Consignment
shops have gone mainstream to US consumers and the days of the upturned nose at
the thought of second-hand merchandise is a thing of the past. It’s difficult
to pinpoint a date or single factor for this change In US consumers opinion of
consignment, but there is a lot of evidence that the recession of 2008 may have
been the tipping point. For a few years’ budgets were tight, and consumers were
looking for deals and also for some extra cash from their closets if possible.
Ten years later with the recession in the past consumers still find themselves
drawn to consignment stores for their unique mix of offerings and fantastic
deals on clothing of every type. Consignment has been embraced by younger
demographics for the environmentally friendly aspects of recycling clothing.
There’s also clear evidence that some of the wealthiest consumers in the united
states are not above shopping second hand either. The clothing resale website
ThredUp in 2017 released some quite startling stats on the average income level
of their shoppers with 21% reporting an annual income of 100k, 36% reporting
income of $250k or greater and 10% reporting 1 million or greater.
Now
that the stigma of buying secondhand merchandise has for the most part
evaporated, the biggest problem consignment store owners face these days is
sourcing merchandise. You have various options as a consignment store owner,
you can source for more merchandise from your existing customer base and from
various wholesalers who specialize in second-hand merchandise, but these
methods are at best inconsistent. Getting your goods from your existing
customers can be great as you can be very selective about the merchandise your
taking in but it costs you time and effort, and the results can be mixed. Consumers
tend to hang onto their best pieces and also have the tendency only to bring in
either their worn to death items or last year’s fashion mistakes. There’s also
the cost of buying these items outright to consider and the agony of
calculating commissions for consignment sales. Buying second-hand clothing
wholesale can be dicey as well. Your flying blind in most cases buying mixed
loads of garments and paying by the pound in most cases, there’s some treasures
to be had but an awful lot trash that ultimately costs you money. There is a
third route that every consignment store owner needs to be aware of and
capitalize on, and that is buying liquidation merchandise from a source
like foxliquidation.
There is no guesswork in what you are getting with manifested merchandise, and
you are paying a fixed cost with no headache of buying item by item from a
customer or calculating commission sales, these profits will be 100% yours.Consignment
shops are also well positioned to capitalize on the heavily discounted category
of customer return condition merchandise. These items are frequently missing
tags and packaging which is a big deal to most retailers but not for
consignment. Items with tags carry a bigger premium in a consignment
environment and those with no tags or packaging well no big deal! Small stains
can be easily cleaned up, and a great pair of heels with a little bit of wear
and tear can still command a premium in a boutique consignment environment.
Consignment store owners or those considering
opening their own boutique consignment shop need to realize that wholesale
liquidation merchandise has a lot to offer to your business. It can be used as
a primary or secondary source of goods and most important of all it gives you
the right mix of goods without the guesswork or the headache of sourcing one
item at a time or buying blind.