Are you new to consignment and wondering how you can make a profit? Here are five tips to make the most money selling at a consignment sale.
Start Early
Start preparing for the consignment sale at least a month in advance. It will probably take the entire month to sort, clean, group, hang, and tag your items. Starting too late is not only stressful, but you may overlook minimal things like a scuff mark or misprice your items. Starting early gives you the opportunity to take your time and ensure everything looks pristine and priced reasonably.
Set Aside Emotional Attachments
It can be hard to table your emotional attachment to items when you think back to when your kids were little or babies, but it has to be done so you can be objective about your sale. An ongoing joke in TV sitcoms is that a family has a yard sale, but price things so outrageously that nobody will purchase them because they don’t really want to sell them. The same thing happens at consignment sales, too. In order to make the most from consignment sales, you have to set aside your nostalgia.
Price Effectively
You want to price competitively but not too low, because you’ll be competing against all the other consignment sellers. If you have a mid-grade stroller that you’re selling for $100 but other sellers have the same thing for $60, shoppers will overlook your more expensive item. Alternatively, selling everything at very low bargain prices won’t net you as much money as things priced closer to other sellers. Consignment sales typically have a minimum price (for Motherload events, it’s $2) and suggestions on pricing for other items, but you can price as you choose. Take some time to do some research on what your items typically sell for at consignment sales, take the suggested pricing from the event into consideration, and use those to create your prices.
Be Ready To Mark Down
The last day of consignment events is usually a sale day, where things are marked down to sell quickly. Make a list of your items and what you’re willing to mark them down to. Will you mark clothes down 20%? A toy 50%? Marking down your items will help you sell off whatever is left at the end of the event, gaining you more money.
Consider Volunteering
Some consignment events welcome volunteers to help out, and sometimes they can keep an additional percentage of their profits. Consider contacting the event organizer and asking if you can help in any way. Not all consignment sales accept volunteers or offer perks for volunteering, but it never hurts to ask!
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