- Written by Stephanie Struyck Elgin
Tired of driving around from garage sale to garage sale looking for an exercauser for her infant son, Kristin Nelson decided to do something about it. “There had to be a better way to find used children’s items,” she thought. So she took the best of the best and put it all in one place…her driveway. In 2004, she held her first consignment sale in the San Fernando Valley, and it was a success. With so many items, and many shoppers coming from the SCV, just three years later, she partnered up with entrepreneur and friend Stacy Kupfer, and created a new division of the LA Kids Consignment, SCV Kids Consignment, LLC.
“We began with 75 consignors in a 1,300 square foot room,” says Stacy. “Now eight years later, we have 500 consignors in a 30,000 square foot warehouse and over 70,000 items in stock.”
Once in the spring and once in the fall, SCV Consignment, LLC holds a one weekend only consignment sale where you can find thousands of new and gently used kids items at a fraction of the retail. Their motto is simple…Kids are expensive. Their stuff doesn’t have to be.
After visiting the warehouse during their spring sale, I can see why the two have found so much success.
Not only can shoppers find great bargains, but virtually everything you need is at this sale. Items are inspected, cleaned, itemized and organized, making it easy to find what you’re looking for.
“It feels great that we can provide for the community,” says Stacy. “It’s a lot of hard work and at times, exhausting, but getting positive feedback from people makes it all worthwhile.”
Not only have shoppers found success, but so too have consignors. Consignors are able to register online to participate in the sale. “We took the first 450 consignors in under 30 minutes,” recalls Stacy. “We added 50 new consigners, which filled up in less than seven minutes. The clamor to get in has become huge!”
And it’s no surprise why. Consignors have the ability to set prices, and look online to see if their item sold during the weekend sales, earning 65-70 percent of their sales. Merchandise that is not sold by the last day of the sale, can be marked down by choice of the consignor, and items not sold can be picked up or donated to charity. “We do not keep anything. All items are donated to several local non-profit organizations that we work with. We go through the items and distribute based off the needs of the organization.”
What began as a driveway sale turned into a shopping paradise and one of the largest and most organized kids consignment sale in the area, thanks to Kristin and Stacy, and the many consignors and volunteers who participate.
For more information about SCV Kids Consignment Sale, LLC, to sign up for email alerts and much much more, visitwww.scvkidsconsignment.com
photos by Joie de Vivre Photographie