People who do storage auctions have an attitude that is not unlike the gambler who loses in the casino. Television is entertainment. On a spiritual level, I'm really against storage auctions.
These are units that are donated and therefore you are not contributing to someone losing everything they owned. There is a shadiness to the people who are OK with building a business off of someone else's misfortune. My term for them is "bottom feeders. When you buy a storage unit and find personal property in it such as paperwork or photos, you should turn these items in to the office so they can be given back to the owner. Bottom feeders do not do this, in fact they illegally either hold onto the information or they just toss it.
If you are adamant about getting your merchandise from a storage auction, be a good person and don't keep someone's baby photos. Thrift stores in our town have figured out that people are doing resales online and they have jacked up the prices through the roof and priced themselves out of the resale market. If an item is donated to you, be respectful of the person who donates it; give it a reasonable, not inflated price. The longer that merchandise sits on your shelf, the less it is worth.
If you have bags of clothing sitting in a garage and I did , you are losing money on that stuff. Have a bag clothing sale and get rid of it. If someone offers you over half of what you are asking for an item, take it. If you go out of business because you priced yourself out of a market, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Be honest about what your stuff is worth. Remember you are in this business to sell not to keep everything. After all that I have told you, do you still love the idea of owning a store? Well, let me tell you what I love about it. I love up-cycling things. Often, I was at the counter repurposing an Item and a customer comes in and sees what I am doing. People are naturally curious. These occasions gave me the opportunity to discuss my feelings about re-purposing a topic near and dear to my heart.
I loved creating displays. Most of my displays had a theme. Being on a ladder ten feet in the air to hang flowers was a great time to me. Creating displays was something that I miss so much. I loved my customers. People are wonderful, they would come in and tell me stories, tell me about their kids, lives, and about what this area use to be like 20 years ago. I loved helping customers solve problems, decorating dilemmas. While some of these things are specific to my store, in general you should like people if you are going to be in customer service.
If none of this appeals to you, maybe opening a thrift store is not your gig. Before we opened the store, we considered waiting until we retired to open a small shop to sell my items. Now we know that owning a store is not a good "retirement" plan. It's long hours, hours a week. Being your own boss turns you into a slave driver. The slackers in this business don't make it. This is a hutch that was re purposed from an entertainment center at ReJunkery. In , ReJunkery closed.
There were many factors in my life that pushed the close of the store. The first factor was the space rental was overpriced and there was not a comparable space available. The second factor had to do with an ongoing family situation, my mother was nine hours away and it was time to be closer to her. I hadn't taken a vacation in over two years of working six days a week. I missed countless birthdays with my grand-kids and all the other holidays that went with it.
Lastly, my husband took a position miles from the store location. The culmination of these factors created the perfect time to close. It was difficult to walk away from the store. Many people had come to rely on us. We will always treasure the time we had when we owned this business.
Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters. Question: What challenges did you face while owning a thrift store Do you provide mentorship? Answer: Everything about running your own business is a challenge.
Just balancing the paperwork vs merchandising is a challenge. Social media was a great place to advertise before Facebook got caught manipulating the algorithms, now that is not as great of a place to put ads. I built my business off local Facebook pages. I'm not sure that would work now. There is a woman in Reno that owns "Junkee" a resale clothing store and she provides mentoring.
Although she did not mentor me, her business is pretty successful. Yesterday, I went into a locally owned thrift store. Keep in mind I have changed states since I wrote this article. The owner was having a really rough day. I bought a few things, asked how it was going. He said he was thinking about closing because, his traffic was not steady enough to turn on the air it's degrees here this week.
I'm going to admit his advertising is not great, but the store is right on the highway going through town, signage is good, in plain sight. He has reasonable pricing. I was the only person there.
I left and went to visit another privately owned thrift store in that area only to find it was permanently closed it's only been two months since I went there , building empty. In the last six months a total of four privately owned thrift stores in our NEW area have closed.
If you are in a metropolitan area you might have better luck. I won't open a store where I am now because the rent is too high here and the market is saturated with non-profit thrift stores. The overhead of owning a thrift store is not what people think it is. If you have an existing organization you're supporting, it's possible some of your space could be used for the store.
Just make sure that it makes sense for retail and that it is zoned for retail. Retail space can be somewhat pricy. The good news is that thrift stores often serve a fairly broad market, and don't need to be in the highest rent areas. People shopping your stores are often looking for a bargain - they're not trying to impress their friends with the fact that they're shopping in a fancy part of town.
Read reviews of other thrift stores on Google and Yelp. Which stores got a high number of reviews on Google?
High numbers of Google probably means a lot of foot traffic, since Google will automatically prompt many Android users to leave a review after they leave a store. Of the stores that got poor reviews, what were some big complaints? Of the stores that got good reviews, what were the reasons?
Start basing your policies with this customer feedback in mind. Here are a few pointers:. Inconsistent or high pricing is a down-side. When you're getting started, it's probably better to start pricing tool low rather than too high.
Rude staff members are another common complaint. Of course, many of those complaints are left by rude customers, but especially if you have volunteers running the store, make sure that your customer-service expectations are clear.
Consider how to discount items. Your pricing won't be perfect and some items will need to be discounted. Think about return policies.
Most thrift stores have an all sales final policy, which is fine. But you can stand out by offering a return policy. If you want to make sure the money stays in the store, you might want to consider offering returns for store credit. If you sell large items furniture, appliances, building materials , create a policy for how long a customer can leave an item behind before they pick it up.
Most stores not using ThriftCart will have triplicate carbon copy paper forms for customers leaving items behind, where they can write their name, phone number, and the items they bought. One copy at the register, one copy on the item, one copy with the customer. Decide whether you'll allow price negotiation. If so, set parameters for how that's done. Most thrift stores do not allow price negotiation.
That policy should be clearly in writing near the cash register, so the cashier can point to the sign when a customer asks for a lower price. Similarly, make a policy for items without price tags. Some customers will maliciously remove price tags from items hoping to get a better price at the register.
So, many thrift stores have a policy of not selling any items without a price tag, instead sending the item to the back to be reprocessed. Others enjoy the ability to browse and discover new items. Thrift stores also support the up-cycling movement, allowing shoppers to find new ways to use old items with an eco-friendly benefit. According to IBIS World , the used good store industry experienced 3 percent annual growth from to Currently, the Winmark Corporation and Savers, Inc.
Traditionally, used good and thrift stores enjoy higher sales during times of economic downturn since customers are more likely to buy used clothes and supplies at a discount than to buy new items. However, while disposable income increased from to , this industry still saw increased sales and profits. A change in fashion trends has prompted many people — including young consumers — to buy used clothing, resulting in the increased popularity of thrift stores.
Shoppers who are 18 to 37 years old are embracing thrifting 2. An increased focus on sustainability and ethical fashion is partially behind the focus on thrift store shopping, and it bodes well for the future of thrift stores: Second hand stores are predicted to double within the next 10 years.
Like Goodwill, thrift stores have established websites and online auction platforms where shoppers can buy online without ever stepping foot into the store. Additionally, reselling apps like Poshmark have also evolved and gained popularity as shoppers become more determined to seek out deals on used goods.
According to the Association of Resale Professionals , clothing, cookbooks, furniture, jewelry, kitchen appliances, sporting goods, and vintage items are strong sellers for resale shops. Most thrift stores will target a broad audience. While generation Z and millennial shoppers make up a large portion of the thrift store market, consumers of all ages shop at thrift stores.
In most cases, though, thrift stores will target shoppers looking for a good deal on used clothing, accessories, furniture, or other household items. Awareness of item values. Inventory needs to be priced fairly in order for it to sell, and this can be one of the major challenges of owning a thrift store. Because inventory can be so widely varied, a store owner needs to have a sense of individual item values and the current market.
Familiarity with certain brands and products can make it easier to price items fairly. Awareness of trends. An awareness of trends is also important in selecting inventory that will appeal to customers. A store owner who is aware of what is in demand can seek these items out and prominently display these items to draw customers into the store.
Retail experience. Management experience. A large store with the merchandise spread out looks like it doesn't have much to offer. Even though you're operating a thrift store you still need a marketing plan to let potential customers know you're there and what kinds of products you have.
Use newspaper advertising, establish a website, use social media and develop a promotional program. Cash and checks may seem to be the most convenient ways for you to collect the money from sales. Credit or debit card transactions involve fees and applying for and being accepted for a merchant account with a company that processes the transactions.
Unfortunately, if you don't accept credit cards and debit cards you will lose sales. Many small shops can now process credit and debit card transactions using an app installed on a tablet, which is both inexpensive and convenient.
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