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Posts Tagged ‘Thrift’

Emergency costume: Thrift stores, right up your alley!

Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, Slices of (my) life, tagged , , on October 31, 2011|

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?

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Even the smallest shop needs this. Not to mention the largest.

Posted in economics of resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on October 27, 2011| 1 Comment »

Of course, to have petty cash... you need to know How to Make More MoneyIt amazes me that some consignment, resale, and thrift shops don’t manage small expenditures with a

petty cash fund.

It’s by far the easiest way to do so. Here’s how:

Establish A Petty Cash Fund
Designate an individual and a backup person as custodian of the fund. In this case “many hands do not make light work” . This fund is used for minor and unanticipated expenses where a check can’t be written or the amount is so small that you don’t want to write a check. Some examples include buying pizza for the staff, postage stamps, minor office supplies, paper towels, and cleaning supplies. A pre-numbered voucher or ticket should be filled out and approved for each expenditure. When the balance in the fund becomes low a check from your regular bank account should be issued and cashed to replenish the fund and the expenses recorded in your accounting records. Surprise counts of petty cash should occasionally be done to make sure that employees are not “borrowing” from this source of cash. Counting the fund is very easy. The total amount of the tickets and the cash on hand should equal to the fund’s established balance.

from The Bean Counter

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Kate concedes, but watch your language.

Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged on October 4, 2011| 1 Comment »

Now you know that a big bugaboo for me, when I am evaluating consignment and resale stores, is making your shopper do her own math re markdowns.

But as a consultant in the real world of volunteer-staffed thrift stores in the non-profit world, I agree that

the mark-it-down-with-a-red-pen method is unsustainable.

That’s why “the “color tag” method doesn’t really bother me in large, high-volume, thrift shops.

But watching how the stores word their signage is vital. I mean, who in heaven’s name wants to pay full price?

Only a sucker pays full price

Even worse, what’s a DNR*? Sure you know, but do your customers?

More bad markdown signage in a consignment, thrift, or resale price.

How about, for signage like this, you replace “Full Price” with a simple, motivating phrase like “New Arrivals“? And the DNRs? How about “Boutique Goods” or “Exceptional Values“? That way, your customer doesn’t feel like a sucker when she covets something with “the wrong color tag”?

A deeper discussion of markdowns, and why the way you handle and do them is so important to success, in an earlier entry here on the Auntie Kate blog.

* DNR stands for “do not reduce” and is usually used for goods which are exceptionally valuable or coveted by your customers.

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The joys of consulting

Posted in economics of resale, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged on October 3, 2011|

Just got word that Life’s Treasures Carrollwood, in the north Tampa area, beat their much-more established sister store in a wealthier area… first time ever, just a month afterI enjoyed a visit and a bit of consulting there. They were doing lots right, and I hope the insights I was able to share tipped them over the edge! I’ll be back there soon, to see how the Life’s Treasures new “man cave” or “Super Values” department works out for them. I think it will go a long way towards luring both the traditional super-thrifty thrift shopper and the newly awakened smart shopper into the same store, thus keeping “old friends” and developing new customers.

Another of my past consultation clients, the NAM stores in Houston, were able to fund a simple paint-job facelift recently and showed off their work on Facebook. Here’s the “before”, which I told them looked cold and forbidding… and furthermore didn’t tempt SHOPPERS because it downplayed that this was a STORE…

A consultee of Too Good to be Threw, the Northwest Assistance Ministries in Houston

And here’s the “after.” Don’t you love it? And they are doing a super job of rebranding their three thrift stores, too!

Treasures of the Heart Houston TX

It’s so rewarding, being able to help consignment, resale, and thrift stores break through that final retail barrier.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about one more iny change I suggested for the NAM stores. One change that didn’t require much more than, oh, $30 in funding but makes such a difference!

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Cheapskate. Wear the badge proudly.

Posted in economics of resale, Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, tagged , , , on August 22, 2011| 3 Comments »

Consignment and resale shopkeepers are COOL with CHEAPResale industry folks are known far and wide for being cheapskates.

.

Free, salvaged, donated is their favorite price, with a buck or two not far behind.

With that in mind, we consignment, resale, and thrift managers and owners still adore to shop. We just shop FRUGALLY. One of the most popular pages on the Too Good to be Threw web site is our Let’s Shop page with ideas of what to look for, from garage sales to seasonal clearances.

And one of the most cost-shaving Products for the Professional Resaler? Resale’s Cheapest Tricks & Best Buys from the Luncheonette page of TGtbT mini-Products (“cheaper than a grilled cheese sandwich“!)

Got a Cheapskate Choice of your own to add? How you recycle bubble wrap into “snow” for your ski window, the thrill of finding something on the curb, or how you repurposed a useless item into… well, something useful for your shop? Comment below and let’s hear

just how cheap you are!

(A word, though. This post is meant to be light-hearted, but there is a danger in being indiscriminately cheap. Read more on the difference between FRUGAL and TRULY BADLY CHEAP.)

 
BTW, this cool button graphic? Create your own for free at Cooltext.com. Imagine its uses!

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