Focus on Success!

While almost all of our Products for the Professional Resaler are written with every type of consignment, buy-outright, or thrift shop in mind, and with all types of merchandise considered, it's nice, sometimes, to focus in a bit closer on exactly how your shop operates. That's why we offer our FOCUS products, Conversations with Kate, and more.

499 Names for your Resale Shop
Just can't think of the perfect name for your shop? Here's a compendium of names, some great, some fabulous...Get your highlighter out; you'll have your name in no time flat! There's actually more than 499. Also great, of course, for name changes, naming a second shop or naming your new outlet store.

Click the shopping bag to go to the TGtbT Shop and order this!

10 Simple Low- or No-Cost Ways to make $10,000 more a year in your Resale Shop

The ideas in this booklet were originally produced and posted on this website for the use of shopkeepers who felt they couldn’t afford to attend the annual NARTS conferences. I wanted to show readers that it was not horridly difficult to make “extra” profit. And there are places $100 a month is probably wasted. Cutting down on waste gets money in your pocket as well.

As I wrote these ideas, I focused on making only $100 more per month, because about $1200 is what the average shopkeeper needed to attend Conference. But even if you cannot or will not be going to a meeting, these $100 more a month ideas will make you at least $100 more a month. And if you consistently use and develop all these ideas, you will be pocketing at least $10,000 more a year!

Click the shopping bag to go to our TGtbT shop where you can order this wonderful Product.

FOCUS: Kidswear

All three childrens' shop pamphlets together in one, easily downloaded Focus publication!

Focus publications are specifically gathered to help you answer the pressing questions of every-day resale shopkeeping. Focus: Kidswear is a combination reprint of Short-Stop #13, Kids' Shop Merchandising; Short-Stop #14, Kids' Shop Promotions; and Used News #U6, Kidswear Shop Tips in one easy-to-read PDF file, delivered right to your e-mail box directly from Kate.

We've even included one BONUS Kidswear idea especially for you. This single idea can be a show-stopper...and business-popper...each and every year. It might even become a tradition in your town!

If you don't already have, as a treasured part of your resale reference materials, Short-Stop Collection #2 and Used News, The Collection, Focus: Kidswear, is an easy way to learn how to make your childrenswear shop the best it can be! 

Q: "Competing with big stores is scary! I can't match their advertising. What can I do to make my mark?"
Kate says: I am SO glad you asked that question...because it's SO easy to answer! We all know what's MISSING in today's retail world. That's right, customer service...feeling like you mean something to the people who want your money! 

And there are two WONDERFUL things about making your customers feel valued: it's easy and cost-effective! Customer-service ideas are everywhere in all my Products for the Professional Resaler, but for an immediate brush-up and motivation read the quick 3-page Conversation with Kate: 10 Ways to Pamper your Customers and get started on polishing your reputation tomorrow! After all, when your customers are having a good time, your sales will grow!

Q: "I want to sell gift certificates in my shop. Is there a way to make shoppers want to buy them?"
Kate says: Gift cards and gift certificates are the fastest growing aspect of retail. Is there any reason your shop can't benefit from the growing social acceptance of these vouchers? Of course not!

Gather some great ideas to use in your shop in the quick 5-page Conversation with Kate: Selling Gift Certificates and get started on polishing your reputation tomorrow! Included, FREE, with this Conversation is a Ready-to-Print Page of 6 Staff Badges that can be slipped into standard badge holders and used for in-store promotion of your gift certificates. Build your shop's IMAGE and your shop's MARKET SHARE with gift certificates!

Click the pink shopping bag to go to our Shop to purchase this PDQ file for your business.

Q: "My problem is garage sales! Is there ANY way to show people how much better WE are? Please tell me there IS!"
Kate says: Why, good heavens, there are a dozen easy and simple ways you can compete with garage sales. And they can be yours! 

Do your weekend sales go into in a slump during garage sale season? If so, there are simple and inexpensive solutions. Cultivate a few, and watch your sales grow!

Click the shopping bag to go to our Products Shop where you can buy 12 Ways to Beat Garage Sales.

FOCUS: Buying Outright

Kate's definitive articles on Buying Outright now for the first time together in one, easily downloaded FOCUS publication!

FOCUS: Buying Outright is a combination reprint containing the full text of Buying Outright: Profit or Pain? and Developing an Instinct for Pricing, from The Best of Too Good to be Threw; and Tips for Buying Outright from Used News #4 in one easy-to-read PDF file, delivered right to your e-mail box directly from Kate.

If you don't already have, as a treasured part of your resale reference materials, The Best of Too Good to be Threw and Used News, The Collection, the information in FOCUS: Buying Outright, is an easy way to explore the topic. 

For additional and crucial information on Buying Outright, refer to Chapter 3 of Too Good to be Threw, The Complete Operations Manual For Resale & Consignment Shops.

Q: "I'm still unsure about Buying Outright. Help!"
Kate says: It's a big jump to go from consignment to buying outright, and an even bigger jump if you're starting your shop as  buy-outright-only. The dollars involved are considerable and mistakes could be devastating. 
Of course, you've already read the full chapter in the manual about buying outright, and probably you've also ordered FOCUS: Buying Outright, but here's more information. Conversation with Kate: Buying Outright, is a 5-page compendium of questions asked and answered on Sharing. 
Read what Kate says about: 

• Starting out by buying the "Smalls" 
• When to pay them? 
• Offering Options to suppliers 
• Offering store credit 
• What about a gala buy-outright event? 
• When to make the switch

FOCUS: Home Furnishings

Kate's definitive articles on Home Furnishings and Furniture now for the first time together in one, easily downloaded FOCUS publication!

FOCUS: Home Furnishings is a combination reprint containing the full text of the following TGtbT Products: Short-Stop #7: Household and Furniture Items and Used News #U7: Tips for Furniture and Decorative Items Shops Not one word has been omitted. In addition, FOCUS: Home Furnishings contains new material never before published, in one easy-to-read PDF file, delivered right to your e-mail box directly from Kate.

If you don't already have, as a treasured part of your resale reference materials, these articles from the Collections, Focus: Home Furnishings is an easy way to explore the topic. 

Q: "What's my business worth?"
Kate says: Now there's a topic! Sometimes the worth of your business is a pressing concern (maybe you're ready to sell), sometimes it's a nagging to-do item (your lawyer needs you to set a value for estate-planning), and sometimes it's curiosity (what kind of empire am I building anyway?)

Examining your worth is a way to track progress. If your business is worth more today than it was last year, you're growing. If it isn't, you will have a heads-up on what to do to cultivate its value. Read Business Valuation Down & Dirty Worksheet PLUS Sell/Buy a Resale Business to develop your's business full value!

Business Valuation Down-&-Dirty is a fill-in-the-blanks 3-page form designed to get you started on your way. The results will guide your financial decisions now and for years to come. It's simple and a good introduction into the concept of valuing your business. After you try this valuation, you'll be much more comfortable learning more refined aspects of setting a value. Also included is the 8-page Selling/ Buying your Resale Business, a combination reprint of Short-Stops #28 and 29, for more ways to look at the financial attributes you have developed.  Business Valuation Down & Dirty Worksheet PLUS Sell/Buy a Resale Business lets you take a look at your business the way a financial advisor would, in private and without costly consultation fees!

 

Ordering these Specialty Products:
Click on the little shopping bag next to each Product to be taken to our Shop where you can purchase.

FOCUS publications are specifically gathered to help you answer the pressing questions of every-day resale shopkeeping. They are reprints of information that you may already have in your TGtbT Reference Library, so read the descriptions carefully. In addition to the reprinted material, each of our FOCUS Products also contains new material never before published. All FOCUS Products are in easy-to-read PDF files, delivered right to your e-mail box directly from Kate.

Conversations with Kate Products are easy-read, quick resale helps. They are a direct answer to many shopkeepers' questions posed on our Sharing Discussion Board. If you have a question about consignment, resale, or thrift shop management and operations, Kate's here to help. She's the Resale Guru, the Consignment Expert, the Industry Icon who can tell you everything from how to open a shop to how to make it profit.  

Ordering these Specialty Products:
Click on the little shopping bag next to each Product to be taken to our Shop where you can purchase.

Please note: Your PDQs will be sent only to the e-mail you use on Pay Pal, so monitor that e-mail address. Because these files are non-tangible irrevocable goods we do not issue refund after the product is shipped. PDQs cannot be resent to a second address.