A consignment store's site serves two audiences. Shoppers need new arrivals, hours and what you carry; consignors need what you accept, drop-off times, the split, how long items stay and how payouts work.

What the site is actually for

A consignment store sells other people's things, so it has two sets of customers: the people who buy, and the people who bring things in to sell.

Shoppers want to know what is new, whether the trip is worth making this week, and when you are open.

Consignors want to know whether you will take their things, when to bring them, what share they get and when they are paid. They are the ones phoning.

Many consignment store sites answer neither: a home page about the store's story, a gallery from opening day, and a line saying call for consignment details.

Two front doors

The home page should offer two routes near the top, one for shopping and one for consigning, each leading to pages written for that visitor alone.

Mixed together, each audience wades through the other's information. A shopper does not need the markdown schedule, and a consignor does not need the new arrivals to decide whether to call.

The questions consignors ask

The fifth is the one most often left unwritten and most often argued about. Whether unsold items are returned, donated or kept by the store must be settled before drop-off.

What you accept, in detail

Most consignor calls start with the same question: do you take this? A page that answers it saves more staff time than anything else on the site.

List the categories you accept, the brands or quality you look for, and the condition you expect: clean, working, complete, free of stains and pet hair.

Give seasonal intake dates where they apply, so nobody arrives with winter coats in June.

Say what you never take, and why where it helps: items with safety concerns, things that do not sell in your store, pieces too large for the floor.

For furniture and other large pieces, ask for photographs first through a short form, so nobody hauls a sofa across town to have it turned away at the door.

Drop-off hours and the agreement

Intake hours are often different from opening hours. Show them separately and plainly, with any limit on items per visit and whether an appointment is needed.

Say how items should arrive: washed, on hangers, in boxes, with parts and manuals together.

Publish the consignment agreement as a readable page, not only a form signed at the counter: the split, the period, the markdowns, the pickup deadline, and responsibility for loss or damage.

A consignor who has read the terms at home signs them at the counter in a minute.

How consignors are paid

State the split as the figure you use, and whether it differs by price or category. Say whether payment is by cheque, e-transfer or store credit, and whether store credit is worth more.

Say when payouts happen, whether there is a minimum balance, and how long a sale takes to appear in a consignor's account.

Many consignment systems offer consignors an online login showing what has sold and what they are owed. If yours does, link to it prominently. Every balance checked online is a call nobody has to answer.

A worked example

A consignment store selling furniture and home decor from a warehouse unit in a suburb had a home page with a slideshow of its showroom, a paragraph about reuse, and a line inviting consignors to call.

Staff spent much of each morning on the phone with would-be consignors, and several times a week somebody arrived with a truckload the store could not take: worn upholstery, laminate, a sectional too big for the floor.

Shoppers, meanwhile, had no way to see what had come in without driving over.

The rebuild split the site in two. The consigning side now lists what the store accepts and declines, with a photograph form for furniture, intake hours, the agreement and the payout schedule.

The shopping side has a new arrivals page staff update from a phone as pieces reach the floor, marked sold when they leave, beside the delivery details and hold policy.

Most morning calls now concern particular pieces somebody has seen online.

New arrivals, the reason to come back

Shoppers return to a consignment store because stock changes daily and nearly every item is one of a kind. The website should show that.

A new arrivals page updated several times a week, with a photograph and price for each piece, does more than any gallery. Marking items sold, rather than deleting them, shows how quickly good things go.

It has to be quick to update from a phone, or it stops being updated by the second busy week.

A weekly email of the best arrivals gives regulars a reason to visit on a particular day, and a sign-up box on the page builds the list.

Practical details for shoppers

Hours, parking, and for furniture, where to load and whether staff can help carry.

Delivery: whether you offer it, the areas and the cost. Holds: whether an item can be held, for how long, and whether a deposit secures it.

Returns: if sales are final, say so plainly before anybody pays. And give a sense of prices, with a few recent examples, so visitors know whether you are a designer boutique or a bargain floor.

The counter-case

A small boutique working with a short list of consignors by appointment may need only a page of terms, its hours and a contact form for now.

Selling every item online is a bigger step than it looks, since each one-of-a-kind piece must be photographed, described and removed the moment it sells in the store.

But any store that wants new consignors needs its terms written down where they can be read, and any store that wants repeat shoppers needs its arrivals visible.

What to build first

  1. Split the home page into shopping and consigning.
  2. List what you accept and what you decline.
  3. Publish intake hours apart from opening hours.
  4. Put the agreement on a readable page.
  5. Explain payouts, their timing and store credit.
  6. Add a photograph form for large items.
  7. Build a new arrivals page staff update by phone.

Step two is the one that saves time on both sides. A consignor who can read what you accept is spared a wasted trip, and staff are spared the conversation at the door.

The same approach, applied to a service business, appears in what a dog trainer website needs.

Frequently asked questions

Who is a consignment store website for?

Two audiences: shoppers who want to know what is new and whether the trip is worthwhile, and consignors who want to know what you accept and how they are paid.

What should the consigning page explain?

What you accept and decline, intake hours, the split, how long items stay, the markdown schedule, what happens to unsold items, and how and when payouts happen.

Should large items be approved before drop-off?

Yes. A form for photographs first spares consignors hauling furniture across town to be turned away, and spares staff the conversation at the door.

How should new arrivals be shown?

On a page staff can update from a phone in minutes, a photograph and price for each piece, marked sold when it goes, not a gallery updated once a season.

Should a consignment store sell online?

Often not at first. Each one-of-a-kind piece needs photographing, describing and removing the moment it sells in store, so a current new arrivals page usually comes first.

Why publish the consignment agreement online?

A consignor who reads the terms at home arrives ready to sign, and written terms settle the questions most likely to cause disputes, such as unclaimed items.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Consignors phoning with the same questions?

Send us your current terms. We will turn them into a page consignors can read before they load the car.

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