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 Links For Resale, Consignment, and Thrift Businesses
Sites about the resale
biz, retailing, small business
Resale
shops of all types
Helpful
reference links
Products and services for the resale shopkeeper
Rainy-Day Fun
For Canadian shops, resources, etc,
just look for: 
| About the resale business,
retailing, small business |
Places to locate
shops
How To Consign is about all
forms of resale, and its Clickable Map/ Directory sends shoppers and
suppliers directly to full information about each shop.
The National Association
of Resale and Thrift Shops lists their member shops.
For phone-book-type listings, some with maps and reviews and the
ability to add or enhance your shop listing, try GTE's
Yellow Pages
and Infospace (Infospace
has many nifty features. You can even see what other shops nationwide
have the name you covet! Don't use their search engine, though, it's
wacky. )
For Canadian listings, it's Canada411
Running your shop:
More
Business has useful small-business info
The Idea Cafe is good too.
Despite typos and bad spelling, Small
Business Opportunities has some straightforward articles.
The
How-to Network has lots of articles on small business, in easy language.
Also,
About has a
retail industry area.
Trying to get a business plan together? This
PDF contains it all in one page. Thanks, Oprah! Her info comes
from Jim
Horan and his books. So
You Wanna. American
Express has some info as well.
The Small
Business Administration on business plans.
Need an employee manual? Try Restaurant.org
and Ehow.com,
as well as MAP
for Non-Profits...
then grab a little from Econosystems.
Too Good to be
Threw: The Complete Operations Manual. Of course. You could
run your shop without this manual, but why handicap yourself?
Articles about retail and small biz in general: Baby
Shop Magazine (Loyal Reader Goodie: "not just for baby
shops, a lot of the info can be used for any resale shop.")
Canadian Info on businesses here.
Web Design
Deb from our Sharing Page was a
consignment shopkeeper. Now she's a full-time web designer. See her work at Designs
by Deb.
Your tax dollars at work!
Firstgov is "The US Govt’s Web Portal" with
connections to just about everything on the books.
Wondering what legalities your business must satisfy?
Business.gov will direct you.
The Small
Business Administration talks about business plans (and plenty
more!)
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) administers the Small
Business Development Center Program to provide management
assistance to current and prospective small business owners.
If you’re a woman in business, check out the SBA’s Office
of Women’s Business Ownership.
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired
Executives) offers free in-person or e-mail counseling.
A
Guide to Business Credit
Free enterprise sites:
Findlaw is a source for legal questions
Nolo
has "do-it-yourself legal solutions for consumers and small
businesses"
This site, For the Love of Business,
is written for accountants who use QuickBooks.
Payroll-taxes.com for employee/payroll questions and
links
Scads of info at Business Owners'
Toolkit
Loads of informational links (magazines, newspapers, more) at CEO
Express
A site developed for teens which has very good basic
explanations: YoungBiz.
Feeling lonesome? Visit Working
Solo.
Bulk mailing rates, how to use direct
mail, and so on at Direct
Mail Quotes.
Or try the U.S.
Postal Service site.
For those who agree with me that less government
is what we need/must have, visit the Libertarian Party.
Canada
has Libertarians too!
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| Resale
shops of all types |
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Consumer
safety. For
safety recalls, check out Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
This site might be easier to use: www.recalls.gov
Learning about your
merchandise.
Apparelsearch.com
has almost too much info. Examine their drop-down menus carefully:
there's a glossary of fashion terms, size conversion charts, and much
more.
For more
fashion info, try Infomat.
Learn about plus
sizing here.
 Thrift
Shop Romantic has wonderful ideas that will help you improve your
merchandise's appeal and perceived value.
Learning about your clientele
Think cheap. Find great ideas to share with your customers and use
yourself at Debt-Proof Living (formerly Cheapskate Monthly).
Fakes. They are theft. Read this NARTS article "The Facts on Fakes!"
Adele, NARTS honcho, adds:
"The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition has added a form to
their Web site that allows people to report a person or/and store that
sells fakes. They also added a Counterfeit Gallery. www.iacc.org "
Fake Vuittons, and so much more, at My
Poupette. Also, Fashionphile
shares lots on Vuittons and more. Burberry
info here.
And thanks to the many hard-at-work vendors such as http://ihatecounterfeitbags.info/ (go to her "Menu" for other designers besides Kate Spade)
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Software:
Consign Pro Software
markets software for the industry.
Consignment SuCCEss
does as well.
ConsignmentTill is a
Canadian developer.
Liberty Software by Resaleworld is
another resale market software provider.
SBS Solutions has
"The Consignment Shop" software.
Workplace Software has
several software programs.
Store fixturing, displays, supplies:
Even if you never buy "new", these
sites have on-line catalogs to
browse. Use these to do research on how much things should cost, explore
your fixturing options, and more. If you are buying new, compare prices
with shipping added!
Store Supply Warehouse ships from three
locations, bragging they "reach 96% of the U.S. in two days or
less"
National Store Supply
is in Vermont
Naythons Display in Philly is
also a good reference
NEC, in Kansas
City, has lots of goodies
Gershel sells new and used
Displetech
is in Quebec province, Canada. In Toronto, Sharers have used www.recycleddisplays.com
and Acme
Shelving.
Here's a just-for-fun link:
Mannequin
Madness sells and rents mannequins in the SF area; even if you have
no interest in that, see wonderful ways to paint and decorate mannequins
(once you see the creations and $$, you may be inspired to start a
sideline business!)
Price tags to use with your software are
available from the software vendors, and an independent supplier is Tags
by Markat CC in NC
Another popular company for price tags is Forms
Plus
VA Aardvark is a company that sells quilting supplies, but they
have an interesting selection of things useful for your shop, and in
small quantities, no minimum orders and reasonable shipping. Plus,
they have a how-to page on loading your tagging gun and changing the
needle: How's THAT for customer service!
Need security tags? Try this
site. Always wondered how
anti-shoplifting devices work?
The custom cloth bags that NARTS uses for Conference, and that so many
shops use as an eco-tool? They're from Anchor
Packaging. Tell 'em Kate sent you, maybe he'll give me a deal ;-)
I just love Wall
Words. I think your clientele will too.
Some suggestions from readers:
Vistaprint for almost-free business
cards:
design, proof, pay online. Another resource would be Overnight
Prints.
Custompostcards.com and Postcardmania
for postcards. Also Vertical
Response
Stickerz. Easy-to-order, easy-to-use, easy-to-pay-for
vinyl lettering (as you
know from reading the Manual, a MUST for your shop windows)
DesignOutpost is a site where
you post a "prize" for designing a logo, then
view/ discuss participating artists' work: Recommended by Adele Meyer of
NARTS
And
many, many of our Sharers have happily had their logos designed
by Brody USA
Kwikticket, rumour has it, is still
selling the electric tagging guns so many shopkeepers swear by.
Need to
get organized? Mary loves these see-thru,
stack-em shoe boxes.
Promotional items and advertising specialties: Some suggestions
from Sharers are: Leaders
Promos and the lipstick pens at Promotional
Products.
An eBay seller who sells small quantities of printed plastic bags:
Speedgift.
More links
on our merchandise-specific pages, such as our Kidswear
Page and our Womenswear and Furniture
Pages.
Buying stuff wholesale for resale,
giveaways, etc:
The
most unique item for your shop, whether you sell
it, use it as a premium with purchase or as a door prize, is one that
you can ONLY buy here, from Kate.
About the following listings: I haven't dealt with all these companies, so use your best
judgment. Our "Sharers", those who hang around
our Sharing Discussion Board, often mention sites where they have found
items to resell in their shops.
JelliJewels is
something different for your shop.
Whirled Planet:
silver jewelry, saris, and so on
Wholesale
EZ has a listing of all sorts of wholesalers.
Wholesale Central does, too.
Oriental Trading has great
giveaways, Pt-of-Purchase merchandise
Artifacts
has an interesting variety of things, giveaways, even
packaging
Roden Imports in Alabama
has some unusual items for selling or gift giveaways
Banian
Apparel has kids' undies, sox, more
Those
grocery-cart covers are at Clean
Shopper and Table
Topper.
Nubi
was suggested for hats, jewelry, scarves
Simon & Simon, an
offprice apparel seller, might have what you need.
Wholesale Sterling for
just what their name says. Another silver-jewelry company some Sharers have liked: Silvex.
Charles Albert has sterling/ natural stone
jewelry
Jenny's Place is
a favorite of many Sharers as is Jeannie's
and Ruby Imports.
More jewelry and accessories at Hannah
D's
Wholesalewholesale
has sarongs, jewelry, and so on. This is their Canadian site,
but you can access their US site from here as well.
Other sites readers have recommended: Extratrading.com
, Fancyimport.com
and Goldenstella.com
as well as HJ
Liquidators and Amazing
Wholesale Scarves
Wholesale accessories suggested by readers: Youngstrading.com,
SWImports.com, Diva
Designs, NCE for gift items. Handbags
Central, Watchus.com, even products
for curly hair at Jessicurl and bath
products, wholesale, at ScrubYourButt.com.
My absolute favorite
(could be yours if you adore Tiki mugs, hula girl dusters, boxing
nuns etc) is Accoutrements.
There's Best
Hair Bows for children's bows, headbands, and boas for the kid in
you and Eastern Off Price
sells kids' and adult clothing and accessories on line
Unusual POP
and add-on items, perhaps, depending on your marketplace: Tag
Tamers and similar products
And, of course, KATE sells just about everything educational
you need to make
your shop a success. So hustle on over to our Products for the Professional Resaler
Shop right now!
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Hey, we're not just Resale
Goddesses. Sometimes, we just wanna have fun. Here's some sites I like. You may
too. . . or you may not. Such is life.
Having
a bad day, feeling low about the rest of the people on this planet? Do
You Realize will make you glad to be alive. Again.
Make your own (artistic!) e-cards.
To have time enough to play with this site, you need a blizzard.
Need
a new bra? Make one yourself out of a plastic bag, courtesy of the BBC
The Red
Block Game, otherwise known as the Ultimate Time Waster.
So you wanna has everything from
hosting a bridal shower to speaking Swahili. And well-written, too!
Silly clothing questions (alas, no answers) at Gadzillion
Things.
Take a look at our resale cousins at
YardSaleQueen.
The Straight Dope is a fun
site, especially if you've ever wondered just what a mojo really
is. And take a gander at their tag line/ mission statement.
Need bubbles that glow in UV? A rhinestone bra? (And these
are just the things listed before they get to the category
"weird stuff"!) Take a gander at Costumer's
Manifesto. PS: Great place to find fairy wings for your romantic
6-year-old, too.
Take an
instant
IQ test . Don't wanna do that? The same page has a skin-care
assessment test.
Play dress-up furreal at The
French Toast Girl.
Fly Lady is always full of fun stuff
Here's a site
that not only can teach you to dance, but
even how to do collage. It's called (for no reason I can
ascertain) Zefrank.com
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for the Professional Resaler