Capital investments — from RUB 400,000
► Depreciation period: 1 year
What do you think attracts entrepreneurs who are interested in how to open a children’s thrift store?
Ease of doing business, relatively small investments, no expenses for acquiring a large number of business items – these are the determining factors when choosing such a business.
Another “currency” in the piggy bank is the demand for used children’s goods.
In a crisis, many are looking for additional ways to save money, so they buy used toys, strollers and clothes.
As a rule, these things are used for a short time, so most of them are kept in good and even excellent condition, which encourages their future buyers not to overpay.
If you have just noticed this business idea for yourself and do not know where to start, then we will help you with this.
Features and specifics of business
Second hand stores are for selling items that have already been used.
And from the sale they receive a commission, a percentage.
Their main difference from the same commission stores is that they accept used items from individuals, and do not buy wholesale lots.
The commission scheme is quite simple and transparent: a person (referrer) brings a used item, sets his own price, after which the store (commission agent) puts it up for sale, for which he receives a reward.
This also includes working with illiquid goods that are sold cheaply by the manufacturers themselves or retail stores.
There are many types of sales commissions:
- clothes;
- children’s products;
- electrical appliances and electronic equipment;
- piece of furniture;
- cars;
- goods of different categories.
But the purpose of our article is the sale of children’s things.
There are also two options for organizing a retail outlet with:
- a universal assortment where you can buy everything that children need;
- a narrow approach, when only one product is selected: clothing and footwear, toys, children’s products.
You can also work with things of a certain price category.
To do this, it is necessary to analyze not only the target audience, but also the income of the city’s population.
For example, in a large settlement, you can open a commission store of elite children’s goods, while in a small one it is better to look at consumers with low and average incomes.
How to Start a Children’s Thrift Store: Step by Step Process
To open a commission store for children’s clothing and goods, you must perform the following steps in stages:
- define the business concept;
- find a suitable place;
- register a store
- buy equipment;
- find staff;
- develop work rules;
- to advertise.
As you can see, everything is pretty standard.
But special attention is paid to promoting your store.
And here it is necessary to attract not only buyers, but also those who will form the assortment.
Business registration
The best option for opening a commission store for children’s goods is to register an individual entrepreneur.
The procedure is more than simple, so you can easily handle it yourself.
If you want to organize a joint business, then the option of registering an LLC is suitable here.
After the entrepreneur receives registration documents, it is necessary to register with the tax authorities and choose a taxation system.
In addition, the entrepreneur will have to obtain a business permit from the local administration and the conclusions of the sanitary and epidemiological station and the fire service.
Search for premises for a commission store for children’s goods
Choosing a good location is the first thing to start when starting a business, especially one related to trade.
It is also not necessary to consider only the city center, with the exception of small towns.
In large cities, rooms located in hostels are suitable.
But the traffic needs to be good so that shoppers can definitely notice the new kids thrift store.
As for the area of the room, it should not be large.
Only 15-20 m² will be enough for a commission store for children’s clothing, and 25-30 m² will be required for the entire group of children’s goods – clothes, strollers, playpens, toys and other things.
To refresh the room, you can make cosmetic repairs and install new lighting equipment.
Design solutions and expensive finishes are useless here.
An alternative to renting a room can be to open an online children’s commission store.
For these purposes, most often a separate page is created on social networks, which will need to be promoted.
But doing business will be quite difficult and boring.
Although many in this business have adapted to work in absentia, that is, buyers send photos of goods, and the store already publishes information about them, after which it transfers contacts from the seller to the buyer.
But the disadvantage of such work is that it is not always possible to assess the quality of things.
In addition, not all people are aware, and in order not to pay a commission, they can deceive that the transaction did not take place.
Therefore, we recommend that you work according to the usual scheme, that is, open a stationary commission store for children’s goods.
Store equipment
To open a full-fledged thrift store for children’s clothes and things, you need to equip it.
And no need to instruct a bunch of shelves and hangers.
Remember that mothers with strollers or small children may come to you, so you must provide them with a free and comfortable place.
But at the same time, don’t leave it half empty.
We also recommend equipping a small children’s corner, which will be a nice bonus for young parents.
It is enough to put a small table and chairs and buy sketchbooks and pencils.
So, for the design and arrangement of a commission store for children’s goods, you will need:
| Item of expenses | Quantity, pcs | Cost, rub. | Quantity, rub. |
|---|---|---|---|
Shelving  | two | 7500 | 15,000 |
Hangers  | 3 | 3000 | 9000 |
bow tester  | two | 2000 | 4000 |
Mirrors  | two | 3000 | 6000 |
Set table + chairs  | a | 4000 | 4000 |
Cash machine  | a | 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Another | — | — | 10,000 |
| Total: | 58 000 rub. |
Rules for accepting goods in the store
In order to successfully conduct business and avoid various disagreements between customers and the store, it is worth developing rules for accepting products.
When deciding to open a commission store for children’s clothing, we recommend that you work according to the following recommendations:
- accepting only quality items that can be qualified as “excellent” and “very good”;
- if the product has a minor defect, then it must be marked, which must be notified to the buyer;
- the maximum value of trade items should be half the price of a new product;
- The commission scheme works according to the following principle: the higher the cost of the goods, the lower the percentage of remuneration:
- for example, a stroller will cost 7,500 rubles, then the store will receive 15% of the purchase, that is, 125 rubles;
- when selling a children’s sweater in the amount of 1000 rubles, the store will receive 30% – 300 rubles.
- if the product has not been sold within 30 days, then the store itself has the right to reduce the cost by 15-20%, next month it can also reduce the price again by 15-20%;
- the buyer who brought the goods is obliged to pick it up if it has not been sold within 3 months, and also pay 3-5% of the cost of its storage; otherwise, the commission agent may set his own price as he sees fit;
- you can return an unsuitable purchase within 2 working days so that the sender can receive his money on the third day after the sale;
- the store is fully responsible for the entire assortment, therefore, in this case, he is obliged to reimburse 100% of the cost of the items lost or damaged through his fault.
If you decide to open a commission store for children’s things, then you do not need to follow these particular rules, but many have been working according to this familiar pattern for a long time.
All of the above conditions must be spelled out in the contract, which is concluded for each individual product and with each obligation.
Recruitment
A key role in the trade is played by friendly and sociable staff who understand the range of the store.
To work, you need several sales consultants who will serve buyers and shippers.
In addition, it is important that they do not intersect with each other, so they should form two queues.
Since the acceptance of the goods is accompanied by their inspection, evaluation and signing of the contract, it is better that while one employee is engaged in this occupation, the other works at the checkout and looks after the premises.
The functions of the manager can be assumed by the commission holder, and, if necessary, help the sellers or replace them on weekends.
| Position | Quantity | Salary, rub. | FOT, rub. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop assistant | two | 12000 | 24000 |
| Cleaning woman | a | 8000 | 8000 |
| Total: | 3 | — | 32 000 rub. |
Advertising for the promotion of a commission store of children’s clothing and goods
“Only those who are not afraid of big failures can achieve great success.”
Robert Kennedy
Opening a thrift store for children’s things and clothes will be a futile exercise if you do not participate in their advertising.
Without buyers, there will be no sales and therefore no revenue.
For word of mouth to work, you must first invest in promoting the business.
So what can you use to promote:
- distributing pamphlets around the city;
- advertising on radio and in local newspapers;
- creating a page on social networks;
- placement of announcements on thematic forums of the city.
You can also work in parallel and over the Internet.
To do this, you need to photograph the existing assortment and ensure delivery to other cities.
How much does it cost to open a thrift store for children’s goods?
Now we can move on to the most important aspect of any business: financial.
The item of greatest expense will be the payment of the annual rent for the premises and its renovation.
Also at the beginning of the journey, so that the shelves are not empty, you can buy a batch of illiquid assets in children’s stores.
Thus, the investment to launch the company will consist of the following items of expenditure:
| Item of expenses | Quantity, rub. |
|---|---|
| Business registration | 10,000 |
| Annual rent of premises (15,000 rubles per month) | 180 000 |
| Interior repair | 50,000 |
| Arrangement of the premises | 58000 |
| Buying a large number of illiquid | 50,000 |
| Payment of the first salary to staff | 32000 |
| Advertising | 20 000 |
| Additional expenses | 10,000 |
| Total: | 410 000 rub |
Depending on the size of the city, the cost of renting and paying salaries to staff can be an order of magnitude higher, which will increase the initial investment.
What other points you need to consider when opening a second-hand store, you will learn from the video:
How to increase the profitability of sales?
As for the profitability of the business, it is actually not very good.
With a daily payment of 10,000-12,000 rubles, the income will be 3,000-3,600 rubles.
Thus, you can receive about 75,000 rubles per month.
Part of the money will go to pay salaries, utilities and taxes.
Of course, the days can be more profitable if you can sell a stroller, playpen, high chairs, or expensive clothes.
But sales are also likely to be minimal early on.
Based on the data described above, we can say that if you want to open a thrift store for children’s goods, be prepared for the fact that the business will pay off only after a year.
Therefore, to increase the profitability of sales, it is necessary:
- set the “correct” price for business goods: no one will buy obviously expensive goods, because people go to the store on a commission to save money, not overpay;
- selling things via the Internet – this will expand the circle of potential buyers, they will not be scared off even by the cost of delivery, as there is a chance to save your money;
- develop a loyalty program: for example, a check for a total amount of 3,000 rubles can be made with a 5% discount so that customers buy more.
Starting any business is always risky and difficult.
Even considering how to open a children’s thrift store, it became clear that one could face a number of difficulties: choosing a good place, lack of sales and consumables.
But if you can show that you are great and offer people quality things at a good price, there will always be buyers who ensure sales.
The main thing is to properly organize your business and not be afraid to work.
