If you’re like many consignment store owners, creating a contract can seem more than a little overwhelming, especially if you’re just entering the industry. Fortunately, consignment contracts are actually pretty easy to put together – all you need to do is review your requirements for consignment, and place them in a single, concise document. In this post, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a consignment store contract, from start to finish.
Let’s dive in.
5 Things Every Good Consignment Contract Needs
It’s true that each consignment contract will vary depending on the store in question. Your consignment guidelines and requirements will be different, just like your store is different from the next person’s. As a general rule, though, there are a few factors that remain the same throughout the world of consignment store contracts.
These include the following:
1. Contact Information
As a matter of course, your contract should include your contact information, as well as places for your consignors to add their contact information. Be sure to leave spaces for the following details:
- Name
- Phone
- Address
- Zip, city, state
If you offer consignment split options, you may add additional spaces for people to fill in the consignment split information they’re selecting.
2. Item Details
This is one of the largest factors that differentiate a clothing consignment contract from, say, a furniture contract: the sections you leave available for item details. The basis of any good contract is that it spells out exactly what is being consigned. This section of the contract should cover the type of items you’re accepting, as well as details about the quality of the item and any disclosures the customer needs to make.
3. Price
Price is another critical detail of any good consignment store contract. Be sure to leave a section open in the document to lay out how your store establishes pricing (including details about how you factor in considerations like brand, age, condition, style, and market demand), and how you’ll price the item in question.
The document, when finished, should include an exact price and any notes about how you agreed upon that price, or how payment will be executed, if needed.
4. The Consignment Term
This segment of the contract allows you to lay out the bounds of the consignment contract period. Be sure to cover details like how long the contract will last, any discounting dates you want to build in, when the contract will end, and additional details like how long a consignor has to come pick up an item after the period ends, or what happens if a consignor does not pick up an item.
5. Payment Terms
Last but not least, be sure to lay out your payment terms. You’ll want to make it clear how you plan to pay consignors, how splits will be offered, and how long it will take to get paid after the sale of an item. You may also take time here to review check or handling fees and discuss additional details like loss or damage.
Sample Contracts to Get You Started
If you’ve never created a consignment store contract before, getting the ball rolling can feel tough. Here are a few consignment contracts to help you dive in:
- A sample consignment contract to modify
- Example consignment contract, which is great for furniture consignment
- A consignment contract with an editable template
Ready to learn more about consignment store success? Need the tools to launch your store to the next level? Contact our team here at Ricochet Consignment Software to get the software solutions you need to grow your business.
