For the most part, spring consignment events have ended, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to clean out those closets and get your items into consignment. Josie’s Friends is an online consignment boutique committed to sponsoring children worldwide. They accept all seasons year-round for women’s, children’s, maternity and juniors clothing, accessories and footwear.
Josie’s Friends also provides other options beyond consignment; you can donate your clothes to help your child’s school earn money! Their school fundraising program allows you to simply ‘request a bag’ and indicate which school you are donating your items too and they will take care of the rest. Your child’s school will earn money when your items sell!
Follow these few basic tips to help you consign or donate to your child’s school successfully:
1. Be informed: Make sure you clearly understand the consignment acceptance policy before you start to gather your items. If after reading through the policy, you are still unsure or have questions, reach out to your chosen consignment establishment to gather more details. This is the most important step as it can save you time and undue frustration and/or disappointment.
2. Getting started: Before you start ripping through the closet, get yourself organized. Create three piles (use bins if you have them), one for donate, one for consignment ready and one for wash.
a. The ‘donation’ pile are items that do not meet the acceptance policy of the consignment store.
b. The ‘consignment ready’ pile are items that do meet the acceptancepolicy and are ready for resell.
c. The ‘wash’ pile are for items that could meet the consignment acceptance policy but may need to be washed or tended to first. This is a great time to get your kids involved providing they can handle seeing their “favorite shirt” that hasn’t been worn in 6 months removed from the closet.
3. Inspection: Often times, we have a personal attachment to our clothes without realizing it so take a look at each item carefully in good lighting without emotion. Look at each item front, back, inside and out to make sure there are no stains, discoloration, snags, rips/tears or stretched out areas of the garment and all snaps, buttons and zippers are in good working order. Items should be relatively current (within the last 5 years unless otherwise stated by the consignment shop) and do
not show significant wear.
4. Prep and present: This is when you have the opportunity to “sell” your product to the consignment shop. Organize outfits together, fold product neatly, snap onesies, zip up jackets and neatly place all items into the consignment bag. Having the product organized shows that the consignor has taken good care of their clothes which is important when you are trying to resell your items.
5. Expectation: Before you send in your consignment bag or take your items to a consignment shop to be inspected, be realistic with the outcome. Consignment shops use bright lights to find stains and imperfections, so it is very common for them to find flaws that maybe you didn’t see initially. Prepare yourself for this outcome and don’t take it personally, it happens to everyone. Any reputable consignment shop will provide you the option of having your items returned to you or donated.
6. Schedule: Mark your calendar to clean out closets at least 2 times a year, although 4 times a year is recommended. This process becomes easier and faster when you stay on top of it throughout the year. In addition, consignment shops usually like to accept reasonable amounts of product throughout the year from one consignor versus 5 bins of product yearly.
Get motivated, get the kids involved and get organized. It’s going to feel amazing to have those closets cleaned out and to make a little money in return or give back to your kids school.
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About the author: Christy Duncan is the Owner/Founder of Josie’s Friends, an online only consignment boutique. Christy lives with her husband Tracy, step-daughter Emily, step-son William and daughter Josephine in Smyrna, GA. Christy was inspired to create and utilize Josie’s Friends to aid impoverished children worldwide, while solving a need for convenient and hassle-free consignment. A portion of profits go towards sponsoring children with education, medical attention, food, clean water and basic supplies. Josie’s Friends currently sponsors four children (friends) who now have the chance to build a successful future for themselves and their family.
