Did you know that I used to work for the Winmark corporation?? That’s right! I used to work at both Once Upon a Child and Plato’s Closet stores. Not only was I an employee at both stores but I also, used to be a social media manager for both stores as well. For today’s post, I want to share with you some insider tips when you are shopping or selling to Plato’s Closet.
Do you know what Plato’s Closet is? Plato’s Closet is a resale store where customer’s bring in items to sell to the store for quick cash. Most items are priced at 50-70% off of the retail price and as a seller, you receive 30-50% of Plato’s Closet’s selling price. The money you receive can either be given as straight cash, a store credit, or used towards inventory in the store without paying sales tax. As a former employee, I know a few tips that will make your trip to Plato’s Closet run more smoothly with less surprises.
Tip #1: Plato’s Closet is MORE SELECTIVE When Buying Inventory
Most people who sell to Plato’s Closet don’t know this but every quarter the Winmark Corporation releases a style guide to assist employees. This guide has all of the upcoming season’s projected trends and many stores use this to select what items to buy into the store. The store will turn down items because they are older styles and/or aren’t on trend for that particular store.
Tip #2: Season’s Matter
Have you ever tried selling Plato’s Closet shorts in the middle of the winter? It probably didn’t work. Each store has their own list of MUST WANTED items and these are the items that the store is most likely to buy in at that time. If you are looking to sell items to the store that are off-season, the only way that they will take them is if they are NWT (new with tags). If you want to know what items are MOST WANTED for any particular store, check out their website, social media accounts, or give the store a call.
Tip #3: Everything is SUPER Organized for a Reason
Most Plato’s Closet and Once Upon a Child stores have color guides that employee’s receive to make sure the store is in tip-top shape. As a consumer, you want to make your shopping experience as efficient as possible. In order to appeal to the eye and help consumers find what they are looking for, the store organizes everything by category. Within each category, everything is organized by size and within each size. everything is organized by the colors of the rainbow.
Tip #4: Some Stores Back Stock Inventory
One thing a lot of people don’t realize about these stores is that many of them back stock inventory. What does that mean exactly? Well, it means that there are actually items in bins in the back storage room of the store that are not on the sales floor. These items tend to be more seasonal like outerwear, tanks/shorts. These items are added to the sales floor pretty regularly to replenish sold inventory.
Tip #5: New Items are Put on the Sales Floor Throughout the Day
Items are constantly being bought throughout the day so new items are being put on the sales floor constantly.
Do you know the process required for an item to make it to the sales floor?
First, the item is reviewed by the buyer. The buyer then puts all of the items that the store is interested in buying in a bin. Once the items have been sorted, the buyer enters the items into a computer program that generates all of the prices. The buyer then calculates an offer to present to the seller. If the seller accepts the offer, then price tags generate for all of the items that store bought. A tagger then tags everything bought in for the store and hangs it all on a rack so it can be run by another employee who places it on the sales floor.
All of the items bought in for the day will be added to the sales floor before employees can leave for the day which is why it always best to bring items in at the BEGINNING of the day if possible. Please be considerate of employees.
BONUS: How to Read a Plato’s Closet Inventory Price Tag
Let me Break Down How to Read this Inventory Price Tag:
S# on the Top Left Corner: This is the SKU number for the item and can be manually typed in if the barcode doesn’t scan.
24071980461- Number on the Top Right Corner: This is date that the item was bought in. So on this tag, the item was bought into the store on July 24, 2019. This number is useful for knowing how long this item has been sitting on the shelves and is what is first check when running clearance sales.
Long # Immediately Under Barcode: The number isn’t so much as important as the letters are. The letters are the initials of the employee who bought in the item.
The other parts of the tag are pretty self explanatory.
Here are Some of the Items that I Picked Up on Yesterday’s Plato’s Closet Trip:
Marc Fisher Lace Up Heels
Kate Spade Gold Glitter Flats
Tory Burch Cork Reva Flats
Lilly Pulitzer Wristlet
Fossil Dark Floral Leather Crossbody
Emma Fox Lucy Grommet Black Crossbody
Pedder Red Jeweled White Sneakers
All items will be available in my Poshmark closet, RECYCLEDROSES !!
If you don’t already, be sure to check out my Instagram for more Reselling Tips at @ RecycledRosesGuide (Click HERE)
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Baci,
Bianca Ida
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