Manners and Integrity in Consignment

As a mom, I work hard to teach my kids about integrity and keeping their word. I make them attend events they have already committed to even if their very best friend invites them somewhere later. They also understand honesty; that lying is a behavior that results in destruction of trust. I try to illustrate this through my work as well. They have seen me make decisions based on risks and benefits, but I hope never perform an injustice.

Each year, during spring and fall, my kids spend a few weeks collecting unused and outgrown toys and clothes. Their “stuff” gets separated into one of three piles- donation, give away/throw away, and consignment. They gather their goods to clean, pack up, and drop off for each destination. Of all three options, they like consignment the most. Although a large part of this has to do with earning money for themselves, they also know this is a means to reduce waste in the world and resist adding yet another bag of trash to a landfill.

My daughter has fallen simply in love with consignment. She turns in styles of clothes she does not like, gifts from distant relatives that do not know she hates pink, and she earns money that she can turn around and use in the very same store. Her current favorite is Teenage Wasteland in Simsbury where she found the perfect tween dress, shawl, and heels for a Valentine’s day dance. She has also had some phenomenal finds at Jolie’s Boutique in Avon. Both of these shops have employees that know the inventory so well, the can whisk the perfect item seemingly out of the air by just a description of what you want.

Unfortunately, my experience with children’s consignment in Canton has not been so positive. The first place we had a contract required endless trips to try and collect your profit. When they went out of business, I chocked it up to a fluke, bad business decisions, or inventory issues. So I wrote off my money as lost and we moved on to another opportunity. Since September, we have been bringing our wears to a kids consignment on the Avon-Canton line that will remain unnamed. The original owner was a pleasure to work with in every way from dropping off inventory to collecting funds. The shop has since changed hands.

Imagine my surprise, when a contract with a consignment shop was not honored for the second time. Five trips to collect the $50 in my account from sold inventory and I have nothing but frustration to show for it. How do I explain to my kids that they will not get the money they earned; that their hard work cleaning, packing, and selling actually didn’t pay off in the end? Sure, I can go to my bank, withdraw the funds and split it between the two of them, but the disappointment on their faces surely won’t easily be forgotten.

What happened to manners and integrity in 2015?