Clearing out the wardrobe. Decluttering the closet profitably: how to sell unwanted clothes

We have previously considered various options clothing trade, but today we will talk about another direction in this area, namely the opening of a business selling men's clothing. We can say one thing, in comparison with the women's departments, here you need to use completely different approaches and methods for selecting the assortment.

Business features and location selection

Men are less likely to buy clothes and other wardrobe items, this is due to the notion that there are jeans, a few sweaters and shirts, and this is quite enough. But lately, this trend has changed a bit. During the crisis, men have become even more economical in their purchases, so the emphasis should be on inexpensive clothes that look good. You say there is none? There are many examples of this, you just need to look for suitable suppliers. It is not worth saving on belts, and especially on shoes, if your department sells them too. Such accessories are usually purchased expensive, as in the case of wristwatches.

Where is the best place to open a men's clothing store? There are two most suitable options here:

1. It is to rent an outlet in the market. In this case, the emphasis should be on inexpensive clothes. Buyers go to the market for a discount, so you need to offer it. And let the assortment not be fashionable, but at a low price, you will always have buyers. Especially if you focus on middle-aged and older men.
2. Renting space in a shopping center. Here, your target audience will be young men, so the assortment needs to be imported more modern, and the price tag may be higher.

We do not consider trading in expensive men's clothing, because during a crisis it is not profitable, and this boutique will be relevant only in a big city, but in a small town, the two options presented above work and develop quite well.

Premises and equipment

The size of the room should be looked for depending on the volume of goods that you plan to purchase for the assortment. So in shopping malls you can see options from 20 sq.m. Please note that you will need to equip a fitting room, which will also take up some of the space.

Of the equipment for the men's clothing trade, you will need:

• glass showcases with mannequins;
• hangers on which you will place, for example, shirts, jackets or sweaters.
• racks for storing trousers and other packaged goods with various sizes;
• dressing room with a mirror;
• hooks for belts;
• furniture for the workplace of the seller;
• cash machine.

Range and suppliers

When developing a business plan for a men's clothing store, you will need to competently work out the entire list of assortment, and determine in which direction you will focus. It is clear that you can clearly define the running positions only after working a little in this area, but still it is worth considering.

Here are the main product categories of the men's clothing store:

• outerwear;
• suits;
• jackets;
• sweaters, golfs;
• trousers, jeans;
• shirts;
• summer clothes (t-shirts, shorts, t-shirts);
• accessories (ties, belts) and so on.

These are just the main trends in classic clothing.

Now it is very fashionable to sell casual style clothes, which are great for both work and spending time with friends.

Clothing suppliers can be found directly at wholesale clothing markets. Also, some items can be purchased directly from manufacturers, such as shirts or trousers.

Advertising

In addition to the standard ways to attract customers, such as distributing leaflets with discounts or holding promotions, you can also use modern options sales on the Internet.

So, for example, you can sell men's clothing through an online store, for this they carry out search engine optimization your site, also at first you can connect contextual advertising.

How much money do you need to start?

In fact, everything will depend on the format in which you plan to open a men's clothing store and on the price segment of your assortment. For approximate calculations, we present the main items of expenditure, but you will work them out in more detail in your business plan.

• Room rental - $200 - $250
• Taxes - $150
• Salary to the seller - $ 200
• Initial purchase of goods - $7000 - $9000
• Purchase of equipment - $1200 - $1800
• Advertising — $250 (+ online advertising)
• Transport costs - $60.

What income can you expect?

It should be clarified that the margin is usually higher in the cheap segment of goods, so when trading on the market, you can make good money by selling inexpensive goods. But even in the shopping center, when your store is already unwinding, you can make a good margin on part of the assortment.

The average markup on men's clothing is 40% - 80%.

For accessories - 70% - 100%.

Based on these values, you can estimate the required sales volume in order to go monthly in plus.

Conclusions. The menswear business is good decision for start-up entrepreneurs. You need to make a bias on the cheap segment, and at the same time it is very important to choose the right place for trading.

What can you say about this business idea? We are waiting for your thoughts in the comments.

Clothing is not a simple commodity. On the one hand, formally it does not “spoil”, that is, it has a long shelf life. On the other hand, it strongly depends on fashion and becomes obsolete morally. In a highly competitive environment, you need to be able to sell clothes competently, not forgetting the basic laws and merchandising of this specific product. Anatoly KIM, commercial director of the April XXI century company, which produces men's suits for over five years now.

Work on mistakes

Today, the main mistake of retail is the lack of any well-formed conceptual approach to the trading place, its design and design. In most Russian regions, merchandising is at a low level, advertising is not always used sensibly, and goods are presented incorrectly. Therefore, I would advise you to start with work on the bugs. Look carefully to see if your entire trading system is built clearly enough that you can fix it on your own right now.

Crossroads of seven roads, here I am!

Any experienced businessman knows: right choice trading space provides 60% success rate. For the successful sale of goods at a retail outlet, the first criterion in choosing a place is traffic (near the metro or closer to passenger traffic, in office areas), the second is the target audience. For a business clothing salon, the audience can be quite extensive, but it is obvious that these are “white collars” - employees of firms, line managers and middle managers who need a “uniform”. Therefore, be closer to them.

Brighter!

Just as a theater begins with a hanger, every retail store begins with a window display. This is his face. Do not skimp on paying for the services of a professional designer, since a shop window is perhaps the most serious tool for increasing traffic. In the collection you can have a model, extravagant and bright, but the chances of selling it are low: it is too unconventional. But she is great way to attract attention (experts call it an eye - catcher), and you must definitely use this property. Put a tuxedo in the window, for example, cornflower blue, and a passer-by will definitely stop his eyes on it. Have a contact? Excellent! This means that the chances that a person will buy something have increased significantly.

Bet on the classics, attract with "chic"

The assortment of any store should be updated and expanded every season, so it should be made up of both “attractive”, but not very actively selling goods, and real “hits”. Get the most out of fashionable and trendy items, they are the ones that attract attention, helping to realize the rest of the assortment. The psychology of the Russian buyer is such that, having reacted to something unusual (a large stripe, a breathtaking color), he buys a dark blue suit. This "workhorse" of the collection is sold out of time and season. New items allow the buyer to hope that you keep up with the times. Let me give you an example: once we bought a batch of very fashionable suits in a “crazy” strip - quite large, the color of wet asphalt, which was popularly called the “mafia”. We put them in the hall in a very advantageous place and on the first day we sold 50 collections.

Good to submit!

So, you have formed an assortment and regularly update it. Now we need to carefully look at the interior of the trading floor. How pleasant is the atmosphere in your salon, is it light, spacious? When the store is dim, crowded, the buyer does not have a desire to look inside. A person feels comfortable only in xopo sho lit environment. However, if a dark background creates a feeling of tightness and looks gloomy, then in rooms that are too light, you seem to be lost in space. Again, beige sets you in a hospital mood. When trading classic clothes, it is important to keep the color balance, choose warm, gentle tones.

The level of market development today allows you to choose equipment for every taste and budget. All kinds of metal and wooden "constructors" are truly capable of decorating a business clothing store. Best of all, we look at the bones against the background of a tree - beech, alder. Give preference to these materials, but not to walnut or oak.

And remember: properly selected lighting helps to “serve” the costumes, make them “appetizing”.

Everything on the shelves

For most retailers, merchandising remains a scary and unfamiliar foreign word and not at all a way to increase sales and traffic. But a lot depends on the competent display of goods, on the correct placement. So, it is absolutely necessary to separate clothes by brands in order to find the right brand in the hall easily. The selection by color scheme will not hurt: gray - separately, dark green "separately and dark blue - also separately. Articles are traditionally laid out at eye level. Clearly highlight discounted items. In dozens of stores that I managed to visit, it was not immediately possible to find out where the old and where the new collection was. So, the novelties are in the most visible place, to prove once again: you follow the fashion, and the buyer did not make a mistake by the door, turning to you. Systematization of the collection and proper layout greatly help to speed up customer service. When everything is “in order” in the hall, it is easier for the seller to find the required article and size.

Unobtrusive service

Aggressive sales method is a thing of the past. Modern buyers do not like intrusive service, but prefer a respectful attitude. Otherwise, the customer becomes annoyed and the purchase may fail. This is especially true if you sell business clothes, because the target audience is sophisticated and fastidious.

At the same time, the end user is not so professionally versed in the fabrics of suits and their properties. Your task is to convey this information to him in such a way that it is perceived positively, as the advice of an experienced consultant who knows his product thoroughly. An experienced worker is always a good psychologist, his “trained” eye understands what kind of person is standing in front of him.

By appearance potential buyer, the seller determines the size, “size”, helps to choose color scheme and, most importantly, choose a pair in the price range available to the client. In general, in the costume trade, as nowhere else, the rule is true: the more you know, the more you sell!

Briefing "combat vehicles"

During my six years of manufacturing and selling business wear, I have traveled to hundreds of stores in Europe, Asia and Russia. Unfortunately, the monitoring of Russian regions has revealed a very negative trend: perhaps the weakest link in modern retail outlets is insufficiently trained personnel. Although some kind of movement is planned, for example, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, sellers are quite well versed in the product and know how to be polite. The reason for the poor training of the staff of the "front flank" is often the illiteracy of the store owner himself. As a rule, if he knows his product to the subtleties, then he is able to “on his fingers”, in simple words to convey information about fabrics, about production, about brands to ordinary sellers. “An hour of work will teach more than a day of explanation” - a quote from Rousseau is only partly true here. By itself, the problem of inexperienced personnel will not be solved "in the process." We need to take concrete action. For example, we recently published an annotation for sellers. This document described in detail how to talk about our collections. We focused on the sales technique, emphasizing the uniqueness of the costumes we produce. Much is difficult to remember by heart, memorize. Game forms of education become an alternative to cramming: trainings and seminars, the costs for them will certainly be justified if competent sellers meet buyers in your store.

up and down

Seasonality in the clothing trade is an inevitable evil. However, in practice, the matter is aggravated by the fact that wholesalers do not always deliver products on time. This applies to both business clothing and casual and other product groups. As a result, retail simply does not have time to prepare for the high season on time. Another problem with "hit" models is closely related to the ability of the manufacturer to quickly bring to market something that sells particularly well. This is due to the long production time of the products. Because they the production cycle is at least 120 days, it turns out that it is not possible to finish the running assortment in time.

It is useful that by the way, and not on time - (any good turns into a vice)

It is almost impossible to sell all the goods by the end of the season. Inevitably, "stocks" are formed - unsold collections. Trade balances - headache any clothing retailer, regardless of its style and direction, because working capital is frozen. And although business classic suits “suffer” less, we also experience the influence of seasonality. What is usually done with inventory? There are two ways: organizing your own sales and "eliminating" unsold goods with the help of specialized "stock" stores. Today, getting rid of the remnants of the collection properly is hindered, on the one hand, by the inability of the seller to do it in a timely manner, and on the other, by the lack of wide interest in sales among the population. The fact is that in Europe and the United States a culture of sales has been formed, we still treat discounted goods with apprehension. Therefore, we must wait a few years until shopping during the discount season becomes a tradition. Even today, you can gradually accustom the client that sales are great! The basic rule that should be followed by the owner of a retail clothing store is to arrange sales at your own time, not when the season has already ended, but a month or two before it ends. For example, December is traditionally considered a good “selling” month, which means that you need to start already on December 15, no later.

Be sure to promote sales with stickers, banners, and billboards. Products with a discount "separate" from the main and new collections. A common mistake retailers make is trying to "freeze" unsold merchandise until next year. But it is better to sell it now cheaper than to deprive the company of working capital.

Tips were recorded by Ekaterina Chinarova

The tenth striped t-shirt bought on sale or out-of-size shoes ordered from an online store, and simply disliked things that gradually begin to occupy half of the wardrobe, is a story familiar to almost everyone. The solution to this problem can be communities and sites where they sell, exchange or even give away unwanted shoes, clothes, bags, cosmetics, and even cars. A couple of years ago, such groups flooded LiveJournal, but gradually began to move to the more active Facebook and VKontakte - today there are more than a thousand communities for any city when you search for "sale". Showrooms, common in the West, where you can rent a shelf and put up for sale any goods, are just beginning to appear in Moscow, but are already popular - the queue for renting a place is built almost half a year in advance.

undress

Registration:

What they sell:

Terms:

the price is set by the seller

Number of participants:

over 1,000

A closed group on Facebook, which, however, anyone can join; approval of the application is just one of the ways to cut off advertising. Almost 95% of items for sale are women's clothing, shoes and accessories. From time to time, lonely men's suits or sneakers come across, as well as appliances and even rarer household goods.

Posts are moderated, all messages that do not fit the rules of the group are deleted (most often these are things with insufficient description, uninformative or blurry photos). The range of brands is colossal: here you can find Monki bracelets for 500 rubles, and Christian Louboutin shoes for 20 thousand. Shoes generally appear on the pages of the community almost most often - as a rule, these are brand new sandals and sneakers, the owners of which missed the size when ordering from an online store. Often, a discussion of an unsuitable item in the comments smoothly flows into a conversation about the best online stores, the size range of a particular brand, or the fast way delivery - in general, it seems that most of the group members have known each other for a long time. The best places to look here are COS dresses and bags, T-shirts from Urban Outfitters, shoes from Solestruck and things from other brands not represented in Moscow.

« A group of anonymous shopaholics »

Registration:

Facebook account and approval of the request by the moderator

What they sell:

shoes, clothes and accessories of luxury brands, cosmetics, furniture

Terms:

the price is set by the seller

Number of participants:

more than 3 500

Another group on Facebook, where you can get rid of unnecessary and unsuitable things, has more than three thousand members. The main rule of the community is only designer wardrobe items and only informative photos.

The first, however, is violated with enviable constancy: Zara sundresses and nameless clutches flicker among golden Miu Miu sandals and Louis Vuitton bags. Most of the things, according to the assurances of their owners, are new or in perfect condition. There really is plenty to choose from here: Alice + Olivia striped pumps (8 thousand rubles) and a Maison Martin Margiela cape for H&M (5 thousand rubles), Giovanni Rossi sandals and other things that do not lose their relevance - they offer significantly lower than their original cost, and part These items are no longer available for sale. Despite moderation, from time to time there are quite strange offers here, such as buying a car, branded packages, Chinese fakes and items that cannot be classified at all - all this makes it very difficult to find worthwhile things. It’s better to buy the shoes or bag you like right away: a queue of people who want to buy line up in the comments literally in the first minutes after the publication of the photo.

Your stuff for cash

Registration:

VKontakte account

What they sell:

shoes, clothes and accessories

Terms:

the price is set by the seller

Number of participants:

more than 5 500

Among the many VKontakte groups where you can sell, buy and exchange an unsuitable thing, this one is one of the most pleasant and active. In addition to strict rules against the sale of conspicuously worn items and fakes, all photo albums are moderated daily. They offer here mainly mass-market and nameless things, each of which is equipped with detailed description status, city and price (this is a mandatory community rule, without which a photo will not hang in a group for more than a couple of hours). The cost of goods rarely exceeds 3 thousand rubles, and the selection reflects the assortment of Topshop, Zara and H&M over the past six months. Buyers prefer to meet with sellers at metro stations in the center, but they can also send them to another city here. New things appear in photo albums almost daily, but, as elsewhere, all the most interesting finds a new owner in a couple of hours.

There is a separate album for each category, which greatly facilitates the search, and in a separate photo album you can leave an application with an illustration of the desired item (they are mainly looking for rare or, conversely, the most popular models of sneakers, skateboards and ambiguous models of prom dresses from Asos) - if you're lucky , there is a chance to buy what you want quite inexpensively.

Boommy.ru

Registration:

What they sell:

women's shoes, clothes and accessories

Terms:

the price is set by the seller

Number of participants:

over 10,000

Unlike local communities in in social networks, Boommy operates throughout the country. To post a photo, you need to register on the site, after which you can post any number of pictures of things for sale. If the buyer and seller live in different cities, the service offers to use postal or courier delivery; the buyer only needs to pay a deposit of 50% of the value of the item.

The main advantage of the site is that all things are categorized and accompanied by a detailed description indicating the price, brand and size. Things here are mostly new, less often worn, but in good condition (doubtful lots are deleted by the site moderators). Another feature - the service sells only women's clothes; neither men's nor children's, much less cosmetics and toys can not be found here. The site mainly contains dresses, blouses, jackets and jeans from all the most popular mass market stores and nameless items. Moderators raise offers with the most successful photos or low prices to the top lines of catalogs; after purchase, the photo automatically disappears from the site.

By analogy with eBay, you can read or leave a review about each seller on the site, which implies some security. In addition, on Boommy you can find detailed instructions on almost any issue: how to take a picture of a thing, place it on the site and sign the information correctly, how to communicate with the seller and the buyer, and so on.

« Your own shelf »

Registration:

application for renting a shelf or hanger by phone or mail

What they sell:

shoes, clothes and accessories, own design items, books, bijouterie, interior items

Terms:

shelf rental - from 350 rubles, hangers - from 150 rubles, the price of things is set by the seller

Number of participants:

constantly changing

The name of the showroom, which appeared a year and a half ago on Artplay, fully reflects the essence of the project - here anyone can rent a shelf or several hangers to put up for sale all unnecessary things at once. By the way, the creators offer to bring here not only old or inappropriate things, but also their own crafts from jewelry to knitted toys.

The store does not take a commission for things, you just need to pay for a place - a hanger or a shelf. At the same time, the minimum rental period is one week, after which the seller can either pick up the unsold items or extend the rental period. You can take a seat by calling the store or writing to the post office, but an impressive line has already lined up on those shelves that are located in the most successful places (at eye level). In the near future, it is planned to open a Svoya Polkka store, this time on Tsvetnoy Boulevard; then, according to the creators, part of the sellers from the waiting list will go there and the queue will be noticeably reduced.

The assortment here is the most diverse and ranges from homemade earrings and books to vintage clothes and dresses from Asos. All things go through a rigorous selection, so you definitely won’t find frank rubbish here, and the rental price does not encourage the sale of hopeless things.

What_2_Wear

Registration:

LiveJournal account

What they sell:

shoes, clothes and accessories, cosmetics

Terms:

the price is set by the seller

Number of participants:

over 5,000

A surprisingly active community on LiveJournal where you can buy or sell things that don't fit. As elsewhere, a clear preponderance here is observed in favor of women's clothing, shoes and accessories, men's wardrobe items also periodically pop up, but they are in a clear minority here.

In addition to selling, things can be given away free of charge or exchanged for something you need (for this you need to make an appropriate note and specify the subject of exchange), there are much fewer such offers here and they mainly apply to things that have lost their relevance like children's toys and books, as well as to blatant rubbish.

The community is moderated, so annoying ads and things in a deplorable state are almost never found here. But Michael Kors dresses, Max Mara tops and & Other Stories pumps come across, but buyers are almost instantly found on them. But old-fashioned leatherette shoes, oversized jeans, polyester dresses from the mass market and dubious items from old collections of third lines of not the most popular brands hang on the pages for months.

How not to scare the buyer

Perhaps the main skill of a clothing seller is to be able to talk with customers. It is important, of course, to know the "materiel" - that is, the product, its advantages, availability, prices. It is important to be able to look right - so that the buyer wants to communicate with you, and he began to trust your recommendations. But without the ability to speak, all this has no value.
Here are some sales tips for talking to customers.

• Don't be intrusive. A stunned unfortunate person who is attacked by a seller, not allowing him to examine the goods and orient himself in space, is likely to run away without buying anything. Let the person settle in.
• Don't forget to say hello and let the client know that he can turn to you for help. It is necessary to say hello as soon as the buyer entered the trading floor. with a smile on your face. But to offer help, especially if after a greeting a person looks away and turns away, it is possible and necessary not immediately. And after he gets used to it. Well, if he doesn’t “leave contact” - feel free to say something like “Can I help you?”.
• If you have already understood what the client is looking for - for example, if the customer purposefully walked to the skirts, bypassing the trousers and dresses, you can make the phrase a little more specific: "Help you choose a skirt?". Your task is to seem not intrusive, but helpful seller. Depending on the situation, you can make it clear to the buyer that he may not be able to navigate something himself. And he needs your help. For example, "here - not all sizes, there are still others in stock."
• Just don't ask questions to which the answer is obvious. For example, if the same customer is standing near skirts and sorting through them, the question is completely meaningless: “Do you pick up a skirt?” Well, of course, it's not pants! This can only be annoying, as you will immediately come across as intrusive rather than helpful. If you want to offer help, offer help, and don't distract the person with unnecessary clarification.
• Answer the buyer's questions and phrases. You are not a robot with a “sales program” recorded in your memory and you are not a tape recorder. A very unpleasant person who, with a fanatical gleam in his eyes, “turns on” and begins to broadcast that the buyer is not at all interested. Just listen to what the client asks and tell him about it. Or, having heard what he said, answer him to his remark. Someone is interested in the price, someone is interested in quality, and someone is interested in your personal opinion about the combination of the color of this jacket with the color of your favorite socks. All people are different.
• Tune in to the fact that the notorious "objections" will be. And this is not an “objection” at all, not an argument. Unless, of course, you have not managed to cause a negative attitude towards yourself. These are clarifications. The buyer is entitled to them. This is not a conflict, even if the buyer seems to express disbelief: “Why is it cheaper in the next store?” “And it’s definitely not sewn around the corner, but in France?”.

They share their doubts with you. If you now begin to get nervous and behave stiffly or aggressively, real “objections” will not be long in coming. But if you realize that talking with the buyer on this topic, dispel his doubts, give information - this is your job, and do it calmly and well - the sale will definitely take place. Because the buyer is already interested in this thing.

• Remember that the ultimate goal of your communication is to sell. There are sellers with whom it is very comfortable to talk, but the purpose of coming to the store is somehow lost. Now, keep it in mind, that goal. The conversation should go, basically, not about "birds", but about buying things. And move towards her.

There is a category of buyers who enter the store to wait out the rain, wait for someone or take a break from the heat. Yes, yes, I did not make a reservation - these are also buyers. While they are in the store, they must look at the product and see the benefits of your store, remember it as "good". Then the next time they come in to buy something.

And then there are sellers who are afraid to close the sale. Communication goes on, the buyer does not decide on anything, and the seller also does not dare to transfer the matter to the phase of making a purchase. You don't have to do that. When you see that the buyer has already received all the information and measured everything possible options, feel free to ask which of the things he chooses.

Target seller - sell. Don't forget about it.

We do not wear things for years, but carefully store them. This is how the illusion arises: there are a lot of clothes, but there is nothing to wear. It's hard to toss out a branded cardigan, unworn shoes, and a bag of your favorite T-shirts, even if they take up half a closet.

One way to force yourself to empty the shelves is to sell old stuff. But all this is not easy: you need to place ads somewhere, communicate with strangers, go on commission, and then wait for buyers.

We will figure out how to quickly and effortlessly sell things in Moscow.

Online classifieds

What to sell: children's clothing, inexpensive brands, seasonal goods.

Bulletin boards are like free newspapers like Hand to Hand or Metro. Everything is almost the same here: write a description of the thing, select a photo and leave contacts for communication.

Electronic boards will help you quickly get rid of inexpensive branded and children's clothing. But it is more difficult to sell luxury items here because of the abundance of fakes. You will have to drop the price of the original a lot in order to compete with copy sellers. The new Louis Vuitton handbag will have to be put up for sale for 20% of the real value.

Advice. To increase your chances of selling unwanted clothes, indicate the brand, size and degree of wear in the title. For example, "Mango Skirt New/Size M". In the description, add the reason for the sale (the best excuse is "the size does not fit"). If receipts and tags miraculously survived, take a picture of them along with the thing.

Social networks

What to sell: women's clothing, designer items and accessories.

A message about the sale of branded clothing is best placed in a thematic public. Post an ad on a community wall, in an album by brand, or by type of item.

In large communities, there are fashionistas who are used to buying and selling on the Internet. They know the real cost of things, so the starting prices are higher here.

There are fewer fakes here than on bulletin boards. Fraudsters are quickly found and banned.

Advice. Create an image of "your": communicate in a group and make friends. Do not sell cheap copies of well-known companies (even for a penny), so as not to become famous as a peddler of consumer goods. Put on the avatar a photo where you smile. Open and good-natured people inspire confidence.

Thrift stores

What to sell: luxury clothes and expensive brands.

In a thrift store, clothes are examined for authenticity and suitability for the audience. If the thing fits the format, then it is taken for sale. You set the price yourself.

Thrift stores ask 30 to 45% for selling an item. Therefore, it makes no sense to bring ordinary clothes here, especially since they are unlikely to be accepted. Here they will gladly take a rare evening dress, a pop singer's costume, a crocodile handbag and other things that are difficult to find a buyer.

Advice. Before handing over clothes for commission, study the audience of a particular store. Ask what brands and materials are in demand. Make sure that your items will interest buyers.