Determining Your Consignment Store Hours

One of the biggest decisions you can make for your consignment shop is when you will be open. Your hours of operation are when your customer come into your business. If you open too late or close too early, you can eliminate a lot of potential profits. So, what are the best hours to be open?

It All Depends On The Day

Your consignment store should be open at least six days a week. The majority of shops are open for business Monday to Saturday, but some do open on Sundays.

During the week, you should be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. because you need to catch the traffic of people who are leaving work and may have wanted to stop by your consignment shop. If you close at 4 p.m., you could be missing a lot of potential sales. Another option is to stay open late on one night per week to accommodate those who don't leave work until 5 p.m. Staying open until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. on a Tuesday or Thursday can be a good idea.

On Saturday, you should open at 9 a.m. to get the early bird traffic, and close at 5 p.m. You close earlier on a Saturday because people have all day to come to your consignment shop and get what they need. By 5 p.m., people are preparing for their Saturday nights and not thinking about shopping.

Generally you will find that Monday is your slowest day. For that reason, you may want to stay open for a shorter period of time in order to limit costs. As the days move on through the week, the sales increase with them reaching a high point from Thursday to Saturday.

consignment store shoppers You can also choose to close the consignment store earlier if you don't get many sales after 3 p.m. and if it is only you working, you may want to close at 1 p.m. for lunch rather than noon. Noon is when everyone gets lunch and they may stop by on their lunch break.

What About Holidays

Holidays can be tricky because some holidays are great for shopping while others are not. Staying open on Memorial Day is a good idea because the Memorial Day long weekend is a great shopping weekend. However, July 4, Christmas, New Years and Easter are not high shopping days, so you can be closed on those days. That being said, you will find the space between Christmas and New Years to be your biggest shopping days. Labor Day is hit and miss. Some people may be shopping for the Fall and school season, while others will be enjoying their last vacation before getting down to school or work.

What To Expect Each Month

Depending on the month, your hours may fluctuate to meet demand. Some months are busier than others and by finding the right pattern you can minimize how often you are open over the course of the year, while maximizing profits. When you are not open, you save on heat, power and wages, but you don't want to be closed when it is going to be busy.

The slowest months are January, February, July and August. The reason for January and February is because the high of spending in Christmas is over and people are saving money. Plus, it is winter and many people don't want to go out when it is snowing. July and August are slow because the weather is great and who wants to be indoors on a beautiful day?

The average months are March, May, June, September and December. These months are when you will do very good sales but not amazing sales. During December you will do better than in the other months, but not as good as your high traffic months. Most of your business in December will come just before or after Christmas, and some people will actually do their shopping the month before hand to get a jump on Christmas.

The best months for business are April, October and November. People will be looking for new warm weather clothes in April and preparing for the summer, while in October and November, people are preparing for cool weather and the coming Christmas season.

The best course of action is to keep track of how many customers come in and to match your hours based on when your customers shop. Do this over the course of a year and you will find the best hours. Every consignment store in every city is different. What works for consignment stores in Hawaii may not work for consignment shops in Chicago for hours.

Signs outside the building: $500

Accountant Fees: $500

Insurance: $600

Utilities: $150

Telephones: $100

Credit card terminals: $300

Business License: $60

Office Supplies: $100

Security Equipment: $150

Inventory: $800

Additional Costs

There are other costs that may not be required initially but will be eventually. As a result, it can be a good idea to simply buy these items up front to save money down the road. Computers and software to make your business function more efficiently are important but not essential. You should look at getting a printer for tags so you don't have to handwrite them and computers can help you keep your employees and customers organized, which can help sales down the road. You will pay about $3,500 for some computers and printing equipment.

Many consignment stores have music playing to make the shopping experience more enjoyable for customers. Buying a stereo system for $400 is a good idea but not required initially.

Naturally, your costs will vary. If you can buy second-hand items, like your security system and computers, then you can save a lot of money and lower your initial investment by over $1,000. As well, if you can cut costs by limiting the number of computers you buy and the same with telephones, then you will save even more money.

There are other areas where you may spend more initially, especially with advertising. You want customers to know your business is open and ready to sell them consignment items. The only way to do that is to get your customers into the store and that is done through advertising. You may spend $2,000 instead of $1,000 initially, but only $300 every month after that.

It is important to spend more money initially, and recoup the cost as you do business, rather than suddenly hitting your business with high expenses like computers and security systems.