Author: Steve Clark

Every entrepreneur knows the value of research, just as every entrepreneur appreciates the value of a strong gut instinct. If you want to launch a new small business, it’s no wonder that both forces are pulling at you to open a consignment store.

As you discuss the idea with people – and especially bankers or investors – it’s important that you be specific about your intentions and careful with your word choices. Other people may use “consignment store” and its word cousins interchangeably, but you may wish to set people straight – and set the best example.

See Through ‘The Heap’

Encourage your audience to be patient because the following delineation remains thorny for only a short time: If you were viewing the nomenclature of this retail segment as a tall heap of clothing, “secondhand” would be at the top. As the Leo Hamel Boutique says, “all second-hand stores have something in common: they make it possible for buyers to save money.” Next in the heap would be “resale shops,” followed by “consignment shops” and “thrift stores.”

You still may see a random sign in front of a “secondhand” or “resale” store, but the terms have largely fallen out of favor. This leaves two distinguishable categories: consignment and thrift shops.

Old habits die hard, so expect to hear some people invoke all four terms as if they mean the same thing. But you won’t, especially after you’re clear on the differences in how these two entities operate and what they sell.

The Meaning of ‘Thrift Shop’

Thrift shops in Lebanon, TN are usually operated by non profit organizations for charity purposes. 

Thrift stores depend on donations to raise money and are most likely to accept clothing, furniture, home décor items, small kitchen appliances, plates, glasses and dishes, electronics, books, movies, baby products and toys to stock their shelves. Thrift stores aren’t known for being choosy and usually accept every donation offered to them since ultimately, the tagged price is meant to reflect the condition of the merchandise.

Thrift stores aim to turn over their stock quickly and so are known to offer bargains: Men’s dress shirts for, say, $3.99 each and four hardcover books or two DVDs for $1, Pocket Sense says.

For shoppers, the thrift store dynamic can be a literal mixed bag and almost entirely a matter of luck and good timing: You can leave with a shopping cart filled with dazzling products boasting designer labels – or nothing but the water bottle you came with.

Consignment Shops Are No Thrift Shop Synonym

In truth, the same scenario could unfold at a consignment shop. But if you’re leaning toward opening a business, a consignment shop is probably what you have in mind. Unlike thrift stores, consignment shops usually have high selection standards, meaning that an item must be in nearly perfect condition and manufactured by a top company.

Or as Leo Hamel puts it, the shops will accept only “pre-owned luxury goods that are in mint condition.” If they’re not, the items are politely declined. If they’re accepted, and they sell, the person who brought the item to the shop shares in a percentage of the sale.

Consignment shops tend to emphasize women’s clothing, shoes and jewelry – a niche that is growing and may look particularly appealing against the sad backdrop of the many retail giants that are filing for bankruptcy or closing.

Do you feel overwhelmed by the thought of thrift shopping? Does the idea of vast amount of clothes to search through feel like finding a needle in a haystack? Well this guide will help you explore the world of thrifting in the most efficient way possible.

If you love shopping, this alternative is a great way to spend the day and experiment with fashion you normally wouldn’t want to spend a full price tag on. Not only are thrift stores in Lebanon, TN cheap (especially for that student budget! Be sure to keep your student ID on you, most thrift stores will give you an additional 10% off) but you never know what you’re going to find!

1. Do your homework

Find stores in an area of town that you know to be trendy or is known to have wealth. The more thrift stores you go to the more likely you are going to stumble across a great piece!

2. Know the deals

Some stores also have deals on certain days of the week so keep an eye out for the different colored tags.

This may require you to do a bit of research before hand, but it’s totally worth it. Big sales usually means they are about to get new inventory the day or two after the sale, so you can make a mental note to come back to see what new items are in stock.  

3. Get a clue

Once you find a store that looks interesting to you, have set idea of what kind of clothes your looking to buy. This will help you narrow down your search so you don’t seem so submerged in a sea of clothing. For example, if you’re looking for that cute band t-shirt, start by looking in the shirt section and then look accordingly the color your after.

(Pro tip: If you aren’t finding anything in the women’ section, try looking in the mens section, don’t be afraid to venture off from women’s clothing!)

4. Be Creative

If you’re looking for the right pair of high waisted jean shorts, don’t be afraid to look in the jeans section and be creative with your sewing skills!

Thrifting allows you to get crafty with your clothes and venture outside of your comfort zone in fashion without crying every time you swipe your card.

5. Try on Haul

Once you have a handful of clothes I highly recommend trying them on while you’re there. Just because it looks good on the hanger, doesn’t mean it will look as good as you thought it would on….The worst feeling ever is getting home after being excited on finding a really good piece to find out it doesn’t fit and there’s no way to return it. Always remember to look if it has any holes or stains before you buy it. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

These steps can help you find unique pieces to add to your wardrobe and expand your fashion.

The rewarding feeling you get from finding an awesome piece will definitely outrank the feeling you get from buying a fast fashion top from Forever 21. Not only by shopping at a thrift store are you helping support a cause but, you’re also helping out the community!

What to love about second hand? It might not be as convenient as walking into a high street store and picking something off the shelf, but thrift shops in Lebanon, TN possess plenty benefits.

1. Saving resources and reducing waste.

There is already enough stuff in the world without needing to make more. Using what already exists makes far more sense: it’s better for the environment, it saves resources, it reduces emissions, and it reduces waste. Oh, and it saves on all that new packaging, too!

2. There’s less “guilty” attachment.

I didn’t always buy second-hand. When I lived in the UK I bought lovely things that weren’t cheap. When I moved to Australia, I sold many of those things for far less than I paid for them. Some were only a year old. I knew I was moving to better things, but it was definitely a lesson that buying new can be a waste of money, and there are better things to spend money on than stuff.

I can see how it is tempting to keep things we don’t really like, need or use, simply because we paid more than we should have in the first place, and won’t be able to recoup that. When you buy things second-hand, you’re much more likely to pay a fair price – and if you change your mind, be able to sell it on at a similar price.

3. It means stepping off the consumer treadmill.

For me, going to furniture stores meant seeing beautifully styled and laid out settings that I couldn’t afford, and didn’t even know that I “needed” until I stepped foot into the store. It meant trying to keep “up-to-date” and “accessorizing” – which I now think meant spending money I didn’t have on stuff I didn’t need.

Now I don’t step into those stores, I have no idea what is “on trend” and I don’t feel the pull to spend my money on “stuff”. I find it safer not to browse. Instead, if I need something (and only then), I look in the second-hand stores or online. If I find something I like, at a price I’m happy to pay, then I buy it. There’s no clever marketing or external factors influencing my decisions.

4. It’s more community-friendly.

High street stores and national or international chains are where most people buy their new furniture. These businesses rely on global supply chains and overseas manufacturing; they order huge quantities and often externalize costs to keep prices low. They also encourage us to consume more and more.

Second-hand stores are mostly independent and local. Many sellers on Gumtree or eBay (or other classifieds sites) are regular people, trying to make a few extra dollars (or pounds, or whatever currency it is) getting rid of excess stuff.

I have the choice to line the coffers of big businesses, or choose to support smaller ones and keep the money within my local community economy.

5. Second-hand pieces have stories.

There’s something much more rewarding about choosing a one-of-a-kind second hand piece. than a generic 600-more-in-stock identikit piece from the furniture store. Whether it’s the thrill of the find, the history you uncover about the item, the conversations you have along the way, the trouble you go to to get it… second-hand pieces just have stories oozing from them. That is what gives them character.

Our furnishings won’t be gracing a design magazine any time soon. But they suit us and our lifestyle, and they saved huge amounts of new resources being used. And every item has a story 🙂

As winter begins to recede back and we try to come out from hibernation, we start to notice a few things that were overlooked in favor of staying warm. Cleaning is one of the last things you feel like doing if you’re cold and uncomfortable, but spring changes all that. If you’re not one for spring cleaning, we hope to show you why spring cleaning is so important for your home.

Improved Air Quality

Unless you’ve been cleaning all throughout winter, your home most likely has some buildup, both of things in general as well as dust. A thorough spring cleaning is crucial to making sure your home’s air is healthy to breathe. Dust and allergens that build up over the long winter need to be removed, especially with the onset of the allergy season that is spring. You don’t want to deal with bad air in your house as well.

Reduced Stress

There’s nothing like a cluttered and messy home to put a spike in your stress levels. Doing some real spring cleaning can help this in two ways:

• Not having to see and deal with a large mess all the time will reduce the amount of stress your home causes you.
• The act of cleaning itself is empowering and relaxing at the same time, easing the stress on your shoulders.

Cleaning doesn’t have to be stressful; it can also be therapeutic. Be methodical as you go from room to room and you’ll have an easier time.

Increased Productivity

We all wish we could be more productive at home, which is another reason why spring cleaning is so important. By decluttering, you’re allowing yourself easier access to the things you need when you need them. It’s important to note that this doesn’t just include cleaning; it also involves reorganizing for a more efficient system of where everything goes.

Better Focus

If you’ve never heard the term “visual noise” before, you might not realize the effect that excess clutter has on your brain. The more stimulation there is to focus on with your eyes, the harder your brain has to work to process all of it. By removing clutter and getting rid of messes, you provide your brain with some relief and it will be easier to focus on the current task at hand.

When you’re looking for a place to drop off and donate your clothes and household items reach out to the thrift shops in Destin FL.

Clothes shopping can be a lot of fun — even if you’re not a fashionista.

Matching patterns and styles, trying on outfits, picking the perfect look for a big event — there are entire magazines and television shows devoted to artfully shopping for attire.

But if you’re not careful, you can also fall into some traps. There are so many options, from boutiques to giant department stores, and each has its own way of selling and pricing.

So first try on some advice for size: Avoid these dumb clothes-shopping mistakes, which can cost you plenty.

1. Falling for a fake ‘sale’

When you see a price slashed by 50% or even more, that’s a deal worth nabbing, right?

Not so fast. Make sure the supposed original price hasn’t been hiked up just to make this “deal” look juicier.

Do a little online research for the actual list price — or at least to get a sense of what other retailers are charging for the item — so you’ll know if that bargain is the real thing.

To learn more about this trick of the trade, check out “Why You Should Think Twice Before Paying a ‘Sale’ Price.”

Instead of getting trapped in a fake sale, go to a nearby thrift store in Destin, FL and buy clothes at reasonable prices.

2. Not using Honey

There is more than one way to overpay when shopping for clothes. Falling for a fake “sale” is just one. Another is neglecting to use Honey.

This free browser extension and mobile app automatically scours the internet for coupon codes for the items in your e-shopping cart — and then applies the codes that net you the biggest discounts. It works at more than 30,000 retailers.

According to Honey, its users see an average discount of 17.9% and save an average of $126 per year.

3. Not getting cash back

Are you passing up free money for items you would buy anyway?

When shopping online, you can use a free cash-back website like Rakuten to earn cash rebates on purchases from thousands of retailers.

So long as you are paying off your bill in full every month and thus avoiding interest charges, you can also earn money back by paying with a cash-back credit card.

Even better, you can double up on cash back by using a cash-back site and paying with a cash-back credit card.

4. Neglecting to follow your store online

Many major stores will text you a coupon if you sign up to receive their promotional emails. And you can collect coupons and learn about special sales by following the stores you like on social media.

Prefer not to have these alerts sent to your personal email address? No problem. Set up another email address through a free email service and use it just for those deals, promos and purchases.

5. Being clueless about sale schedules

Stores love schedules. If you shop frequently at a particular chain, learn its schedule for markdowns and annual sales — and take advantage.

Ask the clerks if you don’t know. These sale schedules aren’t state secrets.

6. Passing up an outlet store

Love Nordstrom’s shoe selection? Nordy’s heels move on to Nordstrom Rack, its discount relative, when they don’t sell. Same goes with Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th.

Plenty of other big-price stores have lower-cost cousins, too. Or, just head to a nearby outlet mall for discounts on everything from jeans to jewelry.

7. Mooning over designer labels

If you’re papering your home with $100 bills, or are actual royalty, ignore this advice. Go ahead and buy all the designer clothes you want.

For the rest of us, the cachet of a fancy label isn’t worth the major-league prices. Levi’s jeans, for example, wear at least as well as pricier brands, and they have great old-school cred.

If you simply must own designer products, hunt for gently worn versions at a secondhand or thrift store.

8. Buying new when used will do

Be sure to check reputable secondhand stores before you buy new.

No one on the ski slopes will know if your snow pants have schussed down that mountain before — on someone else. The same is true for a barely worn prom or party dress, work clothes, school clothes, seasonal garb, sports attire and just about anything else you wear.

A few tips:

• Become an expert thrift store shopper by reading “11 Secrets to Finding Quality Clothing at Thrift Shops.”
• Find shops that specialize in gently used sports clothing and gear by searching online for a city’s name and “secondhand” gear and sports.
• If you live where winter sports are popular, look for garb and equipment at annual local ski swaps.

9. Caring for your clothing improperly

Examine each garment’s washing instructions before you buy. Think realistically about clothing care before wasting money on high-maintenance garments unless you’re up for doing the required care.

Before falling in love with those beautiful linen pants, for instance, remind yourself that, even if they are a bargain, they’re bound to wrinkle. And you hate to iron. Or, if they’re dry-clean-only, your money will be wasted if you’re likely to toss them in a hot dryer.

10. Choosing paper receipts

If a store offers a choice between an emailed receipt and a paper copy, choose email every time. That way, if your purchase disappoints or doesn’t fit, all you need to do is search your email box for the store name to retrieve it.

As winter begins to recede back and we try to come out from hibernation, we start to notice a few things that were overlooked in favor of staying warm. Cleaning is one of the last things you feel like doing if you’re cold and uncomfortable, but spring changes all that. If you’re not one for spring cleaning, we hope to show you why spring cleaning is so important for your home.

Improved Air Quality

Unless you’ve been cleaning all throughout winter, your home most likely has some buildup, both of things in general as well as dust. A thorough spring cleaning is crucial to making sure your home’s air is healthy to breathe. Dust and allergens that build up over the long winter need to be removed, especially with the onset of the allergy season that is spring. You don’t want to deal with bad air in your house as well.

Reduced Stress

There’s nothing like a cluttered and messy home to put a spike in your stress levels. Doing some real spring cleaning can help this in two ways:

• Not having to see and deal with a large mess all the time will reduce the amount of stress your home causes you.
• The act of cleaning itself is empowering and relaxing at the same time, easing the stress on your shoulders.

Cleaning doesn’t have to be stressful; it can also be therapeutic. Be methodical as you go from room to room and you’ll have an easier time.

Increased Productivity

We all wish we could be more productive at home, which is another reason why spring cleaning is so important. By decluttering, you’re allowing yourself easier access to the things you need when you need them. It’s important to note that this doesn’t just include cleaning; it also involves reorganizing for a more efficient system of where everything goes.

Better Focus

If you’ve never heard the term “visual noise” before, you might not realize the effect that excess clutter has on your brain. The more stimulation there is to focus on with your eyes, the harder your brain has to work to process all of it. By removing clutter and getting rid of messes, you provide your brain with some relief and it will be easier to focus on the current task at hand.

When you’re looking for a place to drop off and donate your clothes and household items reach out to the thrift shops in Santa Rosa Beach, FL.

There are plenty of people that take their homes and the amenities within them for granted. Not everyone gets to have a roof over their head every night or a bedroom all to themselves.

When you feel the call to help those less fortunate, it’s understandable that you would want to know you’re helping as much as you can. While thrift stores in Panama City Beach, FL appreciate all donations they receive, there are some items that people don’t think to donate but could be immensely helpful to someone without a home. We’ll show you the best items to donate to really help the homeless so that you’ll know your contributions are making a difference.

Underwear and Socks

Surprisingly enough, these are some of the most in-demand items for people who utilize homeless shelters. Clothes, in general, are a luxury when you can’t even afford a place to live. The unfortunate fact is that many people who are homeless need to buy lower-quality clothing to compensate. As such, they go through these clothes very quickly, leading to more clothing costs in the long run.

A donation of quality underwear and socks (still in the original packaging) means that a person without a home doesn’t need to be uncomfortable as well. You can make a big difference in someone’s life just by donating undergarments that you barely even think twice about each day. These kinds of donations are a perfect way to help when you may not have a ton of extra money.

Toiletries

One of the hardest things to deal with when you don’t have a home is keeping up with your personal hygiene. Without regular access to a shower, a bath, a sink, or even basic toiletries, hygiene can easily fall by the wayside. This problem goes deeper than just how someone smells or feels. Not having proper access to hygienic products can lead to illnesses and diseases that will make life even more difficult.

Many items fit into the toiletry category. Most of them are basic necessities that most people wouldn’t even consider might be difficult to attain. Some great donation options that can really improve a recipient’s quality of life include:

• Shampoo and conditioner
• Toothpaste
• Hairbrushes and toothbrushes
• Soap
• Lotions
• Nail clippers

Feminine Hygiene Products

In the same realm of hygiene, this category deserves to be on its own because of how important it is. Many people still don’t consider feminine hygiene products as essentials-even women with a permanent residence have to pay exorbitant prices for products they need to stay hygienic and clean.

Tampons and pads are crucial donation items because of their high price tags. Donating unopened packs of these is by far the best, but you can also take some of your own you haven’t used and package them in resealable containers, another handy item to have when you’re between houses.

Laundry Detergent

One of the worst parts of not having your own home is that it’s hard to feel completely clean when you suffer constant exposure to the elements. Wearing the same clothes over and over to get the most out of them only exacerbates the problem. Laundry detergent can make a significant difference to the everyday comfort of someone without a home.

When you donate detergent, remember to stick to unscented and less-abrasive solutions. You never know if the person who ends up using that detergent might have an allergy or aversion to something that would make it unusable to them.

Cold Weather Clothing

It should go without saying that some of the best items to donate to really help the homeless are ones that protect them from the outside world. Exposure to the elements is a serious concern when you don’t have a place to live, especially if you live in an area with particularly harsh weather. Cold weather clothing is a great donation to keep the people you’re trying to help safe through fall and winter.

You can donate lots of different kinds of clothing in this category. Thermal underwear or undershirts are just as useful as a big, fluffy coat would be. Just keep the condition of the clothing you’re donating in mind. They won’t be of much use if they have rips or holes in them.

Reusable Containers

As we mentioned before, reusable and resealable containers can be incredibly effective at helping the homeless. More often than we’d like to imagine, homeless shelters can pass out food to those who arrive but aren’t able to package that food for later. As such, the people they help can have a much harder time surviving when they are not near a shelter location.

Reusable containers allow them to save food and leftovers for later, extending the amount of time they can go without needing to dip into a shelter.

Baby Supplies

More often than you might think, people who are homeless aren’t out there alone. Many are parents caring for children as well as themselves. This fact creates a high demand at homeless shelters for baby care products. It’s another example of stores markedly overpricing these kinds of items for the more fortunate, making them difficult to obtain for those with low incomes.

Everything from diapers and baby wipes to baby clothes and medicine are necessary here. Think about the most expensive items that mothers need to buy consistently, and focus on donating those to make the biggest impact possible.

It’s no secret that our planet needs more and more help as time goes on. Anything we can do to stop the pollution of our planet needs to be put into action as soon as possible. As a singular person, you may often feel like you have no way to cause any real change in the world. When everyone works together, we can collectively make a huge difference. If you want to lessen your impact on the environment, consider donating your old clothing to the thrift stores in Panama City Beach, FL.

The Issues with Fast Fashion

We should first look at how the fashion industry currently affects the environment. As more and more people enter the middle class, the demand for new clothes goes up as well. This high demand for new clothes has created a push for faster clothing manufacturing processes. Unfortunately, these faster processes often involve greater damage to the environment. This can result from the factory’s practices or the materials used in the clothes.

The fashion industry has a bad habit of changing what’s “in fashion” in order to sell more clothes more quickly. Because many people want to stay fashionable, they buy new clothes too often and discard perfectly good clothes that still have plenty of life in them. Combined with the fact that many clothing production methods are extremely wasteful and harmful to the environment, this means that consumers need to lower their demand for new clothes and use what they already have.

Landfill Reduction

Nobody likes landfills. They are ugly, harmful, and take up far too much space in our world. When you throw away clothing, you’re consigning it to an eternity in a landfill somewhere, to clog up valuable space. Every year, tons of clothing articles are discarded and end up in landfills for no good reason. Many of these clothing items are in perfectly serviceable conditions as well.

By donating your clothing, you stop the landfills from getting bigger and you keep usable material from being thrown in the trash. Many mass-produced clothing lines have fibers inside of them that will never break down, no matter how much time passes. These clothing fibers can do serious harm to the planet if left in a landfill. Donating your clothes gives them a new life that isn’t in a dump somewhere.

Lowering Your Carbon Footprint

As we mentioned, certain fibers in mass-produced clothing don’t break down at all. Unfortunately, some of those that do break down do so in harmful ways. When textiles are placed in landfills, they can release two of the most damaging chemicals to our environment: methane and carbon dioxide. That’s not to mention the emissions from textile factories as well, which contribute a large amount of greenhouse gases every year.

Donating clothes helps the environment in two ways. Keeping clothing from reaching the trash means that it won’t start breaking down and releasing gases that harm the planet. It also creates less demand for new clothing.

With less demand, textile factories will not produce as many clothes, thus reducing their overall greenhouse gas emissions. The first step toward reducing your own carbon footprint starts with a simple drop off to one of our clothes donation boxes. You can make a difference for the environment, even in a small way.

Reduction in Water Consumption

Most people don’t think how much water goes into the production of each article of clothing. In addition to greenhouse gases and soil pollution, the diminishing amount of water on the planet is another cause for concern. The fashion industry uses an enormous amount of water every year in the production of new clothes. For example, people often grow cotton in extremely dry climates, making their demand for water much higher than the average.

By choosing to donate your clothes instead of tossing them, you break the cycle of overusing fresh water. Lower demand means factories won’t need as many clothes materials that require huge amounts of water. In addition to this, clothes dyeing pollutes an egregious amount of water in its processes as well. When the demand for new clothes goes down, the amount of dyeing is reduced as well, saving tons of water in the process.

Helping Those in Need

By helping those in need with donations of clothing items, we can do a lot to help the environment. One of the biggest reasons to donate clothing is to aid people that have been affected by natural disasters as a result of climate change. Many of these people can no longer afford clothing.

Clothes that could have been sitting in a landfill taking up space will instead help the people that need them the most. You can also help those in your immediate community this way, helping to foster a sense of inclusion and engagement.

Circular Economy Changes

Donations can even change the way our economy works. Right now, our economy is heavily based on consumption alone. This overconsumption of goods and materials causes so much harm to the environment. We should strive for a circular economy; one in which everyone reuses and recycles items whenever possible.

This way, everyone will be doing their part to help save the planet. This shift to a more sustainable economy is something that can cause drastic and long-term change for the better.