It is important to know the difference between a consignment shop and a thrift/charity shop.
With a consignment shop the process is as follows: You select your items in good to excellent shape and bring them in. As consignment shop owners we then take your items, we price them according to fair market value and we are the middle men or the bridge between making our consignor money back for their items and also giving our customers a great deal on a gently loved item that would otherwise cost much more in retail stores.
Many stores have different policies and ways of doing things so make sure to ask as many questions as possible when you are consigning with anyone. We do a 60/40 consignment split, which simply means whatever the final price of the item sells for you get 60%. We keep the items for a 90 day period. The items must be in good to excellent condition, no rips, tears, stains, pulls of any kind. The items are all washed, dry cleaned, ironed and ready to go.
Any items that are unsold and in turn donated after the allotted time period then go out to local places or people with the need for them.
That's where the difference comes in to play. A thrift shop runs differently. Items are donated to the shop and given to them. They have the ability to price and mark accordingly often times much lower than the value. Simply because there is a 100% profit in most cases. The items are often missing pieces, may have small markings, not in good or excellent shape and are donated. Some thrift shops are non profit and give back to a charity of their choice, after expenses are met.
We hope that you make Vintage Malta part of your day. You don't have to spend a lot of money to look like a million dollars!
