Wee-cycle Mart Children's Consignment Sales Blog

Tips for selling SHOES at Wee-cycle Mart

Shoes are a VERY big seller at our Wee-cycle Mart sales!

Here are a few tips to selling shoes at the sales:

Shoes

Please only bring your like-new shoes! Due to the way we display our shoes on racks and NOT in bins, we prefer that you use ZIP TIES (cable ties) or string to TIE the shoes together so that they can sit side by side on the shelf. This will keep them from being separated. Then pin the tag through the tie or laces.  Tap and dance shoes are very desirable.

Read more on how to prep items for sales: http://www.wee-cyclemart.com/prepandtag.html#ixzz1SUFlZzzg

What is considered a BOUTIQUE BRAND at Wee-cycle Mart?

 
Many of you may not have realized that at all Wee-cycle Mart sales there is a rack just for BOUTIQUE BRANDS. We separate the Boutique Brands from the rest as many moms do not know what is and isn't considered Boutique and can be quite surprised by the higher price tag on Boutique Items when they are mixed in with the rest of the items.

This rack is clearly marked and contains all sizes and both girls and boys up to Children's size 14. The larger size children's Boutique and those Brand Names for Juniors are still located in those sections on the main floor.

Where the actual BOUTIQUE RACK is located at each sale can differ on floor plan layout. It is usually closer to the Check-Out line but not always. Be sure to look for it as there are great savings on otherwise out of budget items.

You WILL NOT find Gymboree, Lands End, Tommy Hilfiger etc on there. Those are definately upper end clothes but not considered Boutique.

Here is a list that we will be using to place items on the BOUTIQUE rack.

Consignors, it would help greatly if you can choose the CATAGORY of BOUTIQUE or write it in the description in BOLD when you are tagging so the volunteers can place your Boutique Items on the correct rack.

Shoppers, you will know that items on the Boutique Rack are priced accordingly as they have a much higher original retail price.

You will find both NEW and Gently Used Clothing on the BOUTIQUE RACK, Be sure to look for it at every Wee-cycle Mart Sale! Happy Saving!

 

Be sure you are checking RECALL LISTS!

At Wee-cycle Mart Children's Consignment Sale, we ask our consignors take responsibility when it comes checking their items against the recall list! It is utterly impossible for us to check 25,000+ items in just 2 days to see if they have been recalled; therefore, we ask each consignor to check their items BEFORE tagging them. This is VERY important!

There are several ways to do that:

1. Go to http://www.cpsc.gov/ directly and look for your items.
2. You can also go to websites that list recalls like http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recalls04/aaarecalls_child.htm or http://babyproducts.about.com/od/recallsandsafety/a/prodrecalls.htm
3. you can google your items and if it's been recalled usually the post will come up about it.

We understand that this could be a pain to do and you may be tempted to skip this step in the consigning process, however, we all are moms and understand that our kids safety is our top priority!

If an item was recalled, you probably don't want YOUR kid at risk and you sure would not want a new moms to put her baby or child at risk either! Do YOUR part and check the recall list often! It's also for your own safety! Several sites offer sign ups to receive recalls notices to your inbox to make it even easier to stay up on recalls for you and your family!

Many items that have been recalled have "fixes" free from the manufacturer or offer refunds.

Thank you for understanding and as a shopper should you ever see something on the floor at any Wee-cycle Mart Children's Consignment Sales that has been recalled, PLEASE bring it to a volunteer's attention and we will pull it from the floor til we can verify that it is OK to sell!

Print Codes no longer needed - find out how...

Just a quick reminder that you do not need print codes anymore. However, you must LOG-IN to My Consignment Manager from our website under consignors. OR you can go directly to our webpage at www.myconsignmentmanager.com/weecycles to avoid Print Codes. Hope that helps clean up any confusion when trying to print your tags!

Pricing reminder!

When tagging your items, you get to decide what you want the item to sell for. Sometimes this can be tricky.....we are not a yard sale - the lowest price is $2 - so make sure it's worth at least $2 or group like things together to get a $2 value!

If you price it too low, it will sell quickly but you will not make a lot on the item and neither will Wee-cycle Mart....

If you price it too high, it will not sell and no one makes any money!

So how do you decided what to sell it for?

My general rule of thumb is based on 2 things:

1) the magic number seems to be 1/3 of retail with some exceptions for New with Tags, and larger toys like Little Tikes, etc.

2) ask yourself, "what would I pay for that at a consignment store?" What would make me pick it up and buy it without hesitation?  If you would buy it at that price, so would another mom!

In conclusion, be fair...to YOU and the SHOPPER! It will be a WIN/WIN for all. You will have it out of the house, make a little money and the shopper will have found a good deal!  If it is priced right, it WILL sell! Guaranteed! Things that are left on Sunday as usually either over priced or not marked 1/2 off or were just not acceptable to begin with and slipped through inspections -it does happen :)

Our shoppers do want bargains but they are also willing to pay a reasonable price for items as well!

Happy Tagging!

How to transfer from another sale that uses MYCM to Wee-cycle Mart

Transferring items to Wee-cycle Mart from another sale that uses MYCM

First REGISTER for the Wee-cycle Mart sale of your choice or the FIRST of our sales that you will doing with us this season!

1) go to http://www.myconsignmentmanager.com/consignmentMgr/seller/sellerHomePage.do
2) login with your same passwords
3) DO NOT CLICK on sale but go top bar and click manage inventory
4) pull up the old sale(s) (Teen Traders, etc)  and generate the items list - with the UNSOLD
items search criteria circle checked. Then select individual items you want to transfer or all.
5) go to the transfer item button (found in the middle right) and select Wee-cycle Mart and then click
on the transfer item button.

It's that easy! Let me know if you have any questions!

1) go to http://www.myconsignmentmanager.com/consignmentMgr/seller/sellerHomePage.do
2) login with your same passwords
3) DO NOT CLICK on sale but go top bar and click manage inventory
4) pull up the old sale(s) (Teen Traders, etc)  and generate the items list - with the UNSOLD
items search criteria circle checked. Then select individual items you want to transfer or all.
5) go to the transfer item button (found in the middle right) and select Wee-cycle Mart and then click
on the transfer item button.

It's that easy! Let me know if you have any questions!

Wish List now Available for Wee-cycle Mart Shoppers

They say one mans trash is another man's treasure! You may have what someone really needs hiding in your attic or garage!

We have started a Wish List for shoppers on our BLOG! Check it out!

I've added a permanent link on the left top side of this blog under FUN STUFF to click to the Wish List at anytime!

If you have something you are really looking for and would love to buy it from another MOM at Wee-cycle Mart just send us your Name (will not be posted) along with the item(s) description & photo (optional) and which sales you will be shopping and hopefully we can help you find what you really need or WANT! 

Meet Andrea...another one of our TOP Consignors from Spring 2009 Sales!

Name: Andrea Strunkstein

City: Bel Air, MD

Family Info: (# of kids etc) 2 Kids (Boy - 4 & Girl – 2)

Do you work (ft/pt/home-based etc): FT + school

How many times have you consigned with us? 1

 

 

 

Here are some questions that will help you be a top consignor too!

1) Approx. How many items did you bring to the sale? 259

2) How many items did you sell? 163

3) What is your favorite thing about consigning with Wee-cycle Mart?  It was fun to get in early and shop of course! Plus it’s just a great idea; I wish I had thought of it. I get a lot more than I ever would at a yard sale.

4) What is your best tip for a BRAND NEW Consignor with us?  Make sure you follow the instructions to the dot! You can’t halfway do it or you risk things not selling or you make things a lot harder on the girls running this project. If you don’t use the right paper, ink, etc they will have to take the time to type in your numbers for you to get credit. That may not bother you giving someone more work, but who’s to say their typing accuracy is great. If you want to get credit for everything and help the sale run smoother, do it right THE FIRST TIME !!

6) What would you do differently next time if anything?  I have thought about letting them tag, hang and store the items. I would say it depends on each person and the hours they work and the time they have to put into it.

Anything else you would like to share?  They need a lot of volunteer to help and even a little time will go a long way, plus again- you get to shop first!

What should I give away? What should I sell at Wee-cycle Mart?

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I keep seeing and hearing comments about quality at consignment sales (not just Wee-cycle Mart). So I thought I would address what is appropriate to sell and what is not. If you are a shopper, this should also help you set up your expectations when you come to shop with us! We are by no way perfect, but we are always improving the shopping experience!

If you've consigned with us at our past sales, then you know we do attempt to check your items at drop-off. Of course, how thorough we can be is up to how many volunteers we have at the time you drop-off and how many item you have to drop-off.   Even though we have everyone sign up for a drop-off time so we don't have 150 people showing up at the sale time, it's natural for some to be early, some late, some not show up at all, some show up at a totally different time than they signed up for! So that adds to the complication! We are accepting about 20,000 items in a 24 hour period, we do the best we can to reject items that do not meet our standards, It is not a perfect system, but it can be better if the CONSIGNOR doesn't bring items in the first place that don't meet our standards.

Here are items that we DO NOT ACCEPT:

• items with stains, not clean
• items with over-wear/washing/out-of-shape
• items that are too old looking or out-of-date styles
• items with holes, tears, broken zippers
• items with missing pieces/parts
• items without batteries if batteries required
• items out of season (save it for next sale)
• stuffed animals unless they do something like Tickle-Me Elmo
• clothing with advertising/websites/free shirts from non-profits/library etc
• car seats that over over 5 years old (date must be imprinted on bottom of seat)
• fast food toys, grab bags of misc toys
• underwear unless new in package
• videos/cds/dvds not in original packaging (no copies allowed)
• of course, anything that is recalled

Before you tag, check this list. Have someone look over your items in DAYLIGHT. Why waste time tagging something, you will never get paid on....we do go over the racks each day and pull additional items that don't meet our criteria above. We place them on a rack in the HOLD AREA that says (not-acceptable items). So just because it you made it through drop-off, you may still have items that were pulled from the floor. When you pick up on Sunday, be sure to check that rack for your items!

As a shopper, if you see something that should not be on the floor, feel free to give it to a volunteer in a blue apron. We appreciate it!

Lastly, please don't be offended if we reject some of your items at drop-off. We want to make sure what we have on the floor sells. We want shoppers to know that what they are buying is in good condition.  We also only have limited racks and we want to make sure that we have it filled with only the best selection for our shoppers!  We are NOT a Yard Sale!  Our lowest price is $2. So ask yourself.....is this worth $2, would I pay $2 or more for this item??

More blogging to come on Pricing Your Items, check back soon!

Top Educational & FUN Website for Kids!

The next time you need some time for yourself to tag your items for Wee-cycle Mart, check out these great websites that could keep your kids attention and not bore them to death!

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-educational-websites-for-children-that-are-fun/

Get Ready for FALL/WINTER Sales!

Don't throw out your Fall/Winter kids stuff! Save it for Wee-cycle Mart Fall/Winter Sales in Maryland!

If you don't want to store it all summer long, call for a Pick-up 410-574-1781 and we will hang/tag & store it for you til the sale! (fee applies see website for details)

• Harford County Sale in Havre de Grace - September 18-20th
• Carroll County Sale in Westminster - Oct 9-11th

• Anne Arundel County Sale in Ft. Meade - Oct 23-25th

See you in the FALL! Don't forget to become a FAN of our FACEBOOK Page for a chance to WIN a $10 Gift Certificate to one of our fall sales! 

Photos of Ft. Meade sale to come in a few days - be sure check back!

What should I price my items for?

This is probably the most asked questions of new consignors. And another should be "Why didn't my items sell?"

As we completed our 8th & 9th sales, I looked around at the end of these sales to see what was left on Sunday after 50% off day.  And here is what I found as well as suggestions to improve your sales!

1. Items priced too high  - PRICE YOUR ITEMS TO SELL - USUALLY 1/3 OF WHAT YOU PAID OR LESS. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET 50% IF NEW WITH TAGS OR LARGE OUTDOOR ITEMS LIKE LITTLE TIKES ETC
2. Items too old - IF ITS LOOKS OUTDATED, IT PROBABLY IS! DON'T BOTHER TAGGING IT.
3. items had stains - YES, EVEN AFTER THE CHECK IN PROCESS & NIGHTLY STAIN CHECKS, THERE WAS STILL ITEMS FOUND WITH STAINS. BE SURE TO CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK FOR STAINS.
4. Items not priced 50% off - IF IT DIDN'T SELL THURS/FRI/SAT, THEN IT MOST LIKELY WAS OVERPRICED TO BEGIN WITH. BY MARKING IT 50% OFF, YOU LEVEL THE PLAYING GROUND AND IT USUALLY SELLS.
5. Items like basic tees and knit shorts - THESE ITEMS DO NOT SELL WELL UNLESS GROUPED TOGETHER AND MARKED FOR $2-$3. INDIVIDUAL BASIC TEES/SHORTS FROM WALMART ETC SHOULD NOT BE SOLD INDIVIDUALLY AS THEY ARE NOT WORTH $2 USED. RECOMMEND GROUPING THEM TO MEET $2 MIN. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO SELL BRAND NAMES INDIVIDUALLY DEPENDING ON CONDITION.
6. Bedding - DOES NOT SELL WELL UNLESS IT IS A FULL SET AND PRICED ABOUT 1/4 OF WHAT YOU PAID. DON'T BOTHER WITH BUMPERS ALONE ETC. THEY DON'T HAVE A GOOD RESALE VALUE.
7. Clothes in bags - EXCEPT FOR ONESIES AND SOCKS, WE DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT YOU PUT CLOTHES IN BAGS. THEY JUST GET RIPPED OPEN AND THEN BECOMES A MESS. HANG GROUPS OF CLOTHES TOGETHER ON HANGERS AND RUBBEBAND TOGETHER.THIS INCLUDES BATHING SUITS. THEY SELL BETTER ON HANGERS.

Here's a great example:

We had a crib priced at $120 and 50% off.  All the other cribs sold but this one and it got me thinking....

• The crib did not sell at $120 but did sell on Sunday at 50% off for $60.
• The consignor received $30 (assuming she did not volunteer).
• If she had priced it at $99 it most likely would have sold at full price and she would have received $49.50.
• If it had not sold by Sunday and sold on Sunday for $49.50 she would have received $24.75.
• Now as I said she mostly would have gotten $49.50 as the lower price would have made it sell at full price. She would have received $19.50 MORE.
• But if it sold on Sunday, she would have received only $5.25 LESS.
• It's my opinion only, but I think the risk of losing $5.25 is worth the chance of getting $19.50 more!

The moral of the story is PRICE TO SELL! AND MARK 50% OFF!  Everybody wins if it is priced right! Nobody wins if it doesn't sell!

Reconciling your SOLD ITEMS vs. Settlement Report?

Just wanted to post about something that I saw happen at the Carroll County sale....We had lots of items coming up NOT IN INVENTORY and this made me think........

Consignors may have items that actually SOLD but are not marked in inventory as SOLD. This may lead you to believe that you either accidentally left the item at the sale or that it was stolen (does unfortunately happen occasionaly).

However, your item may actually have sold and happily you will be getting PAID on it and you will see a strange line item that does not match one of your items on your inventory report.

Why does this happen???? This happens when the cashier gets a  "not in inventory" error message when we enter the tags. This can be caused by:

1. you forgot to transfer the item from another sale  - I had a few of you and it was just a few items each.
2. you changed something on your tag but did not reprint it. Remember you cannot make hand changes to price as we go by the barcode. Ex. if you prnt a tag at $10 and decide you really want to sell it at $30 so you take a marker and change the price....well the barcode is still going to read $10 and charge the customer only $10. Or lets say you print a stroller for $50 and you decide to let it go for $30 because the infant seat is no longer good so you hand-write $30 (first, how do we know a customer didn't mark it down?) but it doesn't matter, we go off the barcode. If it scans at $50 we have to charge $50. They customer will not be happy! So please remember to reprint if you need to change a tag....thanks in advance!
3. your tag did not scan so the cashier had to manually enter the tag and they entered either the item number, price or discount option wrong. When this happens it accepts it and you get paid but it doesn't match any item in inventory. This is why it is VERY important that you make sure your barcodes are readable (no blurry or wavy lines, not too light or too dark and not on colored cardstock or copy paper.)

It's best to go by your Settlement Report and not your SOLD report as you might be getting paid on more than you think! If you have any questions about this, feel free to email us at info@wee-cyclemart.com

Quick Drop or Tag it Myself? Which should I choose?

We've had a few of you that are new to the consigning thing ask - what's better - Quick-Drop or Tagging items Yourself?

Here's my take on it:

1. If you usually GIVE YOUR ITEMS away to Charities/friends/family etc....Quick Drop is for you as 30% is better than $0!

2. If you are really busy (aren't we all) and time seems to get away from you easily ...Quick Drop is for you!  You won't miss getting your things in the sale!

3. If you can't find hangers, cardstock & pins, Quick Drop is better as we provide all that for you!

4. If you have really unique items, you know what you paid for them....Tagging it yourself is probably better!

5. If you like to stay up late, Tagging it yourself will work out just fine for you as you'll tag into th wee hours of the morning if you have to to get it done!

6. If you want the most money for your things, Tagging it yourself will be better!

If you want to take advantage of the Quick Drop for FT. MEADE Anne Arundel County sale, you must make arrangements to drop off No later than APRIL 15th by calling 410-574-1781, You can drop off in Pasadena, Ft. Meade, Bel Air or Middle River!  We can also pick up for $15 fee taken out of your commissions! April 15th is the deadline for pick up too as the moms need time to get it tagged for you!

Hope that helps you make a decision to join us one way or the other! You don't want to miss our last opportunity to sell your spring/summer items and more May 1-3rd in Ft. Meade!

Transferring items from Wee-cycle Mart to Teen Traders Sale

I just learned that since Teen Traders has a differnet webpage than Wee-cycle Mart that there are slightly different transfering instructions if you need to transfer items from Wee-cycle Mart sales or another sale that uses Myconsignmentmananger.com to Teen Traders

1) go to http://www.myconsignmentmanager.com/consignmentMgr/seller/sellerHomePage.do
2) login with your same passwords
3) DO NOT CLICK on sale but go top bar and click manage inventory
4) pull up the old sale(s) (Wee-cycle Mart etc)  and generate the items list - with the UNSOLD
items search criteria circle checked. Then select individual items you want to transfer or all.
5) go to the transfer item button (found in the middle right) and select Teen Traders and then click
on the transfer item button.

It's that easy! Let me know if you have any questions!

Transferring UNSOLD Items from one sale to the next...

Many of our past consignors have found it monitarily rewarding to participate in another Wee-cycle Mart event and with the ability to TRANSFER unsold items in the computer there is NO NEED to RE-TAG anything. YES, you DO need to pick up your unsold items as we just don't have the ability to haul all that stuff to the next sale.  One great idea is to get a friend to consign also, ONE of you drop off for both of you on Thursday, Volunteer and then stay for the Pre-Sale; the OTHER can volunteer on Sunday (50% off day) and pick up for both of you! It's a WIN/WIN for both of you and it saves gas!

Here are easy to follow steps to TRANSFERRING your UNSOLD items from one sale to the next.

1. Register for the next sale of your choice and pay the $5 registration fee.
2. Log into your Account under the NEW SALE
3. Click on MANAGE INVENTORY on your Seller Home Page.
4. Under Search Criteria - Choose UNSOLD ITEMS, THEN THE SALE YOU HAVE ITEMS IN.

   

5. Then Generate Report.

6. You will need to check which items you will want to move....if it is the same season, you can check all. If you are transfering things from the FALL sale, only move things that are ALL SEASON. The Fall items can stay PARKED there until the Fall season sales.

7. You will now need to choose which sale you want to TRANSFER to (found in the middle towards the right of the page)...then click transfer...

It's that easy!!!! To make sure you did it right, now do a Search Criteria for UNSOLD and choose the NEW SALE and you should see all your items right there!!!! Feel free to email us if you have any questions at info@wee-cyclemart.com

Tagging Tips for Faster Tagging!

Hey there!  We just wanted to make sure that you knew you can start tagging at any time for our Carroll County and Anne Arundel County sale!  We really want to encourage you to not wait until the last minute to work on your tags (i.e. the night before check-in). 

Here are some extra tips to help you tag quickly.

1) Before you enter in your items - sort by size and gender (then you won't have to change the category and size choices for each tag).  Also, take a few minutes and familiarize yourself with the choices in each drop down menu.  This will also help in Drop-off as they will already be sorted!

2) Don't use the mouse (accept for the discount and donate boxes) and use your tab button to navigate through each field.

3) For the drop down boxes (price, category, size and the # of tags to be printed), don't use your mouse either...you can simply click on the first letter or number of your choice. For example, let's say you want to enter $5.00, then just type 5.  Another example is when you want to choose a category of Girl's Clothing.  When you are in the category field, instead of using your mouse, just click on 'G' twice.  The first time you click on 'G', it will bring up Girl's Accessories, the second click of 'G' will bring up Girl's Clothing.

4) Use the power tagger option - it allows you to print the same tag up to 20 times with one entry.  This can really come in handy for when you have multiples of the same items, like books, videos, hairbows, etc.

5) Finally, you can just click on the Enter button on your keypad to add the item.

Now, remember, when you are entering in items, they will populate in the table below the screen you are on.  However, if you leave that screen, those items seem to be gone.  But in fact they are not gone; they are in your item inventory in the Manage Inventory tab.

We hope this helps you with your tagging.

FREE Hangers to registered Consignors!

We have a few bags of left over plastic kids hangers. If you are a paid registered Consignor at any of our Spring/Summer 2009 sales, you are welcome to them. They are available for pick up in Pasadena, first come, first serve. Limit 1 bag per consignor. Please call me at 410-574-1781 if you'd like a bag of hangers!  Remember that we do try and remove hangers at purchase so that you can get some hangers back at the end of the sale...just remember to ask if you are picking up your items on Sunday! See you in less than 2 weeks!

Where to drop off items for sale?

We've had a few questions about where to drop off your tagged items for the sale.

After you register and tag your items, you want to log-in to our online system and choose your drop-off/check-in time.  You will be bringing your items to the Hall where the event is being held. So for Harford County it's the Havre de Grace Community Center; Carroll County it's the AG Center and for Anne Arundel it's the Ft. Meade Pavillion.

Please allow about 30 minutes for check-in as volunteers will be checking your items for stains, etc. You will also need to put your items on the floor in the designated areas. We will have several rolling racks and carts availalbe.

Pictures of tagged items now on website

We don't get many of you but there is usually 1 each sale that doesn't like to read :)

So, We thought for you visual moms out there, that we would put some long over due photos of the correct way to hang.   To see the photos, click here!

Biggest MISTAKES made by 1st time consignors in regard to TAGGING clothes:

1)  Using metal or metal coated hangers - please use only plastic hangers, the cheap ones you get from the department store are OK and so are the ones that are plastic all but the hook

2) Clothes on hanger backwards - make sure the hook facing you looks like a questions mark

3) Skirts/pants not pinned onto hangers (they fall on floor during sale and of course they don't sell on the floor)

4) Too small a hanger - if you yank on the item and it falls off, odds are it will end up on the floor at the sale too. Just imagine a 100 moms touching your hanger will it stand up to the test!