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Resalers {heart} Valentine’s Day

January 25, 2016 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Thank goodness February has Valentine’s Day in it…another resale-friendly holiday for your customers to celebrate with you!

After all, everyone {hearts} resale, right?

TGtbT.com has lots of ideas o make Valentine's Day a LOVE-ly selling day in your consignment or resale shop!

Decorate your shop inside and out. Need more window display ideas? Look no further than TGtbT.com’s Pinterest collection. This one will light up your heart, or maybe you’re more scrappy? Try this if you have no time to fuss and of course, this is a media-worthy event/ display if you are the go-all-out-for-my-business type.

Cupid Poop giveaway: make them laugh and get your shop talked about. Something they’ll NEVER get at those “new” stores.

Selling your merchandise for Valentine’s Day can be as easy as an All Wrapped Up & Ready to BOW! display or a charming way to showcase your jewelry

You could even, with a click of your computer’s “print” button, create perfect Valentine’s Day gifts out of something that just doesn’t sell.

Auntiekate.wordpress.com found this great PDF to fill those empty picture frames to turn them into perfect Valentine gifts!

Click to get to a free PDF designed for 8×10 frames. Print, fill those empty frames, price ’em to sell!

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Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged , , , , |

Countdown to Clearance

January 21, 2016 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Looking forward to clearing out your racks of winter items this month?

Clearance sales, bag sales, dollar racks (which of course don’t have to be ONE-dollar racks) and BOGO events are great. So’s this idea, which I’d use NOW, before your clearance gets going seriously.

I call it the Continue Reading »

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk | Tagged , , , , |

10 Ways to keep your business as healthy as your HEART!

January 20, 2016 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

How will your shop promote heart health and your biz too on National Wear Red Day?

It’s a worthy goal, educating women about heart disease. Red’s a flattering color to wear.  It’s a profitable item to sell. And it’s even a FUN way to reach out to your community. Here’s 10 promotional ideas from TGtbT.com and its Products for the Professional Resaler: National Wear Red Day is a natural for consignment & resale shops, says Kate Holmes of TGtbT.com

  • Put all red in your windows using the hashtag (below) as a banner sign. Use photos of your display in your social media.
  • Offer heart-shaped cookies with every purchase of anything red. (Freeze the extras for a Valentine’s Day giveaway… there’s  a REASON this day is in February LOL)
  • Fill your swing shop with red merchandise (even if that means red throw pillows and candlesticks!) Sign your area with the hashtag.
  • Everyone looks good in SOME shade of red. Blog about that! (Did you know there’s a whole blog just on red lipstick?)
  • For a week before National Wear Red Day, have your staff wear red heart name badges to call attention to your one-day event/celebration/promotion.
  • Advertise heavily that your shop will be giving customers wearing red and shopping on that day, a “heart-felt” (oh, do NOT get me started on heart puns here…) discount on their purchase… or offer that cookie, or maybe a box of candy hearts?
  • Facebook, Twitter, Instagram your little hearts out (pun intended.) Good graphic? Your entire staff wearing red, which would ideally be shot a week or two earlier. Make SURE your graphics include your shop name and info.
  • Gift with purchase? Mini-bottles of red nail polish or mini red lipsticks. Especially good for kidswear shops, who may not have a lot of red merchandise to sell… but whose customers are most likely to wear nail polish and lipstick (and care about heart health!)
  • Promote to alert your clientele that you will be making a donation to the American Heart Association, or your local heart institute/ clinic, with the purchase of anything red.
  • For a week before National Wear Red Day, have your staff wear red heart name badges to call attention to your one-day event/celebration/promotion.

BTW, the hashtag is #GoRedWearRed. Use it on Twitter and Instagram to get noticed!

Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged , , , , |

Mystery Gift Thursday

January 14, 2016 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

I recently made the “acquaintance” of a great non-profit shopkeeper, Debbie Morrison, who runs three thrifts in Tennessee. She mentioned in passing a promotion her shop uses:

Mystery gift Thursday: Spend at least $10.00, get a free gift.

Her publicity for this free gift includes this lovely way to say “please no complaints over your free gift”:

“Free gifts are in a brown bag, no changes, if you can’t use it, please find someone who can.”

Since Serenity Thrift is a non-profit thrift operation, what to use for a mystery gift was a no-brainer. They’d received Avon products as a donation. Everyone can use a little Avon, right?

If your consignment or resale shop would like to use this idea, how about some purchased-for-resale accessories? What could YOU see your shop as using for this promotion? Comment below, and remember, you ARE allowed to put in a plug for your business!

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Posted in Kudos: Ideas to inspire!, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments »

Did you include this cost in your start-up plans?

January 11, 2016 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

I don’t have statistics on this, but I strongly suspect that start-up consignment, resale and thrift stores which planned from the beginning to have funds available for support staff, have

fared better, grown faster, and profited sooner

than start-ups which relied solely on the owner working her or his butt off.TGtbT.com says wouldn't it be nice if "working my butt off" was like, for real?

So tell us: did your shop open with just yourself working? Did you feel constrained in your operating hours?

When did you add staff, and what difference did it make in how your business operates and your bottom line?

If you are still, one or more years into your business, working by yourself and/or relying on temporary fill-in help from friends and family, what are your plans for increasing cash flow enough to add a staffer or two or twenty?

Or do you feel that you prefer to be the sole staffer in your shop?

I look forward to your comments!

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Posted in economics of resale, I've been meaning to tell you, Shopkeeping talk | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments »

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