Ten Ways to Make Money Selling Thrifted Used Shoes
In the resale world, shoes are a profit opportunity
It has always amazed me how many shoes are donated every day in thrift. Even more amazing is how many pairs of good to great shoes are donated. Nike, Air Jordan, Boston the list goes on and on. Providing quality shoes at a bargain price is a true community service.
We love shoes. It’s one of those segments that are so common it’s easily overlooked. There is money hiding in those shoes.
There are plenty of ways to generate revenue on shoes. What’s not to like?
Ten ways to generate revenue from shoes:
· Maintain a well-merchandised shoe department
· Save out of season donated shoes
· Quality/brand sort and value price
· Minimize single shoes
· E-commerce single pair
· E-commerce resellers boxes
· Local resellers bulk sales
· Developmental clean and polish program
· Outlet store by the pound
· Bulk salvage for export
Let’s break Them down
A Well merchandised shoe department
How well the shoe department is sorted and presented makes a huge difference in how well they sell. Thrift shoppers are down for a voyage of discovery. Few are interested in playing hide and seek for what they are looking for.
In traditional retail, shoes are broken out by style then size, some even color. Successful thrift stores are mimic those conventions.
One store in my area of responsibility was number one in shoe sales year in and year out. They weren’t located in the high rent district, they didn’t have the prettiest store, their donations were middle of the road. Yet they were always number one. Dollars or pieces sold, it didn’t matter.
Their process was crazy simple. Keep the department full and well merchandised every day. It’s a truism in retail that it’s easier to keep a department nice than it is to get it nice. They kept it nice. It was always fresh, full, and organized.
They sustained that standard for so long that they became a destination for people looking for shoes. Everyone knew there would always be a nice selection. That effort and merchandising discipline were and are the key.
How they did it was no secret, I talked about it all the time. Several stores made a good start at taking their spot. They would start strong, seeing a nice sales increase. None ever sustained that high level over time, they didn’t weave the expectation into the fabric of the store.
Out of season shoes
Those insulated Sorrell winter boots can be gold in winter. The blinged-out women’s flats the same in summer. The tricky part is that both come in all year.
There is a tremendous value in sorting and saving out of season goods like this. On the first warm, sunny spring day in the Midwest and points north lots of customers will be looking for those blinged-out flats. The best way to serve them well is to have a reserve supply ready for them.
Building reserve supplies for each season is money in the bank.
Quality/brand sort
Some thrift stores have “rack pricing”, meaning everything in a category is the same price. Men’s shoes $5.99, winter boots $9.99, and so on. That makes sorting and ringing up quick and easy. Customers really love it.
Brand value carries through to the thrift store. A pair of Clarks shoes is worth more than a pair of Croft and Barrow in the same condition. Charging to value for better brands adds up. A couple of extra dollars here, five to ten dollars there adds up.
Rack pricing leaves money on the table. Selling Faded Glory for the same price as Cole Haan, well, makes no sense.
It does take more time, effort, and training in processing shoes. The payoffs can be substantial.
Minimize single shoes
Single shoes are worth a little on the bulk salvage market. To me, the question is always where did they come from? There just aren’t that many people donating single shoes.
An abundance of single shoes is a clue to larger operational issues.
There is a funny thing about single shoes. It’s been my experience that well-run stores tend to have very few singles. Stores that struggle with backroom operations always have an abundance of them.
Single shoes represent a very direct loss of revenue. In some cases thousands of dollars a month. I have had stores that sent in a handful a week while others sent in gaylords a week. The difference has always been in the execution of donation and backroom processes. Lots of single shoes point a failure of leadership.
E-commerce single pairs
A quick check on eBay for used women’s shoes showed 650,000 listings. That’s a lot of used shoes, and that’s just women’s on a single platform.
The more specialized the brand, size or type the more valuable they can be online. A pair of size 13 Adidas basketball shoes needs a wider audience than a few dozen people that might walk down that exact aisle on a given day.
I have seen literally hundreds of examples of specialized items that sold for many times what it would sell for in a store.
E-commerce reseller boxes
There is an entire cottage industry of home-based internet resellers that need inventory. The more experienced sellers prefer to order in bulk rather than constantly troll thrift store aisles.
These micro to small businesses are on a huge growth curve. All it takes to get started is a computer, internet connection, and something to sell. Becoming a supplier to them can increase sell-through.
Many will take time to clean up and touch up items like shoes. Those that might be overlooked in a store or online will sell for a good price when cleaned up.
Goodwill blue box is a great example. Their whole blue box concept is worth investigating.
Local resellers bulk sales
There are local resellers that are able to buy in bulk up to Gaylord lots. These are full-time resellers that need a substantial and steady stream of inventory.
This group will pay substantially more per pound than the semi load commodity shoe buyer. Allowing them to pick up on-site saves them freight costs as well.
It’s important to be clear about what they are getting and that they have to take the whole batch. One time I sold a Gaylord of books this way and the guy sorted what he did and did not want in our parking lot. He abandoned what he did not want leaving us a big mess. It pays to specify it all goes. Maybe they can donate back, or get a token amount for what they can’t use on their next return trip.
This supports local small businesses and helps maximize post-retail shoe revenue.
Developmental program
This is one of my favorites because of the multiplier effect. Basically, shoes that are in good shape but are scuffed, dirty, or just need a good polish are cleaned up. It’s an excellent job to build development programs around for those with various limitations.
Everyone wins, someone that needs a job and some training is helped and shoes that might go to salvage are sold for decent money.
It’s amazing how much more that Kenneth Cole pair will sell for when it looks good.
Outlet store by the pound
Outlet thrift stores are catching on. Basically, goods are dumped on tables by general category for people to sort through. Most items are sold by the pound. It’s reseller heaven, especially for shoes.
It’s amazing how many good shoes that have had multiple opportunities to sell end up in the outlet store. Those resellers have sharp eyes, they pick out those missed gems.
Bulk salvage
This almost goes without saying. Shoes have value on the commodity market. The value is often pennies per pound, in volume those pounds add up.
In conclusion
Putting sustained extra attention on this category can create outsized benefits. Taking advantage of the many avenues to sell shoes no matter the grade maximizes revenue with existing donations.
Bonus
You may have noticed that several pints revolved around independent resellers.
According to Forbes online, Shopify alone has seen a 71% increase in the number of shops they service. Thrift stores can take advantage of that boom by creating products and systems to serve this specific reseller segment.
They are already shopping thrift for inventory, it’s a short leap to actively engage them.
Thanks for reading!
I am a thrift and retail business expert located near Chicago. Using my twenty plus years of retail and seven-plus years of thrift retail experience to help small businesses grow and succeed.
You can also find me on LinkedIn, Medium, and my thrift reseller blog The Thrifter.
You might also be interested in my Thrift Merchandising ebook on Amazon. It’s about how to merchandise thrift stores more like traditional stores. It’s free with a Kindle Unlimited membership.
Tim Gebauer — The Thrifter