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Ahhhh… consignment season! A wonderland of savings, discounts, and gently used children’s clothing and other items at ridiculously awesome bargain prices. Fall and Spring consignment sales are events that I never miss! And these days I am not just a shopper, I’m also a consignor. My checks typically average about $500 in extra spending cash for my family, most of the time that cash goes in our vacation fund.
This post (and accompanying video) is a topic that I have been writing in my head for years. No lie – I have been thinking about ways that people could be better consignors for a long time. That’s because every single sale, without fail, you see things that you know the sellers could do better. Hey – I’m not saying I’m perfect. I check and double check every piece of clothing I sell and still usually end up with a couple pieces pulled because the inspectors found stains I missed.
But here are tips for those of you just starting out with consigning… OR those of you who don’t feel like your stuff is selling and you’re wondering what else you could be doing to sell more of it.
Here’s the video version:
- Sell for the appropriate season. For Spring sales, sell summer clothes and shoes, including bathing suits, sundresses, shorts and tank tops. Remember sports equipment for Spring and Summer sports, outdoor toys, etc. Fall sales are the place to sell your holiday outfits, snowsuits, Winter sports equipment, etc.
- Hang your clothing the correct way. When you are looking at the front of the outfit, the hanger should form a question mark shape. If clothing seems like it might slide off the hanger, take extra steps to secure it with safety pins, zip ties or curling ribbon.
- Make sure tags print out legibly and are easy to read. Make sure your printer has enough ink before you print your tags. If you are consigning with the JBF franchise, tags need to be reprinted after 2 years. I have HP Instant Ink and for $4.99/month I have not run out of ink in almost a year. Best. service. ever!
- Take time to double check that the items you are consigning are in great, gently used shape! For clothing this means: no stains, rips, tears, etc. For toys: no broken or missing pieces. Basically, you need to remember that this is a SALE. It’s not a giant free-for-all donation bin. It’s a sale and while yes, the merchandise is mostly used and not brand new, it still needs to be in very decent shape.
- If you are using a tagging gun (my FAVORITE tool for consigning!!), please be sure to tag on labels and seams only. DON’T tag through other spots on apparel as the needle on the tagging gun puts HOLES in the clothing. No one wants to buy holey clothes!
- Want to sell a BUNCH of your items? THEN MAKE SURE YOU ARE PRICING THINGS TO SELL! Be REALISTIC with your prices. Even brand new items that are factory sealed or that still have tags on them should be priced less than retail. Why? Because this is NOT retail. This is a consignment sale! People are looking for big bargains. Price your items to sell and be careful not to pass any emotional attachment you might have to an item along with your prices. Consider letting as much of your stuff as possible sell at a discount. Letting your items sell at a discount almost always guarantees you will sell more items! This means less stuff comes back home at the end of the sale (big plus in my book!). If you’re stumped on what to price an item, look up what it is currently selling for online. I usually take this price and list my item at about half of that figure, maybe more maybe less, depending on the item’s potential popularity and condition.
Follow these tips and I know you will have better luck selling MORE of your items at consignment sales! Yippee!
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