Start Your Own Thrift Shop

In the post-pandemic world, many of us are finding ourselves less fulfilled in corporate jobs. While challenging, the appeal of flexible careers and running our own small businesses holds a lot of weight. And for fashion-lovers, owning a clothing boutique or store is often the ultimate dream. But the ethical implications of fast fashion and actually most fashion in general, isn’t easy to dismiss - and it’s anything but transparent. From the factories brands have their clothes made in and labor concerns to the material used to even company culture, it can sometimes feel like you’re supporting other's blunders more than carving out an empowering path for yourself. However starting a thrift shop or secondhand clothing shop is a perfect alternative for those who dream of running a clothing store while encouraging the reduction of new consumption. If that’s something you’ve toyed with, here’s a quick checklist to get you on the right path.

Build an Inventory

One of the challenges of running a thrift shop is keeping large enough inventory to draw a crowd. To gain a reputation of a reliably cool secondhand store, steady streams of on-trend and quality clothing are essential. Here are a few ideas we recommend:

• Frequent estate sales and buy clothing in bulk from them.

• Go to garage sales and pick out neighborhoods with the best clothing.

• Ask local residents for donations of their old clothing.

• Start a program where people can bring in their old clothing in exchange for small amounts of money or store credit.

• Clean out your own closet and contribute items you don’t wear anymore. Do the same for your friend’s closets.

• Create a program where people can drop off ripped or broken clothing and fix it up yourself.

Get a Website and Maybe A Location

Deciding what type of thrift shop to run is impactful to establishing a means of distribution. While a brick-and-mortar store is more traditional, an online one has a higher potential to reach a broad audience and has waaaaaaaay less overhead. Plus, social media makes for a killer marketing scheme. You can also consider going hybrid to expand your options and launch a website in tandem with a pop-up. This can attract the right people.

While it might be tempting, we suggest that new owners shouldn’t make their own websites. From shipping, pricing, inventory, SEO (crucial for any store) and marketing processes, outsource this aspect to a professional and save yourself a lot of effort. Hiring a website developer will ensure the site runs smoothly and looks professional. Many online users are suspicious of new sites and can get spooked at even the littlest things, but a positive user experience can ease their concerns and make them loyal customers. Just make sure you know how to drive the site so you can continue to make adjustments along with inventory and other changes.

Set Up A System For Consistently Beautiful Photos

Especially online (but actually everywhere), good quality photos that show the clothes and are consistent in coloring, set, and how they showcase the clothes, are what make your brand. Users want to know what they are getting before they buy - and they want to be able to picture it in their life and lifestyle. Natural lighting with a clean background is key. And actually, it’s been proven that cutting the face off of your models can make a big difference in sales. It allows the shopping to picture themselves wearing the clothes more clearly, which is the key that often leads to conversion.

Start Marketing

Even with the most outstanding inventory and a hybrid approach to increase a shop’s visibility, it can still fall flat without marketing efforts. Marketing your store is essential to starting a thrift shop yourself. Getting the word out to your local community is vital. Host events, send out flyers, create social media accounts for the shop, and contact editors from fashion and shopping-oriented websites. You might be surprised at how receptive they are - after all - your good content is helping them do their job. and do anything possible to increase awareness of the new store. And don’t forget that consistency is key.