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Posts Tagged ‘Thrift’

Good karma t-shirts: Good for your thrift shop’s cause?

Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , on November 28, 2011|

TGtbT.com shares a fun idea to help promote nonprofit causesSaw this UNICEF idea, and immediately thought of all the NFP thrift stores I have worked with. One of their greatest challenges is bringing their cause’s needs to the forefront, having buying customers understand that the profits of the store go for very specific help.

That’s the idea behind the $300,000 t-shirt.

Can’t you just see a t with a big open mouth on it, to sell for the price of a dental check-up, or a toy, for a child’s stay in day care while her parent finds a job… or whatever your charitable cause involves? Since most NFPs have multiple outreach programs, you could create and sell several different “price-range” t’s… all the way up to one with your shop’s logo, which costs a year’s rent on your retail location (The $48,000 t, perhaps? Great hook for media attention!)

Get inspired!

See more ideas for NFPs here on Auntie Kate the Blog.

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Can you help your clients be charitable?

Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , on November 25, 2011| 1 Comment »

Consignment shops help charities with consignment accounts, says TGtbT.comTis the season for charity. Your shoppers are thinking how they can help the less fortunate, and that’s a good thing.

But your customers are also thinking that actual cash money’s tight right now as they prepare for their holiday season.

Can you stretch out a local-awareness helping hand?

Of course you can. All it takes is for you to highlight the consignment accounts you already have set up. Through your advertising and your social media, including your blog, remind folks that they can donate goods to be placed in these accounts, and the charity receives that “real cash money” for their cause.

It wouldn’t hurt for you to mention that quality goods will get a better return in your boutique than they might in a thrift store, but you’d want to word that carefully to avoid hurting the legit local charities who don’t participate in your “consign for a cause” program or who have declined to be involved.

You can also be pro-active in making shoppers aware that their purchases directly help specific charities with a foyer sign showing them what to look for on your merchandise tags.

It’s one of those win-win-win solutions that we all love.

  • The charity wins because they make spendable cash without the retail overhead and volunteer commitment.
  • You win because the charitable hand you’ve extended polishes your reputable as a responsible local merchant.
  • The donor to the consignment account wins because, instead of having to think My X is too good to give to the thrift shop. They’d only get a buck or two out of it they can rely upon your professional skills to maximize their donation’s value to the charity. Or, if their cause is the food pantry and all they have to donate is a Missoni… they can, with your help, turn that Missoni into meals.
  • The shopper wins because you have offered her the opportunity to “vote with her wallet” by choosing the item which benefits a cause she supports.

Oh wait, that’s four wins. Why, that’s even better, isn’t it?

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A button a consignment, resale, AND thrift store could love.

Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on November 23, 2011|

A Too Good to be Threw Teeny Tip for Consignment, Thrift & Resale StoresTake a look at the button labeled “Yes of course” on. 

Casa de los Ninos NFP  thrift shop’s site. Click it too, to see the user experience. Update May 2012: Seems they have removed the necessary info for those who WANT to do what the charity WANTS them to do… location, hours, what they are unable to use. Oh, well, you know what to do, so do it. 😉

If you’re not a donations-only shop, how could you tweak this idea to encourage incoming consignments or sellers… and how great would it be to have these newbies already feel a fun connection to your shop?

Don’t you think this is brilliant?

I do. Tell us when you add the same idea to your site, so we can admire it!

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Deja Vuesday: Still funny, even if (hopefully) a bit less true

Posted in Deja Vuesday, Shopkeeping talk, tagged on November 22, 2011|

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

A Deja Vuesday post from last year, which (hopefully!) is a bit less true than it was last year.

Maxine weighs in on thrift shopping.

BTW: If your shop (non-profit or for-profit) is planning to increase its web presence, stay tuned. Too Good to be Threw is gathering up some terrific resources for you… ways to keep your web site up-to-date, your Facebook entries productive, your Tweets irresistible.

Take a moment and take advantage of our “Too busy to browse” email service at the top of our right column here… that way, you’ll be the first to know!

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Motivating donations… or incoming of any sort!

Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on November 15, 2011| 3 Comments »

Recently, “Our Thrift Store” (yes, they use the quotation marks) has had a

10 Days 10 Bags

Clean a room a day of clutter and donate it to a thrift storecampaign, to inspire the non-profit store’s fans and friends to go through their homes and bring in items they can resell.

To make the task more fun (and less overwhelming!), the store suggests going through a room a day with this checklist, found on their Facebook Events page.

Isn’t this something you could use as the backbone of a similar idea for your shop?

Imagine your blog. 10 days of entries, highlighting various areas of a home, with a checklist of what they can bring in. Make it “suggestive” rather than a dry recital of “knick-knacks, jewelry, shoes.”

For example,

Day 4, we’re tackling the Master Bedroom:

  • That scented candle that was a hostess gift that you’ve never taken out of the cellophane.
  • The necklace your husband insists looks like penny candy, and the baroque earrings that simply overwhelm your delicate features.
  • Bottom of the lingerie drawer: the bras you never had the nerve to cut the tags off of, yet alone wear. The fishnet tights still in their package from last Halloween.
  • Be honest. Just because you spent too much on those shoes you can’t walk in, is no reason to condemn them to a lifetime in the dark. Bring them in; we’ll find them other tootsies to sparkle on.

And because you, clever shopkeeper you, have connected your blog to your FB and Twitter accounts, every day for 10 days, you have a motivating social media message that could bring you wonders you (and your donors, consignors, sellers) never even thought about before!

Of course, you’ll turn your ten little suggestion lists into a bag-stuffer for continuing use or as part of your “how-to” handout.

Many thanks to our NFP peer! Visit “Our Thrift Store”.

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