Women’s Consignment Pricing – The Importance of Demand
Brand, i.e. perceived value and original price is, of course, central in setting resale prices. Indeed, along with condition, they’re the only factors mentioned in consignment pricing guides. But of overriding importance is demand.
There are four principal outlets for resale apparel. 1) Individual Garage and online sales, 2) Seasonal Consignment Events, 3) Online Resale Sites and 4) Brick and mortar resale shops. The pricing metrics for the Seasonal Consignment and Online Outlets are only now being established as these ventures are new on the scene. While, Ebay and the like have the metrics, the enormous range in prices for like items renders them useless. In short, We aren’t able to speak to these, nor will the surviving ventures be able to do so for a time.
But the sharp difference in demand between the other two: 1) garage sales and 2) shops serves to clarify demand’s import in pricing. First consider garage sales. The number of shoppers looking for the type and size of resale apparel offered (demand) is typically less than a hundred–generally far less. Contrast this with a typical consignment shop typically showing apparel to 5000 or more shoppers over a period of 90 days.
It explains why guides for garage sale pricing suggest giveaway prices for women’s apparel at $1-3 per item or 10% of original price, while guides for women’s consignment pricing range into the hundreds of dollars and 25-40% or original price.
It explains why the highest prices at which items will sell invariably differs from one outlet type to another, and why a set of prices can only be pegged to one type of outlet and attendant demand. It explains why women’s apparel and accessory prices in NextGen’s Pricing System, are calibrated specifically to women’s consignment shops based on years of sales statistics across multiple stores.