Are You Really Making Money?

A new breed of consignment store is emerging.

Many traditional children's consignment stores sell the ideal: Bring us your gently used clothing and make money to help offset the original cost for the merchandise. On the surface that sounds awesome, and that is why there are thousands of kid's consignment stores nationally competing for your used clothing, accessories and equipment.

The typical process works like this: Bag your items and take them to the store. The store will act as your agent to sell the items it accepts for a specified period, usually 90 days. If your item sells you are paid a percentage of the final sale price and/or a store credit.

If a store credit option is used at the store you work with, you as a consignor are at the mercy of items stocked in that store's inventory to use the credit for items you may in the future.

If your item does not sell, some stores will allow you to of pay a fee to get the merchandise back. Some do not offer an option for you to get your stuff back at all. At the end of the contract period, your items become property of the store owner as a payment of sorts for taking your old clothes.

This is not a good business deal for the original buyer of the clothing. In any other service line, if the agent fails to sell your item--it does not become property of the agent. You are doing these places a favor by giving them inventory to keep shops open and people interested in shopping with them.

Factors out of your control can and do influence buyer behavior. Perhaps you took a costly holiday item a bit too close to the season for buyers and it sits unsold. The store accepted your item with a soft promise to sell. It can become inventory for that store owner next year and sold at a nice price--with you as original owner recouping no money.

Many stores offer to donate your items to charity if they do not sell. This is true in many cases, but only after the product prices are dropped and inventory is placed on dollar or discount racks, recycled for a new season, or otherwise put through several scenarios for recouping money for the store owner, not for you.

In short, if you do use a traditional method for consignment do homework and really understand the process you are signing up for.

If this is not a path for you, there are emerging online children's consignment stores that recognize the need for a new business model. Consignment businesses should work as an agent for you. It is in the best interest of both parties to sell merchandise at the best possible price and at a maximum convenience to you.

Look for businesses that are flexible to the way you work and live. Several online consignment vendors offer free shipping of your used items to them. This is an easy choice as UPS can and will come to your house to pick your package up. In this model there are no set consignment days and hours for you to juggle around. There is no need for you to take the time, nor incur the expense of your gas to drop inventory off at the store.

Look for businesses with a longer consignment period, a nice web site, and a marketing campaign. This will expand the pool of potential buyers who will see the items you are selling.

Be aware of what happens to your clothing once the consignment period is over. If the agent can not sell--you should have a mechanism in place to get your stuff back. You paid for it. Worst case is you will get it back and sell it on Craigslist, or donate it and take the tax write off for yourself, or a myriad of other options that benefit you.

With an online system, you can go to the website and see your inventory and the selling price. This gives you an advantage over the traditional consignment store. You know where your stuff is, and the rate it is going for without depending on traditional store owners, nor store owner inventory systems.

Look for a place that will pay you for your items as they sell. This gives you the power to do what you want with the money, and frees you from dependence on a set store using store credits. You actually hold the power in these arrangements. Without you and your used clothing, consignment businesses can not exist.

D. Bradford
http://www.Mimi-zilla.com