If I were starting a consignment or resale shop today, I'd start a furniture/ household accessories shop. Why?

Everyone's loving their homes right now. And people are much more  attuned to changing and modifying their decor today. 

Besides, there are so many resources to make a shop like this truly "stand out from the crowd": a local crafter who does wonders with silk flowers, an artist with an eye for embellishing abandoned items, a sculptor who does truly original works worthy of an art gallery. 

I'd have a whole address book full of upholstery resources, picture framers, refinishers, and help my clientele have homes that go so far beyond the standard "furniture-store look."

If you are ready to go whole-hog into household, or just want to dabble a bit with a decorative accents area in your clothing shop, read on.
  --- Kate

The Manual:

Can household decor/ furniture/ hard goods shops get something out of it? 

Too Good to be Threw, The Complete Operations Manual for Resale & Consignment Shops, has over 200 pages of information about the industry. Yes, much of it is written from the standpoint of clothing resale. But if you can, as you read, think "dresser" instead of dress, or "sofa" instead of suit, you'll have it made!

Dealing with suppliers, store layout, advertising, tracking sales, setting procedures, location, and all the other points are the same, whether you sell coats or CDs, paintings or panties. See the Table of Contents 

Most of all: your customers are the same. The Manual is your investment in the profitable future of your shop.

The One Best Thing

For a resale or consignment home furnishings shop, nothing can beat explanatory tags: those little folded-over like-a-gift-enclosure tags which have the info you need (ID number, coded date-in, etc), basic info (size,  description, price, etc) and suggestions/ temptations for the shopper such as these examples:

Maple roll-top desk, great for hiding clutter!

Use this little enamel-top table from the 1940's in your kitchen to hold cookbooks, in the front hall to highlight your Fiesta collection, or in a kid's room for crafts (it cleans up in a snap!)

Tiny marble-topped stand from an old Tidewater mansion built in the 1880's

Idea: this ornate plaster frame would make a terrific decoupage tray if you're crafty, or use it to put your grandparents' photo in for instant ancestry!

Tie these notes/ tags on with your signature red yarn or golden ribbon and watch your shop's classiness take an immediate upsurge! Helping your customer envision this new piece in her home will boost sales immediately.

If you have assistants/ helpers who come up with good ideas, include their names on these signs/ tags: Susie thinks this tiny table would be adorable in a hallway, holding family photos. You are giving your shop a personality the public can identify with, and giving Susie credit for adding to your success as well.

Just Released!
Furniture and household accessory shops are one of the fastest- growing segments of resale. Whether your shop is a specialty store or you are adding home items to your wider selection; whether you consign, buy outright or work with donated goods; there are many ways to help your customers choose to make your merchandise a part of their household.

Why they buy
What they buy
Arranging for Maximum Sales
Props
Fix it up to Make More
Showing them why they want it
Advertising and Promotional Ideas

Including the noted AGD and a slew of Quick Tips to run your shop more easily and profitably 

Get your PDQ of
The Resaler's Guide to Furniture & Home Goods 
22 pages, $19.95

What's a PDQ?

This sign was added to Sharing by Greer:

ALL SALES ARE FINAL. PLEASE, EXAMINE YOUR PURCHASE CLOSELY!
*Walk around it. Look under it.*
 *Sit on it. Lie on it. Wiggle it.*
 *Measure it. TWICE.*
 *Open it. Close it. Smell it.*
 *Bring a fabric swatch. Bring a paint swatch.*

Make certain it will match your other "stuff", 
or if it doesn't, that you don't care.

Make sure your husband, wife, son, daughter,
decorator, 3rd cousin on your mother's side,
best friend, hairdresser, 
dog, cat, bird,
or anyone else whose opinion is important to you, 
approves,  
or if they don't approve, 
that you don't care. 

Because...
While we appreciate your business and love you all, 
love means never having to say
  'No, we can't give you a refund.' 
ALL SALES ARE FINAL!!"

Follow along as Kate does an Extreme Makeover in a real consignment shop.

Is that new furniture making you SICK?  A good article to be aware of so you can tell your clients and the press why SecondHand is BETTER than New! Click, as well, on the little blue couch icon on that page...for bad news on new upholstered goods.

HomeFurnishings.com has consumer tips that will give you some points to talk about with your customers and that will help you sell.

A link that tells all about the labeling laws for stuffed goods. Much applies to manufacturers, not 2ndhand dealers, so read carefully and double check with your state people. This site includes Canadian laws, but you have to hunt...Thanks for this link to a Sharer!

Need a little refresher on arranging knick-knacks for appeal? Who better to teach you than HGTV?

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