With the thawing of freezing winter temps…always comes spring consignment! Who doesn’t LOVE cleaning out the closets in the spring and making some money? Yeah! Who HATES doing it alone? Me! I am all about cleaning out the closets and making well-intentioned piles of things to purge. But then I start to get bored/overwhelmed/crabby. So my friend had the best idea ever: Let’s have a Wine & Consign evening! Ladies will bring over their piles and we will all make sense of it together while we catch up, chit chat, laugh, gossip, eat and drink.
The hardest part was obviously picking a common date for a group of Moms. Much discussion was involved, but we made it happen. Once it was on the calendar, the necessary fire was lit under my rear end and I got pretty serious about my piles. My biggest hurdle was that I skipped fall consignment last year and therefore had 12 months of piles (not even bins, but actual piles dumped in a spare closet) from three children to sort through. Therefore, I had to strategize and create a plan.
Step 1: Wash what smells stale from storage
Step 2: Organize into gender and size
Step 3: Weed out clothes for donation and sentimental favorites to save (more piles, yeah!)
Step 4: Create outfits/bundles
Step 5: Set prices and make tags for consignment
Step 6: Organize supplies (card stock, safety pins, hangers)
Step 7: Make snacks and put out clean glasses/drinks
I am all about leaving things to the last minute, so I always end up working all night the night before consignment drop off. It felt really good to have a deadline that was two weeks prior to the actual drop off date. I wanted to be prepared for the party, so I was really good about doing a little bit of work each day.
Once the ladies arrived, we all had a great time cutting up our price tags, putting clothes on hangers and pinning the tags on the clothes. Those that finished early were extra hands for those of us that were still working! It was so much fun to catch up with some Mom friends that I haven’t seen in awhile (without kids bounding around us). I truly looked forward to the party all week long!
In the end, I only got one of my three bins tagged and hung at the party, but the fact that my other two bins are organized and my tags are ready to go takes some huge weight off my shoulders. If you are getting ready for a consignment sale, I cannot emphasize enough how much easier it is to do with friends. Get a few together and have fun with your consignment. Then go shopping together with the money that you have earned!
What are your consignment tips?
