Consigning in London

When I was about 14, my mom started taking me to Danielle's Consignment Boutique in Calgary, where we'd drop off our clothes and have a browse around for any goodies. In Vancouver, I started doing this at Front & Co., which had a rule that meant you had to stay in the store while they sorted through your things (which often meant you ended up finding something else you wanted to buy).

Since moving to London, I've been on the hunt for a similar store. I've sold a few items on eBay, but consigning generally just takes less work. So far, I've discovered a few things:

1) Designer consignment stores here tend to be called "dress agencies".

2) Pricing is determined much differently. In Canada, prices are determined solely by the buying team, with the exception of high-end designer items, when they might ask how much you paid and whether you're comfortable with a particular price. At Pandora, an established store in Knightsbridge (the quite posh locale of Harrod's), all prices are agreed upon by you AND and the store, and only after this do you leave your items there.

3) Same goes for sales. At the Front, price tags are date-stamped and everything is reduced by 20% once it's been on the floor for a month. At Pandora, I assume that things don't go on sale unless you've pre-agreed to it.

4) Consignment stores are generally better organised in Canada. They don't seem to like organising shoes by size at dress agencies here!

Photo: Pandora. Pretty shoes organised in no particular way!

I also found another series of stores in Notting Hill, called Retro Man / Retro Woman. They have TERRIBLE reviews, thanks in part to their peculiar "we buy everything" policy, which basically means they'll give you ONE PENCE if they don't like something. They also have a cash or trade policy, where they'll give you double the cash value of your things in vouchers for any of their stores.

I've decided the only way to make this work without feeling ripped off is to itemise every single item I bring in and pre-determine an acceptable cash / voucher total. Last week, I brought in 9 items (2 pairs of jeans, a pair of waterproof oxfords, an old Phillip Lim skirt, and some other random stuff) and got £200 in trade. I ended up taking these two items and the rest (£20) in cash.

I love this Dries van Noten sheer dress, which was mega discounted as it is for a (very) small chested lady such as myself. I loved that entire season (fall 2008), in fact, and have a couple of other pieces from it.  Here's the dress on Amanda Laine (a Canadian model!), and a close-up of the hem.

I also got this little shearling vest, trimmed in (fox, I believe) fur. Love fur, love the colour, love that I can wear it over dresses and that it's a bit dressier than the 4 other fur / shearling vests I already own.