all consignment, resale, and thrift shopkeepers should bookmark

for future reference: A vintage fashion labels list: photos of the actual labels, short paragraphs of info to help you research further…

The Vintage Fashion Guild’s Label Resource 

Even if you don’t really deal in vintage, it comes in handy sometimes, so you don’t miss what could be a treasure for your shop and your shoppers.

Oh, my little treasure? A Carolyn Schnurer NWT hand-rolled linen handkerchief, never even unfolded from the 1940′s-1950′s. Coral geometric pattern, rather Moorish-tile-like. Paid 25 cents; on Etsy etc for $10-$20. Also has a “Carol Stanley Signature Original as seen in Vogue” sticker on it… can’t quite figure out Carol’s role (retailer? Manufacturer?)… if anyone knows, comment here!

I like the last point best, and think it needs to be, actually, your primary way to work… after you’ve ascertained that the competing consignment, resale, or thrift business is ethical.

6 Tips for Dealing with Competition

Or this or this:

.

no one would ever get their WANT button pushed.

So why not, instead, present merchandise in a way that makes them think

I WANT that, I MUST HAVE that!

.

.

Got some easy, quick ways to push your customers’ WANT buttons? Add it by commenting below.

Filed under: Shopkeeping talk Tagged: display, selling ]]> http://auntiekate.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/pushing-their-want-button/feed/ 5 Auntie Kate dusty mishmash bad nothing says prom bad nothing says used like shoes on floor con sol create window w tall pieces angle unusual misreddotcom http://auntiekate.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/heres-a-great-way-to-use-facebook/ http://auntiekate.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/heres-a-great-way-to-use-facebook/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:25:43 +0000 Auntie Kate http://auntiekate.wordpress.com/?p=10993 ]]> Jessica of Fifi’s Amelia Island is right on top of marketing at her shop’s Facebook page. Look at this exchange:

Notice, too, how Jessica doesn’t just say “thanks”, but she furthers the usefulness of the Facebook exchange by mentioning an upcoming event. She also mentions the WIIFM: “a ton of fun”  and implies community acceptance: “back by popular demand.” Heck, her reply even “sounds” like her: If you’ve ever met Jessica, you know her enthusiastic laugh sounds just like “Yayyy!” Looks like Jessica’s been reading her Too Good to be Threw Products for the Professional Resaler!

By the way, did you notice Fifi’s TRIPLE listing on the Clickable Directory/ Zoomable Map? Jessica’s taking full advantage of her Treasured Sponsor listing at HowToConsign.com. Jessica’s got the social-media mindset! Yayyy!

Click the image for more Deja Vuesday posts that are too good to be threw from TGtbT.coM

We resalers are a thrifty lot, are we not? We embody the 21st-century version of the Depression saying

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

and we’re proud to brag on it! (If you’re like me, when someone compliments you on a possession… it’s all you can do not to blurt out Yes, and it was only $4.99!)

For your encore pleasure one more time, I present a small collection of ways to make your shop look like a million, on someone’s else’s million. Go ahead, click this:

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without

Do you have some clever ideas to add about making do, etc., with style? Just comment below to share your experiences and suggestions.

.

So brag on it.

Humility doesn’t put bucks in the till.

You can brag on how green your business is like these folks. (Skip the shower-cap photo though.)

Or how much your shop has contributed to the community.

Too shy to brag on how great you are?

Think of it this way: your community activism just might inspire others.

.

.

.

using public consciousness as a FREE marketing tool.

If everyone’s talking about an event, use that buzz to enhance the reasons to come shopping in your consignment, resale, or thrift shop. Do your publicity up BIG, with all the tools at your disposal, and hit them hard and often (gee, is that a football analogy?)

So, herein, some random notes from my scratch pad on how a resale shopkeeper might use the Superbowl buzz to draw attention to her/his business . Maybe some of these thoughts will inspire you to

go for the championship!

feb 5 is superbowl sunday… “the only bowl in our shop will be the champagne punch bowl!” or

“bring a friend and bowl her over with the great styles in our shop”

remember NO DISCOUNTS

added value, don’t eat into profits

contest? (vote on cutest butt in those tight football pants?)

(Madonna’s the 1/2 time show… use that for a theme? Giveaway?)

post-event PR, as in Promote with Pizzazz… the afterglow is hands-down MORE valuable than the actual event

Now here’s an interview with a furniture consignment shop in tis second, newly-opened location. See if you can spot, using the tips you learned through our free e-newsletter,

what’s being done right here… and what you might, perhaps, change?

.

Add your comments below… especially, of course, all of you who sell (or shop!) previously-loved home furnishings and know the unique challenges!

PS: Didn’t read your newsletter issues yet? Check your in-box… or maybe your spam filter… or, if you are not yet a subscriber (it’s free!), sign up on the Too Good to be Threw home page so you don’t miss a morsel of resale info from TGtbT!

.

How about that handy person who put up your dressing rooms or laid carpet last spring? And who paid for the materials? Are you SURE?

If you’ve paid $600 or more to an individual there’s some nice government paperwork you need to file to avoid being put on

the IRS’s Naughty List.

Don’t forget what your business paid your lawyer. (I wonder about your CPA… guess your CPA would know. Great job security here, huh?)

And all these forms are due before April, so don’t delay.

Here’s an explanation to get you started. And here’s the official IRS info to slog through. Remember, don’t trust me. I’m not a politician or a lawyer.

And don’t miss the part where if you paid $600 or more for fish, that requires a form too.

Ours is not to reason why.

.

Here’s how he introduced the contest.

Here’s the winning submission as seen on The Orange Door’s Facebook page.

And here’s the video Brian made to announce the winner… and to further promote, of course, his store.

Here’s the 2011 holiday contest. Notice much of the footage was already “in the can”, as Hollywood types say.

If you haven’t opened your Used ain’t seen nothin’ yet e-newsletter from Too Good to be Threw, please do, as we are weeding out folks who are not reading them. (Remember, some email providers may have stashed our valuable e-newsletter in your junk mail.) And if you haven’t signed up to get this business-enhancing communique from the Premiere Site for Professional Resalers, join us right now!

Click the image for more Deja Vuesday posts that are too good to be threw from TGtbT.com

Really? Nothing new at my fav used store? Guess I won’t go there then.

Actually, today’s Deja Vuesday is a double-header, because shopkeepers miss another opportunity to build trust and friendship on their web sites. Read about There are no Special Deals at this time.

.

Read this first.

Photo borrowed from Gaebler, which has lots of advice too.

After all, don’t ALL of your customers always say.

“I just LOVE this place!”

Our Advent paper chain garland was so popular with our resale shopkeeper friends, I thought you might like to create a Valentine’s version for decor in your shop. Here’s the simple, simple way to make heart garlands.

(Hint: create a little store-branded handout telling your customers how to make these at home. You’re sure to be asked, and WOW! To get a half-sheet explanation for them to take home… what other retailer would do that for them?!? WOM out the wazoo!)

Another giveaway idea: Give them Valentines to go! Take something like this photo, make up some heart-shapes (made or purchased) with messages relating to your marketplace, tack them up on a free wall and invite your customers to take one or two to give to their loved ones. Some messages to get you started: You’re so STYLISH! I love the way your home feels Cute kids! Paste your business card on the reverse of the heart, natch.

Build that small-tow, shop-local feel with a dozen (or more!) long-stemmed poses. Get busy taking shots of your most loyal, fun, photogenic customers, and use this idea for decor on your sales counter. (Hint: the folks you choose, should be the ones most likely to give you major, wide-spread WOM. Be sure to have your camera handy to take a picture of them with… their picture, and email it to them a few days later to start a whole new round of WOM!)

Click the pix for credits, ideas, more.

Now, with these sweethearts of ideas won’t your customers be telling other folks how much

They love this place!

Your good luck… that is, your attracting attention to your thrift, resale, or consignment shop… starts with your business card.

Do you LOVE it?

Does it represent exactly the way you want people to think about your shop? Sophisticated, friendly, homey, funky, top-shelf or bargain-basement?

Do you seek out reasons to hand your card to everyone you meet, all day long? The person behind you in the grocery line, the bank teller, the neighbor walking her dog, the pleasant restaurant server?

No?

Well, maybe it’s because

you don’t LOVE your business card.

Here’s my best advice on how to. Create a business card you’ll love that is. Follow the links we’ve gathered for you there on Too Good to be Threw, The Premiere Site for Resale Professionals, and design a card you will never again hesitate to hand out!

Favorite Consignment, Resale, Thrift Shops

I’ve had a good time finding and posting all these for you.

I’ve had an even better time imagining how much more focused some of these photos could be without the extraneous stuff in them. After all, we can’t always change the real world… but with pixels, we can edit them!

Here’s an example. I’m using Photowipe which is free and easy, but I’m sure there are scads of other programs out there.

Nice photo, but the blue pavement painting distracts our attention from Vena's shop, Selective Seconds in Indiana.

So I “erased” the handicapped signs (and the car to the left), just to focus on the shop. All I had to do was “draw” with my mouse over the areas I wished weren’t there. Result:

Neat, huh? And the pavement reflects the shop so nicely. If you really look, the "blotch" of the car is there, but who's lookin'? We're admiring the shopfront!

Now, I can get a little OCD. This is such a nice photo that I’d like to see it be usable year-round, so let’s downplay that Valentine’s Day lettering in the right-hand window. Erase, erase!

And it's done! If you look carefully, the window display's a bit blurry, but it's still bright and colorful. Pretty good for an amateur, with a free program, in less than 5 minutes.

So if you have photos that are pretty good, but you’d like to erase some things from them, try Photowipe. Warning: Large ugly things like ex-spouses are not easily done away with, no matter how much we wish they were!

Now for a final tweak, let’s make sure this photo really motivates people to remember the shop. I take the final photo over to Picnik (you’ve heard me rave about this before) and add a little WIIFM to the picture.

This might be a little more than you'd really want to add to a photo, but I wanted to show you that you can have different colors, different sizes, even angled text. Total time, using Photowipe and Picnik, less than 10 minutes. Click the picture to go to the live link to Vena's shop.

Sometime soon we’ll talk about all the resale, consignment, and thrift shops who don’t take the opportunity to put a photo of their shop on their site. Cryin’ shame.