Consignment Software Applications

Best Consignment Software Variations

The Best Consignment Software app includes multiple features for a variety of resell situations: art galleries, auction, buy outright, consignment, flea market, mall, remote access, rental, RV sales and rental, seasonal sales, and trade.

Use Consignment Software for Consigning

Taking others' items into inventory for the purpose of selling them for a commission is known as 'consignment'.

Best Consignment Software is specifically designed for consignment. It:

  • Records consignor information and provides methods of communication, reporting, and payment
  • Keeps track of their inventory
  • Prints agreements, price labels, receipts, checks, and reports
  • Processes sales
  • Credits consignor and store accounts with sales proceeds
  • Keeps track of how long items have been in the store
  • Discounts inventory as it remains unsold
  • Tracks the disposition of unsold inventory
  • Creates settlement documents for processing and payment
  • Produces a variety of reports for shop and consignor use

In Australia consignment stores are referred to as OP Shops, while in England they are called Dress Shops. Consignment software programs differ greatly in features and price. See 'What Makes Consignment Software Different?'.

Use Best Consignment Software for Auction

Auction is similar to consignment in that auctioneers and consignees take in inventory and sell it for a commission. A primary difference is that an auction takes place for a limited period of time (often one day) while consignments are typically kept for 90 days or longer.

Types of merchandise differ. Auctions are more known for animals, vehicles, boats, and foreclosed homes, while consignment is more geared toward personal effects like clothing, furniture, tack, and sports equipment.

Unusual applications of Best Consignment Software include gun collections, model railroads, salon, and stamps (collectibles).

Best Consignment Software and Buy Outright or Resale

The key difference between 'consignment' and 'buy outright' (or 'resale') is that the shop purchases merchandise from sellers as opposed to consigning inventory from consignors.

Store owners engaged solely in buy outright are commonly referred to as second-hand dealers. Their businesses are known as resale shops.

Best Consignment Software provides functions and features for both.

Essential features of buy-outright software that differ from consignment software are:

  • Register information about the seller1
  • Record the price paid and price received for each purchased item
  • Calculate profit and loss
  • Produce inventory reports

1In some areas of the U.S., police require regular reports from second-hand dealers of names and contact information of sellers as well as items purchased. This is becoming more prevalent as fencers shy away from pawn shops and look for other outlets for their ill-gotten booty.

Consignment Software for Flea Markets

A 'flea market' is a local inside or outside area populated by crafters and vendors who pay for 'floor space' (booths, rental units) to display their wares.

In addition to paying rent, they may also pay a percentage of their sales to the landlord. This setup is commonly found where the market owner is processing sales for their sellers.

The unique features of flea-market software are:

  • Track each rental unit.
  • Record information about each renter, amount of rent, when due.
  • Keep a list of people waiting for spaces.
  • Alert when sales fall short of rent with a list of people and amounts owed.
  • Allow rent to be automatically deducted from sales settlements.
  • Provide individualized vendor reporting.2

More details are available at Flea-Market Software.

2Best Consignment Software Virtual edition allows business owners to upload daily transactions to a website (resell4.me) where vendors can log in to view their account information.

Consignment Software for Shopping Malls

While shopping malls are more sophisticated in venue and clientele, the rental of floor space is pretty much the same as the rental of booths at a flea market.

For details on using Best Consignment Software for space rental, see Shopping Mall Software.

Software for Antiques Inventory

Perhaps more than any other class of merchandise, antiques require a special brand of knowledge and experience when it comes to appraising and pricing inventory. A trained dealer's eye is needed to discern the common from the rare and valuable. A special program is also needed to keep track of ownership, inventory, sales, and disbursements.

Best Consignment Software and Remote Access

'Work from anywhere' and 'work from home' have elevated the demand for software functions that allow software users to access their businesses remotely from anywhere in the world.

The consignment software industry has perpetuated a common misconception in recent years: that working remotely necessitates paying a high monthly fee for web-based software. In reality, this is not the case. Beyond the substantial costs, there are several hidden risks to businesses and their data that providers of cloud-based software often avoid discussing. These include potential issues such as internet outages, server failures, failed connections (yours or theirs), and the threat of viral attacks, all of which can jeopardize your operations and data security.

These days shop owners (and employees) can access the 'shop computer' from remote PCs, laptops, and mobile devices using free or at least much cheaper remote-access apps like TeamViewer, AnyDesk, Chrome Remote Desktop, Microsoft Remote Desktop, UltraVNC, TightVNC, or RemotePC.

Managing Rentals with Best Consignment Software

'Rentals' are merchandise that is loaned out (for a rental fee) that are to be returned by a set date.

Generally, returning a rented item does not entitle the renter to a refund of the unused period of time, whereas exceeding the return date almost always results in a late-return fee.

Best Consignment Software includes provisions for managing the business of renting merchandise. It:

  • Records information about renters and rental items.
  • Processes rentals in standard invoice format, including deposits and sales tax.
  • Prints a rental agreement and receipt.
  • Keeps track of due dates.
  • Notifies the rentee of upcoming and past-due rentals.
  • Applies a preset late fee.
  • Produces reports of rental transactions and inventory.

Consignment Software for Seasonal Sales

The name 'seasonal sale' originated from sales that occurred during one of the seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter), but today 'seasonal-sales software' is used for any event that occurs sporadically or occasionally. Some sales may be once per year, like 'back to school' or 'annual church bazaar'.

Software programs targeting this market typically attempt to sell their programs over and over for the same recurring sale. A unique and popular advantage of Best Consignment Software is its 'one-time payment for lifetime use'. Pay for it once. Use as often as needed (for the same event sponsored by the same entity).

Inventory for sales is mostly provided by local residents who either make donations or who expect a share of the sales proceeds. Best Consignment Software tracks both and saves client information to be reused for future events. Of course, inventory and sales records of past sales can be removed (or kept).

Kids Consignment Software Sales

People who operate kids' consignment stores or conduct periodic sales of kids' clothing and accessories may not have foreseen the amount of labor they were setting themselves up for prior to opening the doors. Keeping track of hundreds of consignors and settlements, thousands of inventory items, and sales would indeed be a nearly-impossible task without kids consignment software for kids' sales.

Wedding Gowns and Dresses Software

In addition to a great location, this unique and specialized market requires a software program that encompasses selling and consigning clothing as well as accessories and rentals. An all-inclusive shop targeting the marriage set would include tux rentals. Such a program exists! See wedding gowns software for details.

Selling, Renting, and Consigning of Recreational Vehicles

Best Consignment Shop Software (BCSS) effectively supports the selling, renting, and consigning of recreational vehicles (RVs) through its comprehensive features. For selling, it offers robust inventory management to track RV details and a Point-of-Sale (POS) system for seamless transactions, along with detailed sales reporting. When consigning RVs, BCSS simplifies tracking consignor agreements, automates settlements, and generates transparent reports for all parties involved. For rentals, the software categorizes RVs as rentable items, manages availability and pricing, facilitates custom rental agreements, and automates billing and reminders for overdue rentals. Overall, BCSS streamlines operations in the RV industry, enhancing efficiency and profitability.

Trade Using Best Consignment Software

Trade transactions (swap or barter) can be processed using Best Consignment Software.

Basically, items being brought into the trade business are recorded as 'buy outright' items, and items taken out in exchange are processed as sales of shop-owned inventory.

The business either collects or pays the difference, or does nothing if the swap is equal in value.

Track Consignments with Best Consignment Software

A separate version of Best Consignment Software exists for those who have placed consignments in multiple locations.

Inventory is entered just as it would be for 'consignors' but in an account for the person or business placing the consignments.

Each sale is entered by the software user, noting the seller and the seller's share.

Each sold item is removed from inventory.

Details are available at Track Consignments.

Compare Consignment Software Programs

Aside from the fact that the market has been flooded with a variety of consignment-software apps, there's a long list of variables and differences between offerings. Marketing practices over the years have flown under the radar of consumer-protection agencies, so a great deal of effort can be expended on just extracting the actual true cost of each program over time. Start with the Cliff Notes of consignment software: Consignment Software Programs, Reviews and Overviews.