Now that I have it ready to sell, how do I price my items?
As a consignor, you decide the price of your items! That said, you may have no idea how much the item is worth. Click here for a consignment sale price guide. This guide was created for the purpose of providing a starting point and a reference. Not all items you sell will be on this list. You may disagree with a suggested price. In the end, it is up to you!
A great consignment rule of thumb is 25-40% of what you paid for the item, depending on the brand name and condition of an item. E-bay is also a helpful resource in determining how much to price a used item. You can also visit manufacturers’ websites to determine approximate retail value if you are unsure what you originally paid.
Consignors’ Golden Rule: Don’t sell what you wouldn’t buy!
- Price your items as if you were the buyer and not the seller. Ask yourself, “How much would I pay for this?”
- Package similar items together for quicker sale. For example, match a top with a bottom, similar theme/age books, pairs of socks, blankets or smaller toys, etc.
- Price low those items you prefer not to take home with you.
- We want you to put money in your pocket and not have you take your items back home! You are certainly welcome to price your items as you see best, but here are a few things to keep in mind when considering your pricing:
- Clothing is best priced at 1/4 to 1/3 of the retail price. Keep in mind the brand/label of your clothing and price accordingly.
- When selecting your price for the item, think of the very least you would consider taking for it and that should be your price. If you can’t take half that amount, then do not select the half price option for that item. Do not let the half price issue affect your regular selling price because it simply makes the regular selling price too high.
- Consider this a great opportunity to clean out closets and kids’ rooms. Do not let your time and energy go to waste by not selling everything you put in the sale. Price every item to sell!
- If someone comes to the sale and gets lots of bargains, they are probably going to tell their friends. The success of this sale depends on a good turnout of shoppers. If, year in and year out, we give shoppers the bargains that they want, then the sale will grow each year!
- Presentation Matters! Run the iron quickly over each piece, take the little extra time to button all buttons, zip zippers, etc.
- Clothing that is priced at $1.00 does well if paired with similar type. For example, instead of pricing 3 separate onesies at $1.00 each, combine the 3 onesies as 1 item and sell for a price of $3.00.
More Tips:
- Remember this sale is for high quality, very gently used, merchandise. Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy!
- Price your items as if you were the buyer and not the seller. Ask yourself, “How much would I pay for this?”
- Price items in $.50 increments.
- Package similar items together to increase the chance of a sale. For example, put clothing together to make an outfit, bundle books by theme or age, group pairs of socks, onesies, or smaller toys.
- Don’t give away big ticket items! Outdoor play equipment, plastic toys, bikes, pack-n-plays, riding toys–these things get snatched up right away. Marking it to sell is less important here than coming up with a fair price when considering the demand. A bike or stroller for $10 is too good of a bargain!
- Well-known, high demand toy brands such as Legos, Little Tykes, American Girl will sell for more, but don’t overprice! If your American Girl doll is very worn shoppers will not see the value in spending half of the retail price
- Shoppers like bargains. Don’t overprice your boutique or high-quality brand clothing. Even the cutest Mini-Boden romper probably won’t sell at $10-12 (though you may have paid $60). It’s a lot for something used–try bumping down a few dollars if you want it to sell. In the heat of the moment, $10 can sound like a lot, but $8 might sound like a great buy.
- There are generally more items sized newborn through 2T–price your clothing competitively if you want it to sell.
- Items with stains, tears or missing pieces will not sell and should not be included in the sale.
- There are many pricing guides available online. Use ours, but please feel free to browse others as well. Some price high, others too low, but as with everything after a little searching, you may find one you think is fair.
New Guidelines:
Because of regulations by the Ohio Department of Commerce, we are unable to accept bedding, upholstered furniture, and stuffed toys. That includes mattresses, comforters, mattress pads, changing pads, cushions, pillows (bed pillows, throw pillows, pregnancy/nursing pillows, Boppy pillows), mattress protectors, quilts, blankets, and sheets. These regulations do not apply to new items in packaging. For further information, see: http://www.com.ohio.gov/documents/dico_Bedding2ndHandProcedures.pdf