How Overstocks Cost Boutiques Cash

Every boutique owner is faced with excess inventory. A shop owner may consider the following options: big markdowns, donate to local charity, remove from sales floor and store for next sale, sell to jobber, sell some on EBay. These strategies seem good in the short run, however long run costs often outweigh any short term gains.

Markdowns and sales bring out the customers. How can this be a bad thing for boutique business? Your top tier customers are the bread and butter that keeps all boutiques thriving. Reduced merchandise can create resentment in the full price buyer's mind. Sale adds and campaigns also reach the customer you DO NOT want to become a sale shopper.

Big sale events also create a situation where you are competing with yourself. Your customers must weigh the benefits of shopping during peak profits season (the beginning of the season) or spend the same amount of money on no-profit end of season sales. Which would customer do you prefer? The one who makes money for you!

Often boutiques that I have worked with have donated end of season merchandise to local charities. This provides a nice deduction for the business' taxes. This strategy also costs the boutique money. Rarely, charities provide the bulk of the merchandise to the population that it serves. Charities need to work with money more than it needs to work with the high quality merchandise. So almost all charities sell the merchandise for highly reduced prices. Basically in your community an organization is selling the exact merchandise you carry at pennies on the dollar.

The boutique has created the worst case scenario in competition. The net result is fewer of your own customers will continue to shop with you and your top tier customers will find out that the skirt they bought for $250, was also sold for $25 to a bargain hunter.

Eventually all stores have sales. Storing merchandise and putting out items in bulk seems to boost sales events. The back room is often the locale for storing off season merchandise. This cost is often an overlooked cost in productivity. Boutique associates do not see any hidden sales potential in items stored in their work space. The resulting negativity is carried out onto the sales floor by the associated subconsciously. All negativity is contagious. Customers end up spending less and more excess is created.

Boutique trade magazines have ads for "jobbers" who buy your merchandise for pennies on the dollar. Some of these companies are legitimate. However, the first bounced check for your merchandise can have devastating consequences for your boutique. If the company does have positive cash flow, the organization will have no problems re-selling your merchandise to a big box off price store, thereby once again creating competition with your merchandise for your customers.

EBay sets up booths at markets to show the advantage of selling your off price merchandise on its auction site. This strategy is no part time endeavour. Trends on EBay are fleeting and require constant research to capitalize upon. Would you rather research selling off price or for full price?

My Overstock Boutique specializes in selling overstocks from boutiques. Because we are a small business, we strive for long-term relationships with boutiques. We sell overstock via warehouse sales, pop-up stores, EBay and Internet, small off-price boutiques, and sample sales.

Our primary goal is to locate markets that DO NOT compete with our supplying boutiques. Our warehouse sales are located in non-retail locations. Our research shows that off price buyers will travel to non-competing locations for our events.

Our small boutiques are all run through one inventory supply chain. We will not place a boutique's merchandise within it's geographical area. The same conditions apply for pop-up or temporary stores.

My Overstock Boutique does sell items on EBay. The items we sell are often niche items that My Overstock Boutique's associates have spent researching. The option of selling on EBay represents a channel we feel will be most profitable for your boutique.

Returning profits to our boutiques is our primary goal of My Overstock Boutique. We acheive this by allowing you to ship the excess merchandise at your convenience. My Overstock Boutique also will pick-up large quantities of clothing (over 500) items for free! We want to provide each of our boutiques a setting where they can maximize their profits. In fact, our motto for 2008 is "Start fresh in 2008"!