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Notes from a Consigner Novice

Get details about the sale and the best tips for anyone wanting to sell at Twice is Nice!

If you haven’t been to the semi-annual Twice is Nice Consignment sale, you are missing out on the best deals in Rome. Save money on next season’s clothes and clear your kids’ closets!

Shopping the consignment sale is exhilarating. The racks are often packed to the max with an assortment of gently used clothing at unbeatable prices. Last year, I went looking for girls’ 3T summer pajamas and walked away with two princess nightgowns and two cute 2-piece summer sets all for $6!  If you can’t make it, send your parent or in-laws for the exclusive Grandparent Day!

As a mom of three and proud recipient of many family hand-me-downs, my closets are filled to the brim with boxes of baby clothes (and other items, toys, craft supplies, rock collections, and more). Two Summers ago, I decided I was done with the boy clothes, so I channeled my inner Marie Kondo and set to work preparing for my first consignment experience as a seller.

To be honest, prep for consigning is a big process. I had plenty of questions for veteran friends and referred to Twice is Nice's instruction pages, selling tips, and tagging instructions at least a dozen times. (There is different information on each page, so get familiar with all three.)

Now, as I'm preparing for the sale my fourth time around, I have documented the process in hopes to help other novices such as myself.

Here is what I've learned:

Prepare

Wait until you have a LOT of items. Protocol is that you must have minimum 10 items to sell. I probably had 100. With the $10 fee plus drop-off and pick up dates and making 60% of the sale*, you will want to have a large amount of items to sell.

Start early. Like Today.

What Twice is Nice Sells:
* Good quality children’s clothing, SIZES NEWBORN TO JUNIOR 5 (STUDENT SIZE PANTS AND BIG BOY SIZES ACCEPTED) and school uniforms.
* Baby equipment and nursery furnishings; bedding.
* Large toys (kitchen sets, picnic tables, small slides, bicycles, riding toys, etc.)
* Games, books, children’s videos
* Current maternity fashions
* Halloween costumes (Fall & Winter Sale Only)

*Note: If you choose to volunteer at the sale, you make an extra 10% of your sales, totaling 70%.

Register

  • Email your name, address, & phone number to Melanie (at) twiceisnice.biz
  • Call Melanie Drummond: 770-547-1676 or Dina: 706-232-7247 to get your registration number.
  • Unless you miss four consecutive sales, you will keep the same number, which means your tags can stay the same sale after sale, if needed.

Purchase Items

What you need:

  1. Hangers (so. many. hangers.)
  2. Safety pins (the big size was best for any bottoms you have to pin to hangers.) Average about 3 safety pins/item.
  3. White index cards to be cut in half
  4. Large and small ziplock bags if you are selling shoes or items with small parts
  5. Scissors
  6. A marker or pen
  7. Tape for any items you need to attach the tag to

Initial Sort: Spring/Summer vs Fall/Winter AND Sale vs Recycle/Trash

Pull out all of your old boxes and do a quick first sort to remove clothes not appropriate for the Spring/Summer or Fall/Winter sales.

Per the website:

“SUMMER & SPRING ONLY for Summer & Spring Sales, and FALL & WINTER ONLY for Fall & Winter sales. The items should be freshly pressed & on a hanger with all buttons, zippers, etc. closed & working. Stained &/or damaged clothes will not be accepted!”

“NO USED UNDERWEAR. This includes boxers, panties and training underwear. All unopened packages will be accepted.”

“Toys and baby equipment should be CLEAN and in GOOD WORKING ORDER with parts secured. Pieces must be attached in a Ziploc bag.”

 

Wash / Clean

I made the mistake of sorting specific outfits ahead of time, then had to sort them again after washing them. Just go ahead and wash anything not too worn, ripped, or stained. If you wouldn't pay for it, assume others won't either, and get rid of it. Donate what can still be used, recycle it into rags, or thank it for it's service and throw it away. There are plenty of clothes in the world.

*Tip: If your baby clothes have yellowed from spit-up or have poop stains, just let them soak in a bucket of water with Oxyclean for a day and/or lay them out in the sunshine. Sunshine is basically magic.

You also want to make sure any toys or baby-items are in clean and working order. Wipe them down, search for missing parts, and replace batteries.

Second Sort

Time to sort in more detail. This part was really fun for me, because it’s a trip down memory lane.

What to sort:

  1. Girl/Boy
  2. Size – Don’t worry about in-between sizes (6-12 months would most likely be hung at the 6 month rack). Use an age number rather than small, medium, or large.
  3. Top/Bottom (optional)
  4. Once again, remove any ripped, worn, or stained items.

Now you can match any outfits and pin them together.

Put it Together

Add a hanger and do up any zippers or buttons so your clothes look their best, then safety pin any outfits together. I've seen some similar sets (like nightgowns and similar pajamas) pinned together as well.

Shoes must be in a ziplock bag and be in perfect condition with the tag inside the bag.

Label/Tag

Go ahead and label your items as you sort and hang. I got everything on hangers and then had to size and label later, and it took twice as long. Here is a link to Twice is Nice’s Tagging Instructions with an example below. You get your number once registering.

Tagging Instructions:

  1. Your registration #
  2. Girl/Boy
  3. Size
  4. Price (I would say average clothes items go for about $3-$6 each, whether half or full price)
  5. Brief description of item (in the chance that the item gets separated from the tag)
  6. FIRM (written and highlighted if you do NOT want the item to be sold for half price during the half price days.)

Printing stickers to put on the card is fine. Make sure you use clear and readable font.

Pinning:

Pin (NOT staple) tag to the front left side of the garment so all tags will be visible while hanging in the same direction.

Tag needs to be visible on the left shoulder

-pins should be through the card twice (do not use a hole punch)
– not under a collar
-not on a sleeve
-not the right shoulder
-not the armpit
-And please, NO SAFETY PINS THROUGH THE SELLER NUMBER!!!

-Bottoms should be pinned at the top of the hanger(If you must fold them, make sure to pin them securely with the tag on the proper side)

Here on some examples of how to pin your cards:

Here are some examples of what NOT to do:

Toys and large items:

  • affix all pieces together (ziplock bags, zip ties and packing tape will be your best friend)

Now we're ready to sell! Remember: You get 60% of the selling price, unless you volunteer. Volunteers get 70%!

Drop Off

Drop-off is at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds. This is where you pay your $10 fee.  Volunteer opportunities are available, and volunteers have exclusive access to a pretty sweet pre-sale plus earn an extra 10% of their own item sales.

  • SAT Feb. 18th, 8am-12pm
  • SUN Feb. 19th, 2pm-5pm
  • MON Feb. 20th, 4pm-6pm

Coosa Valley Fairgrounds
Palladium Building
1400 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Rome, GA 30161

Shop!

Whether or not you’re selling, going to the consignment is not just fun, it’s totally practical. It helps if you go in knowing what your kids need, so take a quick scan of their closets before shopping.

Cosigner Pre-Sale Days:

  • SAT. Feb. 25th, 8am-4pm
  • SUN. Feb. 26th, 12pm-5pm

Grandparent Day:

  • TUES. Feb. 28th, 10am-7pm

Public Sale Days:

  • WED. March 1st, 10am-7pm
  • THUR. March 2nd, 10am-7pm
  • FRI. March 3rd, 10am-7pm

1/2 Price Sale Days:

  • SAT. March 4th, 8am-4pm
  • SUN. March 5th, 12pm-6pm

 

Pick Up

Sellers may pick up the check for their sold items in addition to any items that didn’t sell.

  • TUE March 14th, 4pm-7pm
  • WED March 15th, 4pm-7pm

Last year, I had hoped to make at least $100 for my hours of work. Between the fee to enter ($10), making 60% of the sale price, and the price of the supplies, I just made my goal ($100). I ended up selling about half of my clothes, so anything still appropriate for the next sale is still ready to go, plus I’ll add my new items.

Overall, Twice is Nice is a great way for our community as parents to come together and exchange more than just clothing and toys. I hope to see YOU in a few weeks!

*Special thanks to Missy Hargett for her photos and special tips.*