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Consignor FAQs

(Frequently Asked Questions)

  • How do I consign with Play It Again Kids?
    We do everything we can to make consigning with us quick and easy. Basically book an appointment, sign an agreement, get your items ready and bring them in. To learn more about the consignment process click here.
  • What rates of commission are paid to consignors?
    After the first dollar on each item we sell, we pay 50% for items sellable at more than $50, and 40% on items sold for under $50. Commission is only paid out after items sell, and is paid to consignors as store credit. Credit can be used in store, or paid to you via requested cheque once you have over $20 on your account. Payouts are available for up to a max of $100 each month. In the event that items have just sold, we also allow 7 business days after the sale before we pay out commission received from that item. This allows for possible customer returns during that time.
  • Do I need to book an appointment to consign items?
    If you have less than 5 items to consign then you can pop in anytime and we can try to fit you in. Anything more than this, then we'd strongly recommend you book an appointment with us, using our appointment scheduling tool. We seek to give excellence in our customer service, and appointments help this, by allowing us to have a dedicated member of staff available to take consignment, while another staff member can focus exclusively on customers' needs. Appointments help us keep consignment intake to a manageable level, giving us time to actually price and put out the many items we accept in...
  • What days do you take consignment?
    Usually we take consignment 6 days a week Monday through to Saturday. This is by appointment unless you have just 5 or fewer items to bring in. We occasionally may choose to stop consignment for a period if we simply have too many items, or if we are taking a vacation etc. Customers would be given suitable notice in such an event via Facebook and our website.
  • Is there a limit to how many items I can bring in?
    While there is no minimum requirement, we do have a weekly max of 30 items per consignor appoinment. We want all consignors to have a fair opportunity to get their items in store, so having a limit helps give everyone a chance. Every item that comes in needs to be checked and re-checked for stains and damage, sorted, priced and entered on the system, then put on display. This all takes time. We often get several boxes each day so we limit the number of items to keep the intake manageable. If you've screened items thoroughly to enure they meet our standards, and feel confident these are things we would be taking right now (yet still have more than 30 items) you may need to book a double appointment. You can do this by phone or possibly online, if back-to-back spot are available. You can also book multiple appointments using our scheduler without calling - but PLEASE only do so if you've taken the time to ensure everything would meet our standards. If no appointment we have a max of 5 items please (o:
  • How can I check to see if my items have sold?
    For your convenience, Play It Again Kids subscribes to a system that lets you check the status of your items online. It will show every item listed to your account and the prices these are listed at. You can see what has sold; when it sold, and the commission owed to you. Simply go to the "my account” at the top of every page.
  • Why are payouts on certain days only?
    Basically it’s all about time management! Processing payouts, like accepting consignment takes time; and on days when we have many payouts per day, this time mounts up. It’s time away from serving customers and from getting consignment items on shelves. Historically Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays have been busier days for us with consignment and customer service, so we only offer payouts on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
  • How do I maximize what I make on my items?
    Check out these tips to help you be a great consignor and maximize what you make…
  • Can I take back my items if they don’t sell?
    Yes, during the consignment period of 3 months. Because your items are on consignment this means you technically still own your items for that initial 3 month period, or until the moment they sell. Although it is rare for consignors to retrieve their items during this period, it is well within your rights to do so. We regret that we may not be able to help consignors search for their items in the store, due to constraints on our time, but we can print a list of what items are still on consignment to help the retrieval process.
  • Why does the store make some commission on my items?
    Play It Again Kids is a great place to sell your stuff because we have a huge number of customers who are drawn to our location, and they are all in the market for items like yours. However providing this physical location and service costs us money and time, and like any business we need to make a certain amount to pay overheads, make a basic wage and sustain the business for the long-term to benefit our community. Having researched a large number of similar businesses, we are proud to say our payouts are very competitive.
  • Why are payouts limited to a $100 max per consignor each month?
    We have over 2000 consignors, so if many of them wanted to cash out their entire credit balance at the same time, this could cause some major cash flow problems for our business. Having a max amount helps reduce this risk considerably, while still providing consignors fair access to their commission.
  • Will my items be put out straight away?
    Items that are in high demand will usually be put out within a few days, but in some cases there will be a delay of a few weeks (and sometimes longer) before these are priced. There are a few reasons for this; volume, seasonality, and available space. Volume: In busy periods we can get as many as 5 boxes of items in a single day. We have to check through each and every item, often some cleaning or folded is required if the items are not presented as well as they could be! We examine for rips or stains, check all the seams and buttons, zippers etc., and any toys and equipment are checked for recalls and if the item is new to us this has to be researched and priced, bagged up or hung on hangers, and put on display. On an average day we can get through between 80 – 150 items but if the store is busy (with customers and consignors) this can slow down the process. Seasonality: We may hold back items that we feel are just better suited to a different season, e.g. lighter items received in early fall, may be the perfect garment for a few weeks, but then customers only want heavier winter items so they may be pulled and re-tried in spring or even the following fall. If this happens consignors will still be given credit on their items but payment would be delayed until they sell. Available Space: When our store gets too crammed customers find it overwhelming and hard to view items and sales get affected. It is important we find the right balance between having a good selection available yet don`t overcrowd. We also want to take what we can from consignors, to avoid your disappointment (especially when items are in great condition and super cute!) This means sometimes we just have to store consigned goods until similar items in the store are sold and space becomes available. The vast majority of items do go out within a few days of in-take date however.
  • What can I do with items that are not accepted?
    If items are good quality but just not right for the season you are welcome to bring them back when the timing is better, and if marked or dirty and you can wash them, then you can try your items again when cleaned, provided any stains have vanished. For items that are too far gone, or not of the quality or styles we need, you can donate them to Positive Apparel at 721 Front Street, Nelson who have an excellent recycling program in place. The Salvation Army and Share may accept other items if suitable and if they have space. Any toys or baby equipment that are damaged or not safe for reuse can be disposed of at the Transfer Station on Lakeside Road. Some electronic equipment may be accepted by the Nelson Leafs Bottle Depot at 120 Silica Street in Nelson, subject to their conditions.
  • What happens to items after 3 months?
    Any items that did not sell within the initial 3 month consignment period are considered a donation. For ‘expired’ clothing (items over 3 months that did not sell) these are collected by a local church group who donate their time and energy into sorting and shipping these items to benefit underprivileged children in an orphanage in the West Bank of Israel. The orphanage is non-partisan helping children of any religious or ethnic background. Items which are not right for their needs are donated to Positive Apparel who either sell the items or will recycle these through their clothing recycling program. It’s important to note that the 3 month period begins from the time an item is priced and added to our system - not from the date it was accepted in. This is much fairer to consignors, since if we have too many items in a certain category, we can still opt to take in quality items and store them, but put these out at a time when they are most likely to sell at the best price for you – without penalizing consignor commission. For clothing, if items are removed from display early without being given the full 3 months (for example a summer dress or shoes accepted in August that would not be inappropriate for October weather) we would bench such items for retry for the remaining period next year. In this situation we still pay consignors full commission on items. Sometimes we may decide to retry an item after it has been out for 3 months but did not sell. In this situation commission to the consignor would be reduced from 40% (after the 1st dollar) to 30%. If an item has been out for more than 2 seasons, no commision would be payable.
  • Do you accept in car seats?
    Technically we can resell car seats, but the legal contraints are pretty strict so we rarely do. If you have a car seat that i new in the box, and sealed, we would consider taking that in, provided it meets other Tranport Canada guidelines. Car seats must have a National Safety Mark and meet current regulatory requirements. It illegal for us to (or you) to sell car seats that do not meet the current regulatory requirements. You should always check with the manufacturer before buying or selling a car seat.

Looking for Customer FAQs? Click here.

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