Kate’s Mailbag: Finding a unique source to fulfill customer needs

Kerri wrote: I offer free giftwrapping in my store.  We’re getting more and more customers ask if we sell cards–kid’s birthday, baby shower, etc. to go along with the wrapping, and we do not have any at this time.  Does anyone have a reasonably priced source for cards?  Thanks in advance. I’m sure that some [...]

Read Full Post »

The Gap: A hot-to-not story of American retailing.

You can learn a lot from history… even history of a “real” store. What went wrong? …interviews …depict a company that chased after rivals, rather than charting its own course, and that cut quality and lost touch with customers. Simply put, it filled its stores with stuff that people didn’t want. [Emphasis Kate's] Read the [...]

Read Full Post »

Grandma bait & Prostitots. Such is the life of a childrenswear resaler.

$1200 dresses. Size 4. GIRLS’ 4 that is.

Read Full Post »

Eavesdrop on a consignment experience

Eavesdrop on a consignment experience. This video is a great case study for shopkeepers and accepting staff. If we look at it not as “how to consign”… but “how to treat a potential consignor” we can take the opportunity to fine-tune our shops. See if you can spot the lessons to be learned (I’ve listed [...]

Read Full Post »

Is your resale shop setting up hurdles?

Do you make potential shoppers and suppliers jump hurdles to make you money? Some do. You

Read Full Post »

How do you recycle your own stuff?

So you’ve decided that jacket isn’t very useful. Or those jeans, terribly flattering. Or your kids have outgrown those toys and your spouse hates that lamp. How do you, as a consignment shop owner, a resale proprietor, or a thrift shop manager, recycle your own stuff? Do you take it in to your own shop [...]

Read Full Post »

Consigning prom attire: Getting it in

You know you need lots of prom dresses, and even more accessories, to make a big splash in your consignment, resale, or thrift shop this year…but it’s all too easy for your suppliers to forget that they have such things to pass on to another. It’s imperative that you remind them…and let them know that [...]

Read Full Post »

Trying something new…in used stuff.

A suggestion for consignment, resale, and thrift shops: Add a little pizzazz to your shop. While you’re changing seasons is a great time to go Weird & Wonderful. Think about it, or get out the results from your last Customer Survey and take a look at why your customers shop resale. One of the reasons [...]

Read Full Post »

Winter is OVER. I mean, OOO-VER!

Winter is OVER. I mean, OO-VER! Your consignment or resale or thrift shop may have some dregs of winter merchandise left. You really want to get rid of them because spring…in a retail sense of course…is just around the corner. But before you turn your back on those 90%-off racks, consider them a tool to [...]

Read Full Post »

Drowning in incoming merchandise yet? Life-saving tips from Auntie Kate

If your resale, thrift or consignment shop is not yet flooded with fall incoming, you soon will be. How will you cope? It’s easy to get frazzled and forget that your intake process must be as client-centric as your selling processes are. If you’re drowning, it’s tempting to grasp onto anything that looks like it’ll [...]

Read Full Post »

What consignment shops can do with those illegal drop-side cribs.

Now that Inez Tenenbaum, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has declared that apparently

Read Full Post »

College Kids Moving Out? Teach ‘em to consign!

If your market area includes kids who live in dorms, student housing, or rentals, and if they’re leaving town, how can you consign or buy outright or receive

Read Full Post »

Does your consignment shop support the counterfeit trade? Your resale shop rip off copyright holders?

Uneasy when a consignor comes in with a pillowcase full of  Prada and Louis Vuitton bags? Real designer or “designer-inspired”? Unsure if you should take that seller’s Coach? Real or “replica”? That Gucci generate some anxiety? Genuine or gyp? Counterfeit goods, from Guccis to Nikes to Rolexes, continue to pour into our country from China. [...]

Read Full Post »

Deja Vuesday: Are your consignment rules messing with YOUR head?

Here’s a past resale/ consignment post which bears repeating. Are you sabotaging your business in obvious and subtle ways? Read how I found yet another reason not to numerically limit incoming goods when I was forced to follow a rule that makes no sense. Besides the reasons we already can see. ‘Cause it messed with [...]

Read Full Post »

Wacky Wednesday Giveaway: Kissin’ the Blarney Stone

3-22-10: Update: there will be no winner this week of the Wacky Wednesday Giveaway because the minimum participation was not reached. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And it’s Wacky Wednesday too…how lucky can we get?? Wacky Weds is our free Giveaway for consignment, resale, and thrift shop owners/ managers. This week’s question for consignment and resale [...]

Read Full Post »