They say another man’s trash is another man’s
treasure, and in the world of gently used clothing, it couldn’t be any truer.
An average-sized closet can typically hold about 100 items and out of those 100
items, people only use about 22 of them, leaving 78 items being unused. If
you’re like lots of people some of those items have never even been worn and
still have the tags on them!
Instead of just letting those clothes sit in your closet and collect dust, why not make a profit off of them? On average a woman has over $1,000 worth of clothes that have never been worn… one always has the option of donating those items but if they would rather sell them, then they shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting to sell them… you should feel empowered for wanting to sell them and turning it into your own consignment boutique.
This creates an amazing business opportunity to start an online clothing store that sells pre-loved items. This article will discuss the steps with which you can turn your closet into an online clothing store.
1- Know the Online Store Basics
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the
clothing aspect, we must first quickly recap the beginning stages. In order to
create your online store, there is an order of operations you must do first. If
you follow these steps, your consignment boutique will be booming in no time!
- Buy a domain name and design your website
- Determine your target audience for your pieces
- Figure out how much it will cost you to run your online boutique (according to profitableventure.com, you can start a consignment shop with no money!)
- Set prices that will bring in revenue
- Build your brand
- Establish your online presence
- Sell, sell, sell!
These are the most important steps in starting
your own online consignment boutique. There are other considerations as well
such as logo design and if you want business cards but those are minor details.
With a consignment boutique, selling your products is going to be your main
focus so you need to make sure you’re doing everything you need to sell, sell,
sell!
2- Focus on What You Want to Sell According to Season
Getting your clothes ready to sell according
to season is something that’s going to help you get your items organized easier
without leaving you feeling overwhelmed. If the current season is summer, pull
out summer clothes and accessories that you plan on selling.
Now, if your closet is too jam-packed, you can
pull out all the clothes you want to sell just to make room in your closet, and
then separate that pile into seasonal sections. This isn’t something you
necessarily have to do but if this will be your first time selling clothes
online, it’s best to start out small and selling by season will put your
clothes in a niche that people are shopping for right then.
3- Check the Quality of Your Clothes
With you selling clothes that have gently been
worn, it’s important that you make sure those clothes are in good condition.
You’ll want to go through every single article of clothing you have and check
it to see if any alterations need to be made. If there are some that need to be
made, make sure you separate those from the clothes that are in good condition.
You can either make the alterations yourself or take them to a professional to
get them altered.
4- Take High-Quality Photos of Your Clothes
Because you’re running an online boutique, you
want to build trust with your potential customers and show them what they’ll be
paying for. The best way to build that trust with them is to take high-quality
photos of your clothes. You’ll want to take up-close pictures to show customers
the material the items are made of, and if you want, you can have a friend or
family member try on that article of clothing so customers can have an idea of
what it looks like on.
To go along with those pictures, you’ll also
want to include a detailed description of the article of clothing. In that
description, you’ll want to include the size, design details with any
embellishments, how the material feels, and if it runs big or small. This will
let the customer know that you’re honest about what you’re selling and they
establish that trust with your brand. If there are any holes, tears, or if the
color is faded, you don’t need to sell it.
5- List Your Labels
If you have designer labels that you’re
selling, that will be a major selling point for potential customers. If you
have a few things that you designed yourself, you’ll want to list that as well.
In listing your labels, just make sure that your clothing items have the
appropriate labels and tags, especially if you plan on selling some of your own
personally designed items.
Custom pieces that you’ve designed yourself
need to have tags with your brand and logo on it as well as laundry
labels that give care instructions.
All in All
There are all kinds of clothing and fashion businesses you can start
but if you have a whole clothing boutique in your closet, why not start there?
It’s all a matter of basic organization and sorting skills in combination with
basic computer and photo-taking skills.
The most important thing for you to do is take your business seriously. The clothes you’re selling might come from your closet but it’s important that you treat those items as though they came straight off the runway and you promote them as such so they appeal to your customers. Remember, you only get out of your business what you put into it.
Start small with your own closet and then think big. Once you find it going good, you can always buy pre-loved items to sell them on your store.
