Wondering what it is like to consign items at a children's consignment sale? Me too! Last week, I wrote about why I'm consigning, how I picked a sale and what to sell at the sale.
This week, it is onto the next step: the pricing step. This step is the most time-consuming, according to consignors.
First, you have to sign-up as a consignor. This takes about one minute. You simply enter your information to their new consignor area and you'll be given a unique consignor number.
Now, the work starts. Many consignors suggest starting early in the consigning process because this step takes the most time. For every item that you want to sell, you'll need to enter it into a database which saves it. Why? So, that you can print off a tag and when someone wants to buy it at the sale, it scans and goes right into your account. It isn't difficult to do, it is just time-consuming. My consignor friend-guru enters all of her items in while binge-watching a show. Another does it while listening to podcasts.
The information that you are entering is the category (clothing, shoes, book), size, description line (example-Carter's Halloween T-shirt), the price and if you want it to be discounted on the final day and if you want it to be donated if it doesn't sell.
The price is the trickiest part of this. What do you price things? After a lot of searching and talking to people, the general rule of thumb is to price items at most, for 1/3 of their original cost. A $12 shirt would be $4. Items at consignment sales are more expensive than at garage sales because of the convenience of having everything in one place.
My consignor-guru says that she prices items this way, all clothing is $2/piece unless it is a brand like Gap or the Children's Place, then she charges $3/piece. If she has a specialty item, such as a Halloween costume, Huskers t-shirt or leotard she charges $5.
Remember, that you'll only be keeping a percentage of your sale. If you consign with Kidz Closet, it is 70%.
I have over 150 items (so far) that I'm consigning. When I told my husband about this project, he was really excited and began pulling out toys and games that haven't been used in awhile so that list is growing! Next week, I'll tell you how long the process took me. Questions about consigning with Kidz Closet? You can email Cathy at clink@saintpaulumc.org or call her at 402-477-6951.
