Is Clothes Consignment Worth it?
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Back in August, I took some clothes to a local consignment store. The other day I went and picked up the clothes that didn’t sell as well as a check for the items people purchased. The check was for $33.72.
I honestly was expecting more, but I’m glad that some items sold. I was charged a $5 fee for consigning, so the total of the items that sold was $38.72. I’ve got mixed emotions on whether or not I’ll take any more clothes to the consignment store. Sure, it’s definitely nice that I made $33.72 extra that I wasn’t planning on, but at the same time it was a pain to keep those clothes around the house for as long as I did before taking them to the consignment store.
I gave the rest of the clothes that didn’t sell to a young mom that is struggling to make ends meet. I feel really good that she’s getting the clothes and will put them to good use. In the future, I think I may just donate any old clothing I have to her. The feeling that I get knowing that I’m helping someone is great.
Have you tried consignment stores? Did you get a result like mine?
image from lauracattano
I agree. I’ve used a local consignment store for my clothes and was sadly disappointed with the result. Several items sold, but several others didn’t. And the money I received was not very much.
Although it was a little less hassle than selling on ebay, I’ll stick with donations to my local women’s shelter.
On the other side, my daughter-in-law has had very good experiences with local consignment sales for children’s clothes. We love to shop there, and she usually nets a tidy amount.
I enjoy reading your blog. Thanks.
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Mrs Money Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Yes! That’s another great point; it was so much easier than ebay! I don’t think ebay is worth it for selling clothes. I think a lot of people do better with kid’s clothing.
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind comments!
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I LOVE the consignment store.
I take a spring and a winter consignment to the shop, and then collect my money at the end of the year.
I send my best stuff to the consignment shop, the next tier of stuff to the yard sale, and that which didn’t go at the yard sale, goes to the charity.
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Mrs Money Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I’m glad to hear you have success with it! How many items do you normally take at a time? I took in 40 all together.
I tried having a yard sale a few times but it definitely wasn’t worth it!
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I’ve never sent clothes to a consignment shop, but I do plan on consigning some of Johnny’s old stuff in March.
I don’t expect to get much money for it at all. But since I didn’t pay much for it either, I think I’ll get all my money back — maybe even a slight profit since some things were a huge deal.
I hope it’s worth my time!
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Mrs Money Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I’ll bet you’ll have a lot of success with his clothes. It seems a lot of baby items sell better than adult’s!
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Hey it’s better than $0. Do you think the tax write off would have been more valuable? I’ve never done consignment, only clothing resellers. The problem with the resellers is that they are very picky, I had some really nice clothes that they wouldn’t take. Now I just donate everything, less hassle.
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Mrs Money Reply:
December 14th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
You know- I had the exact same thoughts as you. I figured it was SOME money and I was happy with that. I think if I itemized everything that it would probably have been better than consigning. I need to make detailed lists of everything I donate.
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I have never done it before, but I don’t have anything worth consigning :\
I heard it was mostly for designer stuff
I normally sell the items online (on the blog or ebay), give them away to friends or donate to goodwill
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I take clothing to a local consignment shop regularly. They operate a little differently. You take in the clothing, they sell it, you get 50% of what they sell it for. I don’t have to go back and pick up clothing that doesn’t sell, they donate unsold clothing. I also shop there, so usually when I buy something from there, they will check their records and tell me what I have on my account so I can “pay” for my purchases with that. Maybe you just need to check around with different consignment shops.
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I tried selling a lot of name-brand/designer, tags still on clothes and the shop wouldn’t take them for whatever reason. So I probably won’t be attempting that again. I do love shopping there though.
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I agree with you that consigning is so much work and the reward is small!
I did a clothes swap with a few friends and had GREAT fun AND I find great joy in seeing my clothes on them. We’re giving old clothes new life – plus I got GREAT stuff! Here’s my blog about it – you are welcome to link to it for your readers if you think they’d benefit?
http://womenlivingwell-courtney.blogspot.com/2009/09/thrifty-thursday-clothes-swap.html
Thanks for stopping by my cyberspace spot today!
Courtney
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