Resale, Consignment, Thrift and Second-Hand Stores: Are They Different?

There is often a great deal of confusion between re-sale, consignment, thrift and second-hand stores. Usually, consumers will see these types of stores as one and the same, but they are not. In fact, there are some vital differences to these types of stores.

Second-hand and Thrift Stores

Second-hand stores come in many different varieties. Generally, they are based upon the types of merchandise they sell. If you own a second-hand store, you will want to focus on a certain type of merchandise. There are some second-hand stores that are much more generalized, which broadens their customer base.


Some of the types of second-hand stores that can be found include antiques, books, clothing, electronic, music and video and sporting goods. What you sell within a second-hand store is completely up to you as the owner. Thrift stores work on the same principle as second-hand stores.

Consignment Stores

Consignment stores work in a different manner than all the rest. With consignment store, a business owner will get their merchandise from clients and sell that merchandise for a profit. Generally these stores get about 60 percent of the sale, while the consignor will get about 40 percent. These are popular stores to run because they take little investment in order to build up an inventory. As well, there is no need to pay for any product unless it is sold, which brings down costs greatly.

Resale

Unlike consignment stores, which get their merchandise from clients and sell them, resale store owners buy used items and sell them. This means they have to buy the items first, which can increase start-up costs. While this type of store requires more investment up front, profits can also be very good because there is no splitting of the costs.

The Benefits of These Stores

Some benefits that these stores enjoy include the fact that there is more freedom for the business owners. They can stock whatever they wish, sell it for however much will bring them a profit and there is a lot of profit. There is also a great deal of interaction with customers, which is great if the owner is a people person and wants to help others. These stores are also good for the environment. Instead of allowing items to go to the landfills, second-hand stores act like a recycle depot, allowing others to pick up what they need, at a cheaper price than buying it new.

The ability to be one's own boss is what causes many individuals to get into these types of business. They have no one telling them what to do and they make the decisions on what is stocked and how much of a profit they can make. The income potential that can comes from generating revenues on used goods is a big benefit of these types of businesses. There can be a lot of mark-up on these items. A store owner can buy something for two dollars at a garage sale and sell it for six dollars, making three times the profit.

Lastly, these stores can be started right away because no training is needed to sell the items and there is a good quantity of used items out there that need to be sold. All one needs is a small budget to take advantage of flea markets, eBay and garage sales, along with some space to store the items.

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