"Your clothes are junk"
Jun. 25th, 2004 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nlbarberI did it to myself: got all excited at the prospect of getting a little cash by selling my too-large clothes at a consignment shop. A member of my Weight Watchers meeting told me about the store, and how enthusiastic they were about plus-size clothing. So last night I ironed a few things so they looked a little better, put everything on throw-away hangers, and then this afternoon showed up at the store with 20 items (blouses, dresses, some slacks) for them to take a look at.
I brought in one armload, explained that I was a first-timer, and went back to the car for the rest. By the time I got back, one of the store employees was shoving the first lot back at me and explained that there were not enough items in the set that they would take for them to open an account for me. She said "we ask that items be from the last 3 years" and "these items don't do well here". And she declined to look at the second set of clothes, just casting an eye on them from behind the counter and saying "those too".
Decoding this, knowing that a number of the items she looked at were purchased last summer, I think she was trying to tell me "your clothes are too inexpensive for us to carry" or maybe, "this stuff is cheap junk". She definitely let me know I should not try to bring in anything else.
Rationally, I know I don't spend a great deal on clothes, so even the stuff that is "nicer" and was worn only once or twice could easily not be what they want. And I'm sure that many people do better with the polite "these items don't do well here" over "these items are too inexpensive for our store". But the whole experience really grated--just those feelings of rejection, y'know?
Lessons learned: check out store stock before attempting to place items there. And plan to go back to donating most of the too-large wardrobe to charity.
I brought in one armload, explained that I was a first-timer, and went back to the car for the rest. By the time I got back, one of the store employees was shoving the first lot back at me and explained that there were not enough items in the set that they would take for them to open an account for me. She said "we ask that items be from the last 3 years" and "these items don't do well here". And she declined to look at the second set of clothes, just casting an eye on them from behind the counter and saying "those too".
Decoding this, knowing that a number of the items she looked at were purchased last summer, I think she was trying to tell me "your clothes are too inexpensive for us to carry" or maybe, "this stuff is cheap junk". She definitely let me know I should not try to bring in anything else.
Rationally, I know I don't spend a great deal on clothes, so even the stuff that is "nicer" and was worn only once or twice could easily not be what they want. And I'm sure that many people do better with the polite "these items don't do well here" over "these items are too inexpensive for our store". But the whole experience really grated--just those feelings of rejection, y'know?
Lessons learned: check out store stock before attempting to place items there. And plan to go back to donating most of the too-large wardrobe to charity.