How cool is THIS? Wonder how resalers could adapt…

This is a beer coaster. Really. From Colonial Jewelers in Frederick MD.
After all, guys aren’t gonna bring up the subject of buying an engagement ring with their buddies without a little prompting. This gets a conversation started, in a place where potential customers congregate.
Consider it
Reinforced Word-of-Mouth.
Sometimes, ya gotta

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The IT Issue

No, IT doesn’t, in this case, stand for Internet Technology. It’s that little word, “it,” that we all know by its cute little appearance. See? Isn’t IT cute? <<<<<
And then, there’s

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Make your kidstuff consignment shop a Must-Stop.

Another I’ve been meaning to tell you… idea from elsewhere, ideas others explain so well:
Oh, these are JUST TOO GOOD if yours is a childrenswear consignment or resale shop:
every child gets, on his/her birthday,

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Getting Complaints is Like Winning the Lottery!

Another “I’ve been meaning to tell you” post, where I direct you to folks who say what I’ve wanted to tell you, and say it better than me.

If you aren’t thrilled and excited to get a customer complaint in your consignment or resale shop, you should be.
Oh sure, it’s a trial and a blow to [...]

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Your blog is your mothership

Your blog is your mothership. How true…and how useful for us is this thought!
I see an awful lot of “abandoned”…or might-as-well-be-abandoned …blogs in ResaleLand.
Is yours one? Why’s it so? Or even more to the point…why don’t you have and use one?
What would make

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How long should your email, ad, blog message be?

I get a LOT of email on this: consignment and resale shopkeepers are worried about the attention span of their clientele. How many words should my ad be? Will I bore them? Can I say it in 140 characters?
Length doesn’t

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Can you read minds?

I’ve been meaning to tell you: Being a problem solver behooves your business better than being an order taker. Especially in our inventory-always-changing, dynamic resale/ consignment/ thrift industry!
You don’t have to be a mind reader: all you have to do is care about learning what problem your customer wants to solve and finding a substitution.
Substitute [...]

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The #2 FREE Practically-FREE Edge resale shops have

This guy says it all…the sameness, the blandness, of the department stores and malls and big-boxes is killing them.
Regardless of the faults of any consignment, resale, or thrift shop, we can safely say we’re not bland! (Or if we fall into that pit by mistake or misattention sometimes, it’s a simple

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How to negotiate (for timid people who hate conflict)

I’ve been meaning to tell you… that, if you’re like me, you may need some guidance in negotiating and flat-out saying NO. Here’s some advice I ran across.
At some stage in our lives we all are going to need to know how

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Been meaning to ask you: How’s your elevator speech?

In my continuing series Things I’ve been Meaning to Tell You, I’ve wanted to include having an elevator speech.
An elevator speech is something you should always have handy…even if you’re a resale shopkeeper whose nearest elevator is full of grain. It’s a short,

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I’ve been meaning to tell you about square watermelons

Sometimes, someone else says something that I’ve been meaning to sit you down and talk to you about, so well, that I just want you to listen to them. Here’s a story that will inspire even the most dyed-in-the-wool resale or consignment shopkeeper to set about finding the problems she can solve for her customers. [...]

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Up against the wall… I’ve been meaning to tell you

I interrupt our mini-webinar to bring you this post, which is something I’ve been meaning to tell you.
It’s all part of that effectiveness-vs.-efficiency thing I have fought all my life, and which perhaps is hindering your success too.
Remind me to talk about that after our webinar is over. But in the meanwhile:
Seth Godin on “Two [...]

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I’ve been meaning to tell you about cheap clothes.

This time, it’s The New York Times that has brought up a subject that I’ve been meaning to talk to consignment and resale shopkeepers about: cheap clothing.
Prices for new clothes have gone down.
So what does that mean to a store owner whose main marketing

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I’ve been meaning to tell you, $4 a gallon-wise…

Recently I’ve been mulling over the role of ATTITUDE in the resale industry, well any sort of retail, not just the secondhand division.
So many consignment shopkeepers just seem to dwell on the “latest bad news” on the economy on Sharing, the on-line discussion group at Too Good to be Threw, the Premiere Web Site for [...]

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I’ve been meaning to tell you, Issue 1

There are some things I’ve been meaning to sit down and talk to you about; things that someone else said just right. So we’ll let them tell you. And here’s the first:
Designer labels no-no’s.
Her Dad bitched; my mom did. Same EXACT scenario; same gut feelings instilled in the daughters! I declare this blogger’s message [...]

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