Preparing Your Items
Preparing Your Items
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All items must be clean and without stains
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Wash all clothing, bedding, cloth toys
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Wipe down all toys
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Remove dirt from shoes, etc.
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Inspect all items for stains, rips, tears, damage
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Clothing
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Clothing must be hung on hangers. Adult size hangers can be used even on infant clothing - they will normally fit fine. You can get these from your dry cleaner or purchase them at the Dollar Store, Amazon, or Walmart. You will not get the hangers back.
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The minimum price of clothing is $2.00. You can combine items together on one hanger if needed.
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Only in-season clothing is accepted.
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Spring - only Spring/Summer clothing accepted - no heavy coats, fleece, sweaters, etc. accepted. Long pants and light jackets are accepted.
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Fall - only Fall/Winter clothing accepted - no shorts, tank tops, or sleeveless garments accepted. Short sleeves are still accepted.
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You may use a tagging gun to affix your tags to clothing. Either put the barb/tag through the size tag in the back of the clothing or in a seam under the right armpit (if the garment is laying on a table in front of you). Please put the barb through someplace that the barb will not damage the clothing - seam or size is the best.
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Hang the garments on the hanger so that the hanger makes a question mark (?) when the clothing is lying on the table in front of you. See the clothing photo below.
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Clothing must be sorted by size and gender before you bring them to the sale. Banding each size together with rubber bands is also helpful.
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Shoes
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We accept shoes for all seasons at all sales.
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All shoes must be cleaned top and bottom.
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Shoes showing too much wear and tear will be rejected.
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Shoes notoriously lose their tags and become separated from their mates at the sale. We suggest attaching them together with zip ties, loop ties or at minimum a safety pin. Knotting their shoelaces together is also helpful but zip ties are the best!
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Tags easily get ripped off shoes. Therefore, we recommend "laminating" your tag with packing tape before you affix the tag to your shoes - that way the tag won't be so easily ripped off.
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Toys
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Toys that require batteries must have working batteries.
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If the toys have loose parts, secure these extra parts in a plastic bag and securely tape them to the main toy. Shoppers are rough – they will separate toys, try them out, etc. If parts aren't secured well enough, they will get lost and separated and make it difficult for your toys to sell.
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Tape your product information tag securely to the toy so that it cannot be torn off easily by the customer.
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We suggest you put toys with multiple parts in clear plastic containers or linen bags to help them stay together and look nice on the shelves. (save your larger clear plastic pretzel containers or other food containers)
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Books
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Children’s books and parenting books are accepted.
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Individual books sell the best, however, if you are selling books in groups they should be sealed in a ziplock bag or taped together with painter's tape, so as not to rip the books. Scotch tape doesn't hold, and packing tape is damaging.
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Tape the product tag to the back cover of the book. Use regular scotch tape and only tape 2 sides of the tag down. This will prevent damaging the books' covers when removing the tag.
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Linens
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All linens must be hung if possible (big crib sets in large plastic zippered storage bags are fine.)
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Secure the items to the hangers with safety pins or tagging guns so that they don’t slide off or fall to the side.
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Baby/kid equipment (e.g. strollers, bouncers, exersaucers, etc.)
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Instruction manuals are always helpful - include them when you can. Download them from the internet if you've lost them.
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Ensure everything is clean – trays, pads, bars, etc. – spit up and gunk get caught everywhere!
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If items have multiple pieces that might get separated (e.g. bouncy seats and their activity bars, the 7 pieces that come with your pack and play, cribs with 8 pieces), make sure that the product tag is on the main piece. Hand write additional tags with your consignor #, the description and mark them with 1 of 8, 2 of 8, 3 of 8, etc.
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Making Your Product Tags
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We have an online computer program for you to make your tags. Enter items on your phone or tablet or enter items using your computer. You will input the items’ size, description, and price. Before printing your tags, you will also decide which item(s) you would like to discount or donate.
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Discount – all items are sold for full price on Thursday and until 3pm on Friday. Friday at 4:30pm and Saturday are 50% off day. You can indicate which item(s) you would like discounted if it is still remaining starting at our 50% sale by clicking the discount box on the tagging program.
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Donating – for each item, you can click the donate box online if you want to donate your item rather than take it back home if it does not sell.
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Pricing
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You must price in $0.50 increments. The minimum price on clothing is $2.00. There is no minimum on non-clothing items.
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How you price your items is up to you. The best advice we can give is considered what YOU would pay if you were buying something used. Typically prices are 50-70% off the original retail price.
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If you are going to donate your items we recommend that you discount your items.
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For advise how to price your items click here!
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Putting Product Tags on Your Items
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Clothing
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Affix your tags to clothing with a tagging gun OR safety pins. Staples are NOT acceptable.
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Toys
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We recommend clear packing tape to affix your tag to your item. Taping 2 sides of the product tag should be sufficient.
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Strollers, Bouncy Seats, Boppies, etc.
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Use your tagging gun if the item has fabric.
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Otherwise, affix your tag with packing tape.
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Loss / Theft / Damage
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It is unfortunate, but loss, theft, and damage can happen at the sale. Shoppers are not always careful. We do all that we can to prevent it but unfortunately, it still occurs. It’s typically a very small percentage.
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If you are going to be upset if your items get lost/broken/stolen, then don’t bring them. e.g. don’t bring that breakable piggy bank or that ceramic lamp.
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As a consignor, you must sign a waiver stating that The MotherLoad is not responsible for loss, theft or damage for the items submitted to the sale.
Tagging Guns
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A tagging gun is one way to tag clothing and other items with fabric. These are typically $25-35 at retail. Through the below source, you will get one needle and 1000 1.5" barbs for only $10.00 (including shipping!!!). These are coming from Asia so they do take one or more weeks to get here. Order early!!
This is totally optional - you do not have to use a tagging gun. I understand that Michaels and Joanne's and even some Wal-Marts have tagging guns. They may be more expensive but you can use your Michael's/Joanne's coupons to cut the price down.
We also caution that you should always place the tagging gun barb through a seam or somewhere not noticeable so that you do not damage the garment.
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To order go to www.bargainprice4u.com.