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Purchase credit at a consignment shopI saw this on a web site the other day and thought

What a brilliant idea!

Store your consignors’ value on their gift cards, which they can use anytime and call it

“Purchase Credit”

or they can cash it in of course.

Allow your consignors to look up, online,

how much their gift card’s worth today… I think that would be SO motivating and exciting, don’t you? Oh sure, lots of shops use the great online “check your accounts” services offered by most software suppliers… but I think this is lots more exciting and motivating, don’t you?

The site I found this on is clothingxchange.com, and the service the shop apparently uses is worldpay.us Perhaps one or more of our viewers will investigate this and share her/his findings here?
This is a "snapshot" of the CPSC widget.

This is what your CPSC widget will look like.

If you have a web site or blog, there’s a simple way to add customer service Continue Reading »

So, I’m looking for Thanksgiving ideas on the web.

Seems like Ocean Spray would be a good place to check. After all, didn’t they invent cranberries or something? My childhood Thanksgivings were replete with the canned shape, complete with corrugations, of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce. We even put left-over slices on our turkey sandwiches the next day.

But my oh my. Some marketing genius must have told them that talking about “Thanksgiving” would be limiting their market:what? no Thanksgiving at Ocean Spray? That reminds me of the consignment shop which considers itself so haute it doesn’t mention “consignment” except on one single page of its site. Is consignment a term to be ashamed of? Will the thought of Thanksgiving in the same brain wave as cranberries like, “brand us in a way we do not care to be”?

So, does Ocean Spray know which side of its bread has butter? Or can they lead a horse to the bog but not make it drink?

Stay tuned… there will be a fun fun seasonal blog coming up any day now that you’ll want to share with your clientele… over on our consumer-oriented site, HowToConsign.com !

 

After all, some Auntie Kate messages are, ahem, Too Good to be Threw!

Click the image for more Deja Vuesday posts that are too good to be threw from TGtbT.com

Can you think a year ahead?

If so, you’ll Continue Reading »

This story of mine is a couple of years old, but still might work for you today!
 

In response to a desperate shopper at the thrift shop last week, we came up with this super-thrifty Halloween costume. Took him less than an hour to make this, and he promises to be the Belle of the Ball at the fancy society smash he’ll be attending.
Josh is going as “Table for One.”

He’ll take a circle of cardboard (cut out from an appliance carton courtesy of a local appliance dealer) with a hole cut out for his head so he can balance it on his shoulders. Then, he’ll cover it with a checkered tablecloth we found, allowing the edges to drape in a fetching sort of way.

On the tabletop, he’ll glue a wine glass, appetizer-size plate, napkin and silverware. The plate is filled with some plastic fruit and a “reserved” sign (donated by his favorite bistro) and the check (from an old-fashioned receipt book from same bistro.)

We found a headband to which Josh will hot-glue a bunch of flowers, so his head is the centerpiece. (I think that’s the part he likes best!)
How much it cost:

Tablecloth and napkin: $3.50.
Plate: $1
Plastic fruit: $2.50
Silverware: $2
Wine glass: $1
Headband, silk flowers: $4

Total? $14, and he still has most of the items to donate back to the thrift shop.

Note: Josh added wide elastic bands from the underside of his tabletop to swoop under his arms and back up. But he’s a dancin’ fool and wanted comPLETE stability.

The money Josh saved by not buying or renting a Halloween contest? He plans on donating it to Toys for Tots so that a child or two has a happier holiday. Pretty nifty guy, Josh.

–Kate Holmes, HowToConsign.com

P.S. Yes I know this is the 3rd Auntie Kate post today. Can you tell what my favorite holiday is? Besides 4th of July of course, and International Resale Day, which I was lucky enough to be born on. Oh and Christmas and Arbor Day and Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.

Arbor Day?