01 Mar How To Consign When You Have No Time

Several years ago, when my first child was born, I was introduced to the concept of consignment events.  If you haven’t heard of these, they are (unlike consignment stores) typically quite large semi-annual consignment sales usually held in the spring and in the fall.  The sales are mostly geared towards babies and children and include an awesome array of merchandise.  The merchandise typically includes books, games, DVDs, toys, clothes, shoes, bedding, baby gear, accessories and more.  Anyone can consign for a small fee and earn approximately 70% of the price of their consigned items.  It’s where I stock up for the next season’s clothing for my kids, as well as where I find Christmas and birthday gifts, educational books and toys etc.  

Why Consign?

In my area, these consignment events are so popular, that unless you get there early, you are going to miss out on a lot of the best deals.  The secret is to get in early.  There are several ways to shop a consignment event before it is open to the public.  Although each consignment company varies in its’ policies, they will usually grant early access to first-time Moms, consignors and volunteers.   

Initially I did not consign.  It seemed very overwhelming to me.  There were so many rules and so much organizing!  As my children grew older, though, I began collecting more and more baby clothes, toys and gear.  I finally decided to take the time and figure the whole consigning thing out – before I ran out of space!  

My first time consigning was just as I thought it would be:  completely overwhelming.  It took days for me to get everything organized, cleaned, pressed, hung, tagged and entered into the computer system.  Who has that kind of time?!  I was not very excited about it…  until I got my check.  The check almost completely covered my consignment shopping!  So I decided to stick with it, but this time I was going to be organized.

I have put together a few tips on how to simplify the consignment process and how to dramatically reduce the time spent preparing your consignment items.  I would hate for you to waste as much time as I have!

1. Stay Organized

I keep an area in one of my closets cleared for consignment items.  As a child outgrows a piece of clothing, I wash, dry and press it as I normally would, then I hang it in the closet, ready to be tagged.  When I first consigned, preparing the clothes took me days to do.  Now it’s already done!

2. Sort as You Go

I divide the clothing to be consigned into boys and girls and then sort each of these sections according to size.  This is a very simple but important step.  If you are organized, with your items sorted in this manner, you can go through the drop off process very quickly.  Drop off initially took me a couple of hours.  Now I have it down to about 15 minutes.

3. Buy Supplies in the Off-Season

I try to get consignment supplies bought some time during the summer or winter.  The correct sized tags can be difficult to find and more expensive during consignment season.  I buy a large package of tags in the middle of the winter.  I will watch for sales and buy them when I am out running errands.  Pins and hangers will only need to be purchased once.  After my first consignment sale, I saved the hangers and pins and have never needed to buy more.

4. Do Your Online Entry Last

This may go without saying, but save all of the online entering work for last.  If you are completely organized and with all of your items ready to go, then sit down and enter your items online.  This can also be done very quickly, if you are organized!

5. Get There Early

This is the reason I consign!  If you consign, use the major benefit of getting there early.  It makes a big, big difference!

If you decide to consign, I wish you luck!  It is always worth it when you get that check!