the loan of an Instagram-reminiscent photo frame.
Win win! Bill gets something to post on his social media graphic and Tour de SRQ gets promotion via his friends’ “shares” as well as a web-site-worthy snap for their own PR.
Might be the start of a great prop for your consignment or resale shop!
How to, from Kate: Get a personalized digital file from various Googled sites (around $12), then take it to your local print shop to get the actual frame printed on foam board or Coroplast® and cut out (prices vary). Or better yet, find a LOCAL printer who’s hip to social media and who can do it all in one stop for you.
Green Eileen: Another type of resale shop.
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, learn a lot, resale shopkeeping, social networking on April 20, 2016|
If you’re a womenswear resale or consignment shop, no doubt you’ve encountered Eileen Fisher clothing. Simple, timeless, well-made (I have a favorite tank top that’s at least 20 years old and still looking fresh and elegant!), it’s a hit with fashionable customers.
But did you know that Eileen Fisher also sells used
Give them something to take home!
Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, customers, kidswear, resale shopkeeping, small business on April 12, 2016|
I’m a great believer in reminding your browsers, customers, and suppliers about your business as often, in as many places and in as many ways as possible. And one of the best, cheapest, most touchy-feely ways to do this? Give them (more…)
Stop TOUCHING!
Posted in economics of resale, Functional Friday, Shopkeeping talk, tagged accepting, buy-outright, consignment, Products for the Professional Resaler, profit, resale shopkeeping on April 8, 2016|
How many times do you or a staffer touch incoming merchandise?
Ever thought about how much time that takes?
Ever thought about how much MONEY that takes?
- Take the batch from the consignor/ seller/ donor. Put it in your accepting area.
- Label it with the info you will need to later process it.
- Sort into things you can accept and those you can’t.
- Enter it into inventory.
- Go back and price each item.
- Rehang, fold, whatever. Maybe even steam it? Place on the sales floor.
- Label NTYs. Move them into short-term storage. Fetch them when the consignor/ seller comes to take them back.
I’m tired just typing that. Think about how you operate. Is there a way to stop touching these items over and over again? A way that not only will make you more efficient but that will please your supplier? A way that will allow you to get incoming on the sales floor in less than 24 hours? A way that your time can be spent selling, not accepting (after all, selling’s where the money is!)
Here’s an excerpt from Your Money-Wise Guide to Accepting & Pricing to help you make the most of your accepting/pricing time:
Tricks to quicken clothing check-in:
1- First, check the areas most likely to have too much wear: armpits, crotch, neck and wrists. Stains, pilling, discoloration. Then, whether any elastic the garment might have is still snappy. Soil often shows most on the satin neck label.
2- Check for fading across shoulders, under lapels, across collar. Yes, things fade even in dark closets.
3- Next, holding the hem of the garment, pull it out so the front is as parallel to your lights as possible. Spots and stains pop out (this is the real reason for items having to be on hangers, and of course for having good lighting at your check-in area!)
4- Check fasteners: buttons, snaps, zippers. Then seams and hems (both for no missing stitching and for twisting which results from a garment being cut incorrectly when it was new and once it was washed, skewing. Knit fabrics are especially prone to this.)
5- Not everything, of course, is “good as new”. But at this point you need to examine according to your own standards. Is a missing button okay on an Escada suit, but too much of a flaw on an Anne Klein dress? Is that Eileen Fisher T-shirt artfully faded or is that Hanes T just too greyed? A bit of wear might be acceptable on something you really need (for example, a size 16 mother-of-the-bride outfit) but not on something you have an abundance of (size 6 Levis.)
And of course you don’t need to go through this entire process if the item is one that doesn’t pass the first few tests: a style your clientele wants, clean, odor-free. THOSE items get put aside without a second glance. The above 5 steps don’t matter if it’s not a style your customers will buy, if it’s soiled or reeks of smoke/ moth balls/ pets.
For more on how to accept and price incoming with profit in mind, get your own copy of Your Money-Wise Guide to Accepting & Pricing, a Too Good to be Threw Product for the Professional Resaler. Wouldn’t you love to have an hour or more back, every day? You can!
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