Nothing personal. Really. Believe me.

Posted by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Sometimes, folks are hesitant to take their under-loved clothing and accessories to a consignment or resale shop, because they’re afraid of “being rejected.”

Of course, it’s nothing personal when we have to let you know that something you once loved and now want to pass on… just isn’t what our clientele is looking for. Every shop has its own target customers, and if they won’t buy a specific item, it would be bad business for us to accept it from you. We wouldn’t want you thinking that it’ll sell… when we’re pretty darn sure it won’t.

It’s also nothing personal when we have to say that the lovely [whatever] you inherited from a beloved family member isn’t something we have the market for. Believe us, if we thought we could sell that Limoges china service for 12 or those solid-maple side tables, we’d gladly take it on consignment, or buy it from you. But the marketplace, not we, sets the price on goods… and sometimes, that price simply doesn’t exist here, now.

Just like a restaurant known for one type of cuisine wouldn’t invest talent and kitchen space to making a dish their clientele wouldn’t be apt to order, our shoppers are looking for

the shopping adventure and unique finds that they expect

from a business like ours. Sure, sometimes something that’s not quite our customers’ “cup of tea” will sell… but we would be foolhardy… and possibly out-of-business… if we didn’t curate incoming goods for our clientele. And alas, sometimes that means that your underloved possessions, and our ability to sell same, don’t match up very well.

That’s why HowToConsign always recommends that you

visit the shop you’re considering using

before you gather up your gently used good items to bring in. Yes, that slinky elegant cocktail dress you wore once, and invested a lot of money in, is perfect for someone somewhere… but perhaps not at Crazy Larry’s Cowgirl Duds. Same goes for your pearl-snap fringed rodeo shirts. Great at Crazy Larry’s, not so perfect for Ye Haute Couture Shoppe. Take a look at the shops that are convenient for you to use: which would be the best match for the items you want to pass on to a new owner?

Remember:

It’s not you, it’s us.

The cost of being chic.

Posted by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Although at first glance, this flapper ensemble shown on Clara Bow seems reasonable priced… keep in mind that the average yearly wage in 1926 was less than $1250. So this outfit would have eaten up, pre-tax, about a quarter of a year’s income!

Click to read the text

This article from 1926 claims

Continue reading →

What is thrift? Hint: Nothing to do with money.

Posted by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

Need more reasons to shop secondhand FIRST?

You can’t consign because there’s too much clutter?

Posted by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

The tagline of our master site, HowToConsign.com, is “Turning your Cluttered Closets into Cash!”, but recently, I’ve received emails from potential consignors or sellers or donors who’d love to do just that… but they can’t seem to get past the “clutter” in their lives, their homes, and their closets.

Here’s a solution. This web site promises to get you uncluttered in just 15 minutes a day!

Click here to get the calendar, and remember, there’s one for every month. so if you’re reading this after January has come and gone… no excuses! Start where you are, and pretty soon you’ll be

“Turning your Cluttered Closets into Cash!”

WAIT! Don’t toss it!

Posted by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

There’s all sorts of things around your house that your local consignment, resale or thrift shop could use as store supplies. Here’s some things that we use daily:

* Handled shopping bags. Especially those from classy boutiques which we might use for displays, but even generic handled shopping bags are useful as, well, shopping bags.

* Tissue paper. Okay, you’ll never use that half-pack of chartreuse tissue paper again, but we use tissue to wrap jewelry or delicate clothing in, and hey, chances are we think chartreuse is a kick in the pants!

* Movers’ paper. That stiff off-white paper professional movers use? We love it to stuff handbags with so they sit up properly and look perky. (Ditto those air-filled packing pillows and bubble wrap.)

* Replacing incandescent lamp bulbs with energy-efficient ones? Bring us your half-used-up old ones… they’ll light up a for-sale lamp and make it more salable.

In addition, before you toss, ask if these types of things might be useful: Giveaway pens from the last business meeting you attended, those zippered bags new bedding comes in, scrapbook paper, plastic merchandise bags or dry-cleaner bags. Not all shops can use everything, so don’t feel offended if they offer to pass on still usable-but-not-suitable things to the charities they work with. A peacock chair with a broken seat made a lovely window prop in my consignment shop!

Some really weird things entered my shopkeeping life that I really used and appreciated from my customers. Or from curbside (that’s where I found a great baker’s rack!) You might want to ask before you offer, though. Not everyone appreciates a broken-seated peacock chair as much as I did.