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Posts Tagged ‘merchandising’

Quick Merchandise Photos for your Consignment or Resale Shop.

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Functional Friday, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , , , , on August 7, 2015| 2 Comments »

Nothing better than showing pix of your current merchandise on your social media, is there?

Well, yeh there is. Showing a little (more…)

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Improve your photos with a sandwich in your hand.

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , , , on July 27, 2015|

Lots of consignment and resale shopkeepers would love to touch up their merchandise photos before they post them on social media, but don’t because they’re busy and it seems overwhelming to work with photo-editing software.

So I did an example or two while chowing down on a curry chicken wrap (yum). Got this entire process done before half the sandwich was eaten.

Note: You don’t have to be eating to do this.

I started out with this photo of a dining room set from a resale shop. Nice photo, but all that stuff in the background is distracting:

Mid-century dining room furniture in a consignment or resale shop on TGtbT.com's blog.

Here’s the background, softened up a bit.

Blurring the background makes this resale shop's merchandise show up so much better, says TGtbT.com

I just saved the photo, then blurred it again, to show another effect.

Turn a cluttered background into a subtle watercolor effect on AuntieKate.wordpress.com

How did I do this so easily and quickly? Thanks to this Youtube video and Laura Buzzell! First, I used Picmonkey‘s Effects tool to soften the entire photo, then painted over the furniture to, in effect, remove the softening as needed. It’s a subtle effect, so even though I was guiding my mouse and munching at the same time, it turned out perfectly acceptable for a short-term photo, don’t you think?

To answer a question a shop posed on a closed discussion group about making her already-white background crisper and, well, whiter, I found this user’s trick to lighten up a background.  My example is much busier, of course, than a imperfectly-white background, but it shows how much difference you can make.

Original photo:

In 1975, these were the fashions my consignment shop was selling!

“Blush-boosted” result. Not perfect, but my sandwich was down to the last bite.:

Washing out a background with picmonkey's blush boost touch-up set to white.

(Wondering why I chose that specific 1975 fashion photo? ‘Cause soon, the consignment shop I founded in 1975 will be having its 40th anniversary! Those were the types of styles I was looking for, back then 🙂 )

(Many thanks to the shop whose dining room set photo I used to illustrate this post. I’m sorry, I neglected to note your shop when I saved it. If it’s you, please let us know in the comments!)

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Is that an echo I hear?

Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , , on July 23, 2015|

Welcome to the in-between season in your consignment or resale shop:

not much summer left since you clearanced it, and not enough fall in yet to make the shop look wonderful.

It’s enough to make your shop seem empty and your merchandise a bit lost and forlorn. But we have some simple solutions you can accomplish (more…)

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Things that Freak Me Out, Consignment Version

Posted in I've been meaning to tell you, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on June 4, 2015| 2 Comments »

I’m not easily freaked out, at least I don’t think I am. But some sights in resale and consignment shops make me shiver… or at least, look in another direction while swallowing hard.

First up, dress forms that imply someone’s been beheaded.
Decapitated children: Things that Freak Me Out by TGtbT/com's Kate Holmes

I’m okay with headless forms, even headless mannequins… but plop a hat on that neckblock or even worse, a big blood red blossom, and I can’t help think “gory movie” or “alien with tentacles instead of a face.” It’s probably just me.

Along the same lines, mannequins missing arms, hands, fingers.
Mannequins missing limbs don't do your consignment or resale image a lot of good, says TGtbT.com

War injuries? Amputation based on too-enthusiastic Black Friday early-bird shopping? Or just a “our merchandise doesn’t deserve a nice display”-itis?

Bins of hangers all tangled. I envision $15 an hour employees leisurely unraveling the mess, one hanger at at time.

Seriously, Kate of TGtbT.com has recurring nightmares about having to untangle hangers.

I spent far too many years of my life in a half-crotch, untangling the boogers. Use a hanger stacker, I want to scream!

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Flabby… fabulous resource even for the non-flabby!

Posted in Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , on May 15, 2015|

When I heard the name of this blog, I just had to take a peek.

And lo and behold: a resource for (more…)

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