How to Sell at Consignment Sales

Last week I wrote about shopping consignment sales, and several people asked if I also consign.  I do, and I love it.  Depending on how frugal you are selling and shopping, you can almost clothe your kids for free!  It takes a bit of work, but is certainly worth it if you shop on a budget.  So without further ado... how to sell at consignment sales!  Much of the information presented will be considerably redundant with the last post, so please bear with me.  

First let me cover my general consigning strategy.  I sell at two different sales that take place about three weeks apart.  The first sale is smaller, pickier about the quality of items, and generally brings in more money per item.  I take all my applicable items, price them on the higher side of reasonable, and see what I get from the first sale.  (Side note: Most sales offer a half off sale on the final day, but it is your choice to discount or not.  I do not.)  I generally sell about half of my items, but make a nice amount of money.  The unsold items are already prepped, so I just reduce the price about a dollar each, re-tag them, and try again at the next sale.  It is a bit more work, but I make considerably more than I would by pricing low all along, or by offering my items for 50% off on the final day.

Here are my tips for successfully consigning your children's clothing and gear:

1. Find a sale in your area!  Just hop on Google and search for children's consignment sales in (your city here). 
2. Read all the instructions first!  Each sale will only accept specific items.  For instance, you can only sell season appropriate items... coats in the fall, bathing suits in the spring, some only accept 10 pairs of shoes per consignor, some take maternity clothes, some accept car seats, etc.  You will waste a lot of time prepping items that you can't sell if you don't read the list of acceptable items first.  
3. Follow all the instructions!  This may seem like I am rehashing number two, but it is important.  Each sale will have a very specific set of instructions for preparing and tagging items. 
   
   If you don't follow the directions, your items may be rejected or you may lose sales.   Hangers must face a certain way and tags must be done according to the template.  Here is an example of a tag.  This particular sale uses hand written tags while some use computer systems.  This may seem complicated, but its easy once you get the hang of it.
4. Present your items favorably!  This may seem like a no brainer, but your items will sell better if they are clean, wrinkle free (mostly), and are well presented on the hanger.  I use lots of safety pins to assure that my items do not shift or fall off the hanger no matter how many people look at them.
   
   In fact, sales often request that items be hung a certain way for two reasons.  One, if your item falls off the hanger onto the floor, it will not sell, and two, an item that is securely attached to a hanger is much harder to steal.  So, test each item and make sure it won't fall off no matter what occurs.    
5. Price reasonably!  This is perhaps the hardest aspects of consigning because of the emotional attachment involved.  No matter how very cute your little one looked in the outfit, try not to price items emotionally.  You will sell more if you price items based on a reasonable scale and ask, "in this condition, what would I pay?"  Here is a wonderful consignment pricing guide to help with fair pricing.
6. Volunteer!  Consignors generally earn a larger percent of their sales based on how many volunteer shifts they work.  For example, no shifts = 60% of sales, 1 shift = 70%, and 4 shifts = 75%.  
7. Be patient!  Consigning is a process that takes place over the course of a week or longer.  Here is an example from one sale.  I am scheduled to drop off items on Saturday and it should take about an hour.  I will shop the sale the following Wednesday for several hours.  The next Saturday I work a 4 hour shift.  The following Wednesday I will pick up my unsold items and check.  I personally find the reward to greatly outweigh the work, but that may not be true for everyone.  

I hope you give it a try and have fabulous results.  Please comment with your own consigning suggestions, tips or questions!

Happy selling!