What Does Consignment Mean? (The Very Short TL;DR version)
In (very) short, you give us the thing, and if we feel we can sell it for you, we give you a contract. Later, after the thing sells, we send you payment. The amount we send you depends on the agreed percentage of the selling price, spelled out per-item on the contract.
A slightly more detailed SHORT OVERVIEW of consignment at East Side Re-Rides
We accept incoming consignment year-round, and every day. Here’s how it works:
1) You bring us your items (or send them to us!) any time during business hours.
2) Your carefully-labelled collection of items goes into the consignment queue
3) Within a few days (usually Tues Wed Thurs) we’ll open each bundle and carefully evaluate everything, item by item.
4) If we feel we can sell it for you, we send you a contract proposal with per-item percentages and starting tag price.
5) Later, on a monthly basis, whenever things have sold in the preceding month, we send you payment. (Etransfer, Cheque, giftcard, as you choose)
** If the “incoming” process above won’t work for you, and you need to go through items one-by-one in detail, in person, at the time of drop-off, you’ll need an evaluation appointment. You can arrange that in advance with us by email. ([email protected])
There are way more details in the rest of the text on this page. Do please read on.
Why do people consign things?
You loved this thing, there’s nothing wrong with this thing — but now you want something smaller, or bigger, or brown, or with less zippers, or with more zippers, or with more armor. Or you ordered it online and it came out of the package shaped like a human being who is completely dissimilar from you. Whatever the reason, here’s this thing, and you’re not wearing it.
You can always try putting a classified ad up yourself. Sometimes that works really well! But sometimes people are (ahem) less polite than they could be. And sometimes it’s hard for someone to travel a distance to a stranger’s house and try on their clothing in front of them. Awkward.
That’s why we’re here.
Let’s get into ALL the details!
WHAT WE CONSIGN
If clean and in working condition, biker gear is almost always a YES! (*except helmets)
In looking at items not originally motorcycle-purposed, we’ll happily consider select handmade & spectacular leather quality items which are IN fashion this year, and in great condition.
Types of items acceptable for consignment.
Motorcycle Jackets : Riding-thickness leather, textile & mesh jackets (with and without armor)
Motorcycle Leathers: Chaps, pants, vests & shirts.
Fancy Leathers (Social / Fetish): Dress chaps / party wear / corsetry (some) / Leather Shorts / Hats, caps and covers / dresses / skirts
Vintage Biker Leathers: Oh, yes. For the really valuable vintage brands, we’ll consider things even if they have damage. Talk to us.
Motorcycle and Motocross Riding Clothing: high-vis vests / rain gear / heated vests / lined riding jeans / racing suits (maybe) / motocross gear
Various Motorcycle Gear: leather gloves / armored riding gloves / glove liners / goggles / driving sunglasses
Boots & Shoes: Motorcycle / biker – specific footwear — both boots & riding shoes. Tough engineer & logger boots. SOME CSA-approved work boots. SOME patrol / service / military / equestrian boots. SOME high fashion boots and shoes.
Motorcycle-themed clothing and accessories: A probable yes, depending on how much space we have. But they have to be in very very good condition.
Leather Accessories: wallets / belts / messenger bags / leather suspenders / armbands
Other Clothing & stuff: High fashion items, depending. Utilikilts & chainmail & rubber / neoprene items and suchlike. Plus odd n sods like bike covers, seat covers and the like.
Day-to-day fashion clothes in lightweight leather are a MAYBE, and here’s why….
Read this carefully, please, to save some time. We can NOT ACCEPT most lightweight, thin leather fashion / daywear items, simply because they tend to be very slow sellers. If in doubt, please check with us before dropping things off.
Probably NO
- Nothing in a dated style eg 90s
- Nothing lambskin (unless utterly perfect and utterly of today’s fashion)
- Nothing marketed for wearing to casual social occasions.
QUITE POSSIBLY YES
- Sought-after brands & VERY high fashion
- Fetish / Punk / highly styled / fancy
- Original / Unusual / Authentically vintage items
What we CAN’T accept
HELMETS. We can’t sell secondhand helmets as it’s an insurance and safety issue. (‘Tho once in a while we’ll take a collectible vintage helmet for display purposes, or for costuming, or a BRAND NEW IN BOX & RECENT-manufacture helmet.)
Nothing in damaged/non-functioning condition. (A $300 jacket with a non-functioning main zipper is worth $0 in resale value.)
No item with –how to put this politely– a stink. No stinky items. Especially smoke (cigarette or other fires), mildew & mothballs. Double especially, human sweat — and cat pee from when it was stored in the garage that one season. If in doubt, do take it to have it cleaned so you can get top dollar for your item (though some smells are impossible to remove). (Double-checking? Ask someone with a keen sense of smell to sniff it for you.)
REPEATING because it’s necessary: IF IT SMELLS OR IS DIRTY WE WILL REJECT IT
No faux leather / pleather / vinyl / PU / polyurethane clothing that looks like biker gear, except for cheerfully obvious fetishy clothing. This is a safety issue!
Items we feel we can not sell for you (eg: a slow-moving type of product that we already have many of) Note that leather racing suits are often a “no” because of lack of space.
If it’s neither tough nor sexy, it’s unlikely to find a home here.
No stolen goods (in fact, I have a list of things folks have reported missing, just in case we see them come in)
No motorcycle parts. We just have no room at all for chunks of metal and glass. 🙂
What does “Clean and in Working order” mean?
In order for us to sell a thing for you, people have to be willing to buy it. That means it must work the way it is supposed to. Fastenings should fasten. Seams should be seemly. If it’s non-functional, we won’t be able to take it. If you don’t want it because it’s worn out, broken, mangled, and hideous… well, we don’t want it either. IF YOUR ITEM SMELLS OR IS DIRTY WE WILL REJECT IT.
General wear is fine, as long as it hasn’t gone too far and rendered the item unusable. I’m looking at you, boot heels.
Sometimes we can undertake to clean and fix your items, for a fee. And also we have a few bits of advice about cleaning and fixing at this link:
THE CONSIGNMENT LIFE CYCLE
Here’s some info about how the consignment process runs, and what to expect.
Step One: Bring us your gear
Any time during business hours, please feel free to drop by with your items for consignment. You can also ship them to us, and under some conditions we’ll even arrange a pickup.
If convenient, package your gear in a bag or box with your name, phone number and email address CLEARLY WRITTEN and FIRMLY ATTACHED, and drop that off to us. If you can’t do that, we’ll safely bag & tag things for you in the store.
Packages of gear then go into a waiting area until their turn comes, which is generally within a working day or two. (If this process doesn’t work for you, you may need an appointment for an in-person meeting.)
Step Two: We evaluate everything carefully
In the quiet hours before the store opens to the public, we come in early to do consigning. Starting with the collections that came in first, we open each package carefully, one by one. We take out and evaluate every item, research it, type it up into the database, take “mug shots”, and send the owner a contract proposal by email. Then we tag everything, and then we’re on to the next consignor’s collection.
Step Three: The contract proposal
Keep an eye on your email, as we’ll be emailing your contract proposal as soon as we finish all the data entry. This will list every item you’ve brought in that day (except things we can’t accept), the starting tag price, and the percentage of the selling price that you’ll be getting once it sells. More fine-grained detail on this process is further down this page.
We’ll need to hear back from you, whether everything looks good to you, or if you have any suggestions for changes.
Step Four: Selling your gear
Once we agree on the pricing and description, you sit back and relax and we hang your item in our shop where tons of lovely folks will be able to see it. We also have every item that is in-store up on the online shop with a photo, and pretty much daily we are making sales and shipping items all across North America and sometimes beyond. We advertise the shop in several places so more people are exposed to the wonderful cornucopia of gear we offer, and word of mouth also works in our favour. (Pls tell ten friends about us).
Step Five: Consignment payouts
Once a month, AFTER the last day of the month, we integrate all the sales for the whole month and begin the month-end accounting. We generally begin the process on the first working day of the new month, but it can take a few days to get all the many bits of information perfectly organized.
Once we have all the data cross-checked & ready, we run report letters for folks who are getting paper cheques, and then we start writing the cheques. All of them. So. Many. Cheques. Those cheques and letters go into the Big Accordion-File-of-Picking-Up, and if you don’t drop by to get it that month, we stuff it in an envelope and send it to you by Canada Post. Do we have your current address? Better keep us up to date!
For folks who have opted to get etransfers–Do we have your current email address? Better keep us up to date!– we send out emails in advance, saying something like: “We’re sending an etransfer soon for these items of yours which sold! Be ready! Here’s your password if you need it!”
Then we log on the the bank, and we send the first payment. Then the next, and the next, and so on, until the bank’s universal etransfer-sending-per-day limits are hit. Then we start the process again the next day. We do this until all are sent. Depending on how many sales we’ve made in the preceding month, and thus how many payments we’re sending, this can take up to three working days after we’ve sent out the “Here it comes” letter. If you don’t see anything from us after that, check in with us! We appreciate your patience with this process.
ps: We also offer payment via PayPal (for folks who can’t bank) or Electronic Gift Cards for East Side Re-Rides stock.
WHAT HAPPENS IF…?
What if the dropped-off item can not be consigned?
If something is flawed, broken, dirty, or not right for the store, we will reject it. We’ll email you about it, package it back up again, tag the package with your name and put it in a different waiting spot. You’ll have 30 days to pick it back up again, but as our space is so limited, we’re super grateful if you’d grab it as soon as you can. We can also donate items on your behalf. Let us know.
What if I don’t agree with the contract proposal?
We evaluate as carefully as we can, but sometimes folks do not agree with our best estimate of an item’s worth. You may discuss starting price with us (sometimes there is wiggle room), or you may choose to take the item(s) back. You’ll have 30 days to pick it back up again, but as our space is so limited, we’re super grateful if you’d grab it as soon as you can.
How long will you keep trying to sell an item?
Our contract states that we will try an item for sale for at least 3 months, unless we find a flaw missed in the original evaluation. After that time we MAY send it back to you, or, if it’s a good item and just hasn’t found its person yet, we may let it ride for longer. You don’t need to worry — the item remains yours even if it stays here for quite a while.
What if I change my mind and want an item back?
It’s still yours! You can reclaim it at any point whatsoever. (If there’s a cleaning or repair fee on the item, you’ll need to settle that with us first.) Best way is to email us or call us the day before you’re planning to come by, so we can do the wee bit of internal paperwork and collect your item(s) for you.
What if the item does not sell?
Sometimes we’ll see that a good item has had lots of attention, but has not sold and shoppers have commented on the high price. In those cases, we may contact you and offer you the option of putting your item on sale.
If we’ve tried and tried, and your item just has not found a new home, we will at some point pull it from stock and notify you to come and pick it up.
You’ll have 30 days to pick it up, but as our space is so limited, we’re super grateful if you’d grab it as soon as you can. We can also donate items on your behalf. Let us know.
What happens if I don’t pick up an item being returned to me?
We honestly try and try and try to get your items back to you. We send email & we phone. If we get only voicemail, we try again to speak to you in person. If you have a Situation, and can’t make it, we can extend the 30 day deadline. You can arrange to have a friend pick it up. You can send a courier.
But, finally, as stated in the contract, if we just can’t reach you, or if you’ve promised to pick it up through several reminders and never show up, your item becomes the property of East Side Re-Rides, and we will dispose of the dang thing (either donate or trash).
If you change your contact info, please keep us in the loop.
How do I check up on my items’ progress?
You are welcome to call or email at any time, and ask for an item report. We can email you a PDF listing all of your current items, which includes sold and payment info on the successful sales.
While any day is fine to ask for an update, it’s important to note that our database will always reflect the data up to the last month-end accounting. The very best time to check in is a couple of days AFTER a month ends.
For instance, if you call at noon on the 30th of June, your report will contain all sales info up to the last day of May. We won’t have June’s sales integrated yet, because we’re still in that month, and still selling things, right up to midnight in the online store. By the 2nd of July, we’ll know everything there is to know about June’s sales of your stuff.
More about PERCENTAGES, STARTING PRICES, DUTCH AUCTION
How do you decide on the tag price of each item?
It’s sort of a balancing act between getting you what it’s worth, and offering it at a price which will make buyers happy to purchase it and take it home.
On our side, we consider what the item would have cost new, what a similar item is now fetching new, what that type of item is fetching currently in the North American secondhand markets, how old the thing is, how much wear & tear there is, or how many major or minor faults it may have, how collectable or desirable the brand is, whether it’s vintage-just-old or vintage-must-have-it, and whether that class of items is much in demand (cafe racer-style jackets) or not at all in demand (90s-style lambskin jackets). We also may know from experience (and over a decade of our own database statistics!) that a particular thing in this store sells best at a certain price range.or desirable
On your side, you think about whether you want to hold out for the highest return, or whether you want to price a thing attractively so its delighted new owners will take it home as fast as possible (which gets you your consignment payment sooner).
If your evaluation of a thing and ours are too far apart, you may of course take your item back.
Does it sound complicated? Yeah, it kind of is.
Tell me about percentages
Percentage varies! The more your item is worth, the higher your percentage of that higher selling price will be.
The great majority of the payout for your $1000 Schott horsehide Perfecto will be yours, but we’ll end up with the higher amount of a $20 elderly pair of gauntlet gloves (to account for the labour and display costs East Side Re-Rides bears). Contracts will list percentage and starting tag price PER ITEM on however many items you have.
You can also check in with us when you drop things off — we can show you how the sliding percentage scale works.
Why do your tag prices drop to 90% and then 80%? What is a Dutch Auction?
We use a method of pricing sometimes called a dutch auction. But it’s not dutch it’s not an auction, so we’re sorry for that. 🙂
Every price tag shows three prices. The starting tag price (shown on your contract) holds for a month. Then the second price (90%) of the original is correct. One month later, the item has dropped to the final tag price of 80% of the original. And there it sticks. It does NOT keep dropping.
So for example, an item brought in on January 1st, and tagged with the initial starting price of $100 would sell for
- $100 on Jan 1 to 31st
- $90 on Feb 1st to 29th
- $80 on March 1st and forever after.
The final selling price is the figure used to determine the exact amount of the consignor’s payout. (Multiply it by the percentage shown on your contract, and that’s what you will get.)