I am always surprised when people ask me “why should I consign?” The truth is, people sell at consignment sales for many reasons. Let’s just be honest, I consign for the money, but I have a friend that consigns just to attend the pre-sale and another one who just likes to “swap” their items for the next size up.
Consigning for the money.
When I first started consigning, I did it to make a little extra cash for the budget. At the time, we got mostly hand me downs, so anything I could sell at consignment sales was a little extra cash for the budget. To this day, I am still motivated by the Big, Fat Check. I think of it as my mad money, crafting money, or just a little something to stash away for a rainy day in case groceries don’t stretch until the end of the month. About 5% of consignors fall into this category, including ministries and organizations that are raising funds for their groups. We even had one family that paid for their IVF treatments through selling at consignment sales!
Consigning for the Pre-Sale.
About half of consignors are motivated by this category. They want to put items into the sale so they can shop the Pre-Sale before the sale opens to the public. This is important if you are looking for specific items, or more importantly, if you are looking for baby gear, large items or boys clothing sizes 6 and up. Boys are hard on their clothes, so bigger sizes are in limited supply and tend to go fast.
Consigning to swap out sizes.
For people who are short on space, or don’t plan on having another child in the near future, the goal is to make enough money to swap out sizes. Basically, you sell enough to pay for the next round of items in a bigger size. For consignors who don’t want to keep bins and bins of clothing around, or who are expecting a different gender, tend to fall into this category.
Consigning to make it all go away.
I have a friend who comes up from Florida. True story. She drives up in February and November and consigns her items. She buys good stuff and really doesn’t want to just donate it, so she sells her items to pay for her gas money to come visit family while she’s here. She donates everything that doesn’t sell and never puts a “no discount” mark on anything. Her mantra is “make it all go away.” It’s a one-way trip to the consignment sale. She sells at the consignment sale and shops for the next round, and then everything she brought goes away at the end of the sale. Nothing goes back home with her. For consignors who fall into this category (about 10% of consignors) consigning is a social outlet. They come, catch up with friends, typically volunteer a shift or two and then do it all over again in a few months.
At the end of the day, there are lots of reasons to consign. Yes, there is a learning curve to learn how to consign, but once you figure it out, it’s fun! I am always excited to take stuff to a sale and see how much of it sells. More importantly, I like the “mad money” I get to keep when the check arrives in the mail!
To find a consignment sale near you, check out our Consignment Sale Directory.
