I hope the first post in this series piqued your interest in the possibility of consigning at the Just Between Friends Consignment Sale coming up on May 3-5 at the RMU Island Sports Center Golf Dome on Neville Island. If you haven’t have a chance to read it yet, check it out here: Just Between Friends Consignment Sale Series, Part One.
10 Tips for Consigning
1. Gather your supplies
Stop at Wal-Mart or a dollar store and pick-up the following: white card stock, multiple packs of child-sized hangers (10 for $1) and 200 safety pins (1”+), ribbon or zip-tie fasteners, multiple sizes of clear self-sealing bags and clear packing tape.
2. Gather your items to sell
Go through every closet, under all beds, dig in the garage, open the Rubbermaid containers and every drawer. Pull out all items that are NOT sellable or have been recalled (check www.cpsc.gov for recall information). Items with holes, missing pieces, broken zippers, toys that don’t work, etc. should not be included in the sale. Children’s books and videos (CDs and DVDs) are especially hot sellers. Games and Puzzles are also very popular. Other popular sellers are gymnastics/dance attire, uniforms, sports equipment and bikes. Be selective with the items you consign – only bring your best.
3. Remember the 3 C’s – Clean, Current & Complete!
Make sure your items are clean. Bring only current styles, and make sure your items are complete with all pieces, etc.
4. Bring hot sellers
Larger clothing sizes (7 and up) sell very well because there isn’t as much to choose from. Try to bring at least one “big ticket” item. Items that always sell are pack-n-plays, strollers, exersaucers, and large Little Tikes toys.
5. Prepare your items
First, set a aside a place in your home for all your quality JBF merchandise. Next, place your clothing items on hangers (be sure the hanger is going the correct direction…when you look at the front of the outfit, the hanger should look like “?”). Put together outfits (they sell better than single items), and check for little stains.
6. Enter your items
Go into pittsburgnorth.jbfsale.com. Log in to your My JBF Profile and click on “Enter my Tags” to start the tagging process; you will be amazed at how easy it is. Be descriptive; it helps you match tags to items.
7. Price to sell
If you are unsure, reference our pricing guide available on the “merchandise prep” page on our web site or visit eBay and reference the price similar items are selling. If you wish to donate your items and have items included in ½ price sale – mark where indicated in your profiles page – then you can unmark any “special” items that you don’t wish to donate or have reduced in price. Print in small batches (100 tags or less) – use the “print PDF” option to print 6 tags to a page, and don’t forget to print them on white cardstock paper.
8. Tag your items
Pull out your neatly-stacked tags, and go to your nicely-organized stack or row of items. Now, simply put the first tag on the first item and pin/tape or use a tagging gun if you have one–continue on down the line, pin, tape, pin, etc. (This is where a brief description on your tags helps you, just in case items or tags get out of order.) When you get to shoes, you may need to use ribbon or zip ties to tie the shoes together and attach the tag (or put them in a Ziploc baggie).
9. Earn more commission!
Volunteer for a minimum of 4 hours and earn 10% more on your consigned items!
10. Have lots of fun!
JBF is fun and you can meet a lot of great moms in the area and find many new opportunities for you and your family to grow and explore the community by getting to know other families. Volunteering is another great way to spend some quality time with other smart, savvy moms.
Now you are ready for drop-off! Sit back and make plans for the fun things you can do with that extra JBF money!
There’s still time to consign!
Be sure to follow Just Between Friends, Pittsburgh North on Facebook here. You’ll love the special features, including Make More Money Mondays, Tagging Tip Tuesdays, What to Sell Wednesdays, etc.
