I’m headed to New Zealand in April (by myself, for two weeks – bliss!), so over the next few weeks I’ll be madly cleaning, organizing, and catching up on things I’ve been putting off forever. I’ve come to terms with the fact that my house will be destroyed when I return, but I’d like it to be a minor disaster as opposed to a complete write off.
My first step is a closet purge, because there’s nothing I enjoy so much as throwing out, donating, or selling the clothing, footwear and accessories we’re not using or have grown out of. I love closets with space in them, especially when I maintain the self-control not to just fill them up again!
When it comes to selling clothing, I prefer consignment over selling outright to stores that give you cash on the spot.
Generally a consignment store will pay you between 30% and 50% of what the item sells for. Consignment stores keep the items for a specific number of days (often 60) with a scheduled markdown and a return policy for unsold items. You may be required to search through the racks to find your items (they give you a list) or they might pull them out for you. Money you earn usually can be cashed out or used as store credit anytime – but every store has a different policy, so make sure you read the agreement carefully and that you understand the whole process before you sign it. Some stores donate or keep your portion if you don’t return within six months or a year to claim it.
A resale store (called a buy outright shop in the industry) will review items brought in on the spot or within a few days, and make you an offer for the batch. Because resale stores are assuming more risk than a consignment store (an item they buy from you for $8 may end up being cleared out for $1 when no one wanted it) they offer you a lower percentage of the initial price they will put on your items, generally between 15% and 30%. While you’ll probably walk away with less money for your possessions at a resale shop, you don’t have to go back to collect your money, or wait until your items sell in order to be paid – you walk out with cash in hand. Some stores may only offer store credit for certain items.
Most stores buy or consign in season – which means I’m boxing up last year’s spring clothing for consignment now, and putting away outgrown winter items labeled for consignment in September.
The consignment stores I use are on the upscale style – they don’t accept mart-brand labels as the stuff was so cheap to begin with that there’s no market for them used. So I donate the useable but out-of-style clothing. And the biggest pile? The stained-beyond-recognition stuff (must improve my laundering), which is either packed as camping clothing or thrown out.
My purge today is not only helping alleviate the space crunch in our closets (with the hope that will encourage my husband and children to put things away in them while I’m gone) but should also net me between $50 - $100 in cash to spend on my trip. Just not on tacky tourist t-shirts.
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