[punkrocksong]

How do consignment shops work?

I have a practically new wardrobe of 24-26 size clothing. As generous as I am with Good Will donations (I already took four trash bags of clothes there last weekend) I would like to try to sell some of my nicer clothes that I recently bought within the last year. A couple of the jackets and a few dresses still have the tags on them I want to take them to a consignment shop, but I'm not sure how that works.

Do the clothes need to be pressed and on hangers? Does it matter if some of it has dog hair on them? I keep setting them aside and my animals keep sleeping on them. I'm assuming the shop cleans everything before they sell it, but I'm not really sure what the rules are. I don't want to bring in three totes of clothes and have the salesperson tell me they can't accept anything because it's wrinkled.

I also thought about ebay...but that seems like it might be a lot of work.

I also need some scratch to buy some new clothes. And I still have 90+ lbs to go, so anything I do get is a temporary fix, hence not wanting to spend tons of cash.

Any suggestions/tips would be most welcomed!

[fadedbluejeans]

the rules will vary by shop. generally, the nicer your things look the more eager they will be to accept them and try to sell them and the better price you can expect. if you want to get the most money, ebay is probably the better way, however consignment is easier in that you can quickly drop off a bunch of stuff in a few minutes.
something else to keep in mind if you go the consignment route - make sure the shop is reputable, and keep track of what you bring there. some disreputable places sell your stuff and don't give you your portion of the proceeds. also, I have heard of places going out of business and its a hard time (or impossible) to get your money or things back.
good luck!

[586]

They sometimes have set prices of what they'll pay for items of clothing - shirts $5, suits $10-$15, skirts $8 and so on. Sometimes they will pay much more for certain brand names or luxury names - scope out the consignment shops in your area that may cater to plus size women. Items will be better valued if pressed/cleaned/hair free and on hangers.

Some stores will do store credit only, some do instant cash, some do profit sharing. On particular items that still have tags and are current season, you may get better value on eBay.

And if you still have receipts for those items with tags, you may consider returning them if possible.

[sontaikle]

Got an iPhone? You can sell stuff using Poshmark. I've sold a few things on there.

[AwShucks]

I sold some of my clothing through a consignment shop. They were very picky. They only took clothes on hangers, and insisted that they look as if they came from the shop you bought them from - pressed and clean. I live in a very dark house, so I thought everything looked good, but they didn't take a jean jacket that had no stains on the front, but was a little dingy on the inside collar area. And, she rubbed the inseam of the pants to see if they felt "pilly" where the legs had rubbed. If they were, she wouldn't take them. They also were strict about seasons. I wear crop pants year round, but she insisted that they were spring items.

Most of the things that had tags and were unworn sold,along with others, but I picked up about half of the clothes after 90 days. If I hadn't picked them up by their deadline, I would've have relinquished the clothes... the store would have ownership of whatever was left. (!) They had a 60/40 policy. They gave me 40% of the selling price, and they set the prices. They also had the right to mark an item down without consulting me. So, some things sold for pretty small amounts.

I put some of the things left over on Ebay, and actually made more money per item. It wasn't as much work as I thought, and was kind of fun. I need to do that again.

Read your contract carefully if you go into this. And, I wouldn't think they'd take anything with pet hair on it. I'd ready a few items and take them a little at a time so that you can delivery them hung up and fresh from the laundry before your "babies" get to them!

[punkrocksong]

Thanks for all the advice...After doing some research, I think I might just try my luck on Ebay. I'm not going to spend the money to dry clean my winter coats on the off chance that a consignment shop might take them. And I looked into the ones around here and they seem to be really picky. It might be a fun project for me!