Be smart for back to school

Uniquely yours...for less!

Are you one of those parents who is constantly being marketed everyday for back to school? If the answer to the question is "yes", it may be a good idea for you to read our latest blog because despite the emails you receive from many retailers offering discounts off of regular priced merchandise there may be many of you who have never considered buying resale, where the discounts are even deeper and many of the items are new with tags or have never been worn. Not only that, but the items we are talking about are either designer or high quality brands that last.

How is this possible? It's actually very simple. Many of us parents, including those on the team at consignista.com either overbuy or are gifted with items from generous grand parents or other members of the family who cannot resist making that purchase for your children. What happens is that as your children grow at an exponential rate, some of these purchases never get worn. The good news is that you can consign those items with consignista.com, earn money from them when they sell and use those earnings to put towards other resale items at smart prices. On top of that, for every purchase you make with us, you earn rewards points that you can put towards future purchases.

Smart savings with consignista.com

So let's show you an example of a saving you can make when you buy resale. Like the Northface Metroplis Parka Jacket that retails at around $199.00 that consignista.com has listed in excellent condition for $89.00. A cool saving of  $110.00. Now we don't know about you, but that $110.00 saving on just one item can go a long way to buying other items. Like Gap long sleeve graphic Ts that consignista.com has listed at between $5.00-8.00 each. Oh and we always offer free shipping. The savings go on!

So we hope you can see the advantages of using consignista.com as opposed to heading out to the nearest mall for your back to school items. And of course, why not consign those items that were either never worn or are in perfect condition with us to continue to add to our increasing inventory? You never know, back to school could end up costing you zero dollars, with the savings you can make when buying resale, and consigning and earning money from those outgrown items with consignista.com. And the icing on the cake is that it's a green alternative - resale is becoming known as a perfect recycling option.

Now we've kept this blog short and sweet as we know time is precious over the summer. And we don't want to keep you from shopping for your back to school necessities with us now do we!

What's Gordon Gekko got to do with online resale?

Uniquely yours...for less!

This month we delve into the industry statistics and trends surrounding resale. Before you stifle a yawn on the basis that you think this subject is boring, you should read on because in fact, from our research it is actually very interesting. We promise!

So resale or retail? Can you tell the difference? Probably not! Today resale shops look the same as mainstream retailers - except for one big difference - they sell high quality goods at lower prices. The resale industry, as we stated in last month's blog, offers quality at what can be enormous savings and don't forget the element that resale is green!

Resale is a multi-billion dollar a year industry and with this in mind you begin to realize the vast scope and advantage to shopping and getting that "must have" fashion item for less. Resale shopping attracts consumers from all economic levels. There is no typical resale shopper and no-one is immune to the excitement of finding a treasure and saving money at the same time. Shrewd shoppers take advantage of the opportunity resale offers - to save money. These savings can help add to quality of life when used for vacations, entertainment, funding of college, the list goes on.

According to America's Research Group, a consumer research firm, approximately 16-18% of Americans will shop at a thrift store during any given year. For resale shops, it is approximately 12-15%. To put these figures into perspective, consider that during the same timeframe, 11.4% of Americans will shop in factory outlet malls, 19.6% in apparel stores and 21.3% in major department stores. 

Advertise your store with consignista.com

Resale has become destination shopping with the recent industry trend of clustering and this leads us onto the newest piece of consignista.com's business model, The Consignista Network. In simple terms, consignista.com will allow other apparel resale/consignment stores to gain an online presence without the need of them building and managing a website themselves. This in turn allows these stores to list their inventory online at consignista.com and gives, as an example, a shopper in Texas to purchase that "must have" item from a store in Iowa. By creating The Consignista Network at consignista.com, it adds efficiency for the shopper and additional sales for the resale/consignment store who is part of the Consignista Network who would not necessarily have been found by that savvy shopper otherwise. 

Shoppers can visit a variety of resale/consignment stores at one site - consignista.com.

The resale market is blossoming thanks to value-conscious consumers and with the increasing awareness of the importance of reducing pointless waste, we are progressing from a disposable society to a recycling society - a change that has enormous market potential for the resale industry as a whole.

While bricks and mortar stores close their doors at the end of every day, online stores, just like consignista.com operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Online stores are the Gordon Gekko of Wall Street Fame. To coin one of Mr Gekko's phrases, consignista.com "never sleeps".

Child's Play + Resale = Earnings

Uniquely yours...for less!

No, the title of this blog is not about crazy mathematics, but more an introduction of how you can earn cash from your "outgrown" or "never worn" children's closet by entering into the ever-growing world of resale. And while making reference to ever-growing, we all know how fast children grow. So fast in fact, that some items of their clothing either never get worn, or are worn a handful of times, where they practically show no signs of wear.

If you know what we mean, you're one of those parents who has a bundle of children's clothes that are just too good to "give away". Where your friends/family have reached the "done and done" stage on having anymore babies. Where your little one's closet contain brands like Janie & Jack, Ralph Lauren, Vineyard Vines, Baby Gap, Juicy Couture to name but a few. What should you do with these wonderful items? Well, you could, of course, vacuum pack them up, put them in the attic so they never see the light of day again, or you could give others the chance of making great use of these clothes by recycling them through resale and at the same time make a buck or few for yourself by doing so. To us, at consignista.com that makes perfect sense. You earn, while others save. 

Janie & Jack Dresses $32.00 at consignista.com

So what are your resale options? Your local consignment store (if you have one that takes children's clothes), or there is the online route. And whilst consignista.com is totally online, and for those of you who don't already know how great we are, let's talk about the benefits of that (because we know what we are talking about) or so rumor has it!

The benefits to using consignista.com:

You're not restricted as to when you can consign your items for resale, because being online means you never know who is looking for what, in any particular season.

You get to choose the price you want to list your items at (although it is always recommended to discount items new with tags by 50%) as a starting point.

Once you list your items, they can stay on consignista.com until they sell, or if you request for us to remove them.

We will not reduce your items (unless you tell us to), or if we ever do decide to do a "flash sale" the discounted price will come out of our pocket, not yours. That means no nasty surprises when you get your money.

You earn 70% when you upload your items from the comfort of your own home to our site using our super-easy upload form.

Other benefits include a local concierge service, where take care of the whole consignment process for you, you can earn reward points when you shop with us to put towards future purchases, we have a VIP program and by consigning your items with us enables us to "give back" to great causes. Just take a look at the give back section of our site to see what we are up to now.

Just register with us to find out just how simple and fun consigning can be!

Read next month's blog where we will explore the other side of the coin and if you are not clear on what we mean by that, you have no choice but to come back to find out! As always, please, Like Us on Facebook, Follow us on Pinterest and check out our Google + page - and spread a little sunshine because Summer is a stones throw away!

Do you relish the New Year?

Uniquely yours...for less!

OK so we're not sure about you guys, but we have found it super difficult to "get into gear" for 2014. The holidays were so fun-filled that getting back to reality sucks - yes even 24/7 businesses have some down time. And on top of that, being based out of North East America has meant we have "bundled up" to protect ourselves from the snow storm, Hercules, and the polar vortex we are currently experiencing. Apparently any moisture will "flash freeze". We remember, flash dance, but "flash freeze" is new on us lol! Any hoo, we digress.

So no-one wins star prize for knowing the typical new year's resolutions following the holidays.... join a gym, lose weight, drink less alcohol, stop smoking, be nicer to our better halves blah de blah de blah. But there are other new beginnings that are just as important that may get overlooked. What, pray tell may they be? Well, one is de-cluttering. It's not just reserved for spring cleaning. Oh no. At consignista.com our rule is, if you haven't worn something for at least 12 months then try it on, look in the mirror and ask yourself these honest questions: does it fit? does it still suit me? will I wear it? If your answer to any of these questions is "no", you don't need us to tell you want to do, consign it with us. Here are some good reasons why you should. We are not seasonally restricted on the items we accept (we're national don't you know!), you set the price you want to sell an item at and once an item is listed with us it will stay available for sale on the site unless you ask us to remove it. Most importantly, we will NEVER reduce your item - unlike other sites - and you earn the biggest slice of the pie. In a nutshell, it's your stuff, so you're in charge of it.

And with a revamped Rewards Program where, in addition to earning rewards points, when you refer a friend you earn $10 when they make their first purchase from us*, we fail to see the downside. All the blurb about our revamped Rewards Program can be found on our website www.consignista.com. Spread the word for us and you get paid!

Keep your eye on the prize.

There is just one final thing to add to this message, whether 2013 has been an awesome year, or an "I'd rather not talk about how bad 2013 was" year, this image couldn't say it better. All that is left to say is, "Let's Rock 2014"!

Happy New Year to All!



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