How to Stop Overloading Clothing Racks At Your Consignment Shop

This is just a mess!

If you have a consignment or resale shop and find that you often stuff your racks to the point that nothing can move ... you will be out of luck when it comes to business. Shoppers never want to fight the racks, hangers, and sloppy looking clothing to find the goods. Even if you offer designer labels or higher-end items, they will never get purchased if no one can find them! Read on to learn how to stop overloading your clothing racks and bring in more shoppers!

Things You'll Need

• Uniform hangers(all the same style or color)
• Size Rings
• Clothing looking like new

Instructions

1. 

   The easiest thing to change in order to stop overloading your racks is simply to curtail what you accept from people. You may have to change your rules about how many items you accept per consignor. If you accept items by drop-off, you may have to start accepting items by appointment-only. If you are experienced, you will know your clientele and can base your judgment on how many items will be accepted. A good rule is no more than 25 items per season. However, some clients differ in what they bring in. Make sure to be flexible enough to bend the rules for the good consignors who offer newly tagged items, or designer labels.

2. 

   STOP ACCEPTING JUNK! Clothing is very accessible, especially in the United States. Almost everyone has clothing, and many people really have more than they need. Never accept clothing items more than 2-3 years out of retail (minus specialty items such as semi-formal wear, vintage, etc.) Never accept wrinkled clothing, or if you do, have a steamer ready to make the clothing present as new as possible to your customers. Never accept clothing with rips, tears, holes, stains, excessive pilling, animal hair, smoky or musty odor, or clothing with broken or missing zippers and buttons. The fussier you are about what you accept, the better your shop will be for your shoppers and the more money they will spend. If you stop accepting too much, there will never be too much on the racks.

3. 

   While putting clothing out on the racks for sale, group like items together. Have all blouses in one area, arranged by size and color. Have all pants in one area, arranged by length, size and color. A profitable consignment shop always has a "method to their madness" meaning a well-organized, neat and tidy shop. Make sure to have size rings to accommodate all customers. Size rings make it easier to sort through sections and help customers get pointed in the right direction to find what they are on the hunt for.

4. 

   Have matching hangers! Don't offer hangers that come every color of the rainbow! Don't offer some tube style, some foam, some clear plastic, some wood all scattered throughout the racks. Rather, select universal styles of hangers and stick to it. Check out storesupplywarehouse.com or robertham.com to purchase boxes of hangers that will be uniform to one another.

5. 

   WAX YOUR RACKS! Believe it or not, wax paper works wonderfully to remove black skids from metal hanger tops on your racks while also greasing up the racks to help the hangers glide along them easier. Wax paper is extremely affordable. Push back the clothing and crumple the wax paper in your hand, rub it all over the front and back of the rack. This will help the hangers move gently and easily for all of your customers.

6. 

   Don't hang on to clothing for too long! Take stock and inventory your shop at least once per month. Get in touch with a local charity that will come and pick up clothing you can't keep. Keep your clothing moving, moving, moving. Don't hesitate to donate more than once a month if necessary! Some shops have their unwanted items collected once a week!

7. 

   Straighten your clothing often! Make time a few times a week to touch every lick of clothing in your shop. Put misplaced items back to their assigned spot. If you notice your racks becoming too full, curtail even more or stop accepting items completely, if only for a few days. This will help your shop appear orderly and well-put together. All of these tips will help your shop be successful and make it prosper and be profitable.

Tips & Warnings

• Limit the number of clothing items you accept per person

• Don't give in and take junk

• Match your hangers

• Wax your racks

• Donate often

• Straighten often