It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of consignment sales. It’s consignment sale season here in Virginia and I’ve been doing some shopping for the kids. I’m used to buying, but this has been my first year to actually sell my own items.
I’ve experienced one sale and the host has made it pretty easy to navigate these new waters, but I thought it would be fun to talk about how to make preparing to consign a little easier. While I don’t have all my earnings yet, I’m really excited about the thought of getting at least some money back!
I opted to start with consigning some of Savannah’s clothes. It may sound silly, but I couldn’t bring myself to start off with her newborn/infant items this time, and since it is my first time doing this, I opted to pick her 2T clothing. I figured I’ll sell more sizes next time once I’ve learned the ropes a little bit.
How does it work for consignors?
If you are a total newbie to the concept of consigning clothes, here’s a basic rundown of how it works with many consignment sales. These might not apply to all types of sales, so definitely check the websites for any sales that you are interested in participating in.
– The people running the sale usually require a consignor fee. You pay this no matter how many items you plan to consign and it is essentially your “entry fee.”
– The consignor usually gets a percentage of their total sales and the host of the sale gets the rest. Since they are providing the location, staffing {which are usually volunteers}, and marketing of the sale, it makes sense that they get a cut of your sales. In our area, most of the consignors get around 70-80% of their total sales.
– Consignors are responsible for pricing and hanging their items. You can decide whether you want your items to be included in the discount days that generally happen at the end of the sale.
– You can also decide whether you want your items to be donated at the end of the sale. The choice is yours! You might not ever want to see the items again once they’ve left your home.
– Consignors typically get to shop before the sale is open to the general public, so it’s a great way to get first dibs on the best items.
I know a lot of people who have had great luck with consigning. I know some people who do it every single season and they use the money to help with their clothing budget for the current season. I think this is especially true for children’s clothing, when kids are constantly outgrowing clothes.
Preparing to Consign
If you’re interested in giving this a try, I’ve got some ideas for how to save time and money when you are preparing to consign your own items.
1. Prepare your items in stages
I would definitely recommend you prepare all your items in stages. It can get a little chaotic in your home when you are trying to decide what to sell and then going through the stages of getting all the items tagged and ready for the sale. Here are some basic stages that might help you keep your sanity while you are prepping your items.
– Choose your items
– Wash or spot clean clothing/disinfect toys or gear
– Enter all your items {with prices and descriptions} into the tagging system your host uses
– Print all your tags
– Attach tags and hang items
2. Have a generic price list for the pieces you are selling (tops, dresses, pants, outfits, etc.)
Pricing and entering your items in the tagging system can be very time consuming, so having a generic price list will help keep you from analyzing each and every item. You won’t have to think about base prices for each and every item, which should help speed things up.
You can and should increase or lower those prices based on the condition of the item or depending on the brand, but this price list will give you a baseline or starting point when you are pricing each item. For example, I priced many of the long-sleeved shirts at $2 a piece. If it was a specialty shirt {like for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas themed}, then I may have increased the price just a little bit.
3. Collect supplies all year round
You will need some supplies in order to prepare your items for the sale.
Here’s a list of supplies you will likely need depending on what you are selling.
– hangers
– safety pins or ribbon {unless you have a tagging gun}
– Ziploc bags
– packing tape
– paper {possibly cardstock depending on host requirements}
– printer/ink
– scissors
In order to save money {you’re trying to make money, remember?}, try your best to collect these items throughout the year. Consider using a small tote so you can store these supplies in one place and be ready when consignment season rolls around again.
4. Print your tags at the library or some public printer
You will save money on ink and lots of time by printing your tags on a public printer. You may have to pay a little bit for each page you print, but I can almost guarantee you will save more money by not using up all your ink from your personal printer. Also, it will take a lot less time to use one of the nice laser printers.
When I was preparing for this consignment sale, it was a little overwhelming at first, but I eventually got into a bit of a groove. I’m looking forward to seeing how things go with this first sale. I tried my best to price my items and present them well so they will actually sell, but we’ll see. I may be back afterwards to share some of my successes and/or failures! 🙂
