I'm Lindsay Ferrier, a Nashville writer with a passion for family travel, exploring Tennessee, and raising kids without losing my mind in the process. This is where I share my discoveries, along with occasional deep thoughts, pop culture tangents and a sprinkling of snark. Want to get in touch? Use the CONTACT form at the top of the page.
When Good Consignment Sales Go Bad
February 24, 2012
I’m a longtime fan of children’s consignment sales.
For the uninitiated, consignment sales are biannual affairs generally held in church fellowship halls, school cafeterias or unused warehouses. On the appointed days of the sale, moms can sell their kids’ clothing, shoes and toys, generally receiving about 70% of the price the items fetch, or they can buy gently used clothing for their kids at really good prices.
Several years ago when we were living on my husband’s salary alone, consignment sales were a budget lifesaver. I’d scour the sales for designer labels and hand-smocked dresses, and for very little money, my kids had fabulous wardrobes. When they outgrew their clothes, I’d sell them at the next consignment sale and earn enough money to buy another round of clothing for practically nothing.
As they’ve grown older, the sales have lost some of their appeal. Consignment clothing for older children isn’t as plentiful, and what’s available is generally more worn and faded than the baby gear. I’m making more money now, too, and while I still love a deal, it’s easier to shop Hanna Andersson and J.Crew sales for kids clothes these days than it is to fight my way through hordes of women all trying to lay claim to that one Lilly Pulitzer dress that’s been marked down to eight dollars.
But I have to admit it– I’ve missed the high that comes with scoring a $12 dollar pair of unworn Umi sandals or a like-new Ralph Lauren jacket. Beyond that, my son has reached the age where the quantity of his clothing matters far more than the quality- the kid can go through two or three outfits in a single day, and the six pairs of pants I bought for him this season have left me doing laundry a lot more often than I’d like. This time around, I decided to play it smart- I’d go to a few nearby consignment sales and hunt down as many inexpensive pairs of khaki shorts, pants, and polos as I could find. The journey began this morning, as I traveled to the neighboring town of Franklin for an “upscale” children’s consignment sale in the clubhouse of a swanky subdivison.
And now, a word about Franklin…
For one thing, it’s gorgeous– full of lush green hills and farmland and historic homes and a quaint little downtown area that’s got lots of fun shops and fabulous restaurants.
But Franklin can also be a little full of itself. Its outskirts contain multiple subdivisions populated with the kinds of people who like big cars and big houses… people who dress alike and talk alike and look alike and LIKE IT THAT WAY. And that’s fine for them. It’s Franklin. It’s how they roll.
Back to the story.
I drove the 15 or so minutes to Franklin and made my way into the subdivision. I was expecting super-sized houses on postage stamp lots, but I encountered something completely different. The homes were new- but they had been all built with lots of historic, individual touches, and the neighborhood had the quaint and charming feel of the Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow. Sidewalks lined both sides of the road and a mixed-use plan gave pedestrians actual destinations, from old-fashioned storefronts to a new school.
“I could maybe live here,” I whispered wonderingly to myself as I drove down the tree-lined streets. Whatever my preconceptions were of Franklin subdivisions, this particular one was lovely, and it was tempting to fantasize about owning a home that looked very old, but had all the amenities of a brand-new house. Maybe I was all wrong about Franklin, I thought to myself as I pulled into the parking lot of the neighborhood clubhouse, which resembled a gracious plantation home. Maybe this could be my Stars Hollow.
I climbed the grand staircase of the clubhouse and began bargain hunting. Most of the clothes were overpriced by my consignment standards, but I managed to find a few shirts and pairs of shorts and an unworn pair of summer shoes for my son. After carefully scouring the racks, I dutifully made my way to the back of the very long checkout line and spent the next 20 minutes patiently waiting for my turn to pay.
I finally got to the front of the line and pulled out my checkbook. Most consignment sales don’t take credit cards and I never carry much cash, so I’m always sure to bring a checkbook with me. I quickly filled everything out and handed my check to the saleswoman. She looked at it briefly and her polite smile faded.
“Oh,” she said. “It’s a Nashville check.” She looked back to a woman working behind her.
“This is a Nashville check,” she said. She looked back at me. “We only take checks from Franklin.”
“What?” I asked, certain I had heard her wrong.
“It’s okay,” the woman called out from behind her. “I know who she is.”
“Oh, all right then,” the saleswoman said, a smile returning to her face. “Looks like we can take your check after all.”
I could feel my blood pressure begin to rise. “Why don’t you take Nashville checks?” I asked, smiling a terrible smile.
“Well,” she said, hesitating. “We’ve had some problems with Nashville checks in the past. So now we only take checks from Franklin.”
As she handed me my things, I laughed. “Well, you know Nashville!” I said through a gritted-teeth grin. “We’re all a bunch of criminals!” I turned on my heel and I left, red-faced.
And then I drove back toward my dirty, crime-riddled slum of a city. As I crossed the border into Nashville, I was certain I heard the citizens of Franklin breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Image via Orin Zebest/Flickr
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I went to a consignment sale once. And it was so miserable. I don’t how some people manage to go three or four a year.
Some are worse than others. I really like the smaller neighborhood ones in general- I find the best stuff at the ones that don’t get a ton of publicity.
Ugh. That’s so gross.
I love Franklin so much…it’s one of my favorite places…but this is…gross.
I KNOW. I try to tell myself not to be stereotypical when I’m there, because I fully realize that there are lots of nice people in Franklin- but some really crappy elitist things have happened to us there, too. Don’t even get me started on the parents at Franklin and Brentwood soccer games when our Davidson County girls played them…
I better not head there, no telling what they would think of someone from Mt. Juliet…..
Ha ha! You would probably have been arrested for suspected shoplifting before you even made it to the register. 😀
We have to get a special pass to enter into the city limits of Franklin.
I live in “the hood” of Franklin, you know, behind the Goodwill and Kroger. Wonder if the peeps over at [W…h…n?] would take MY check. Ha.
Ha! I called my husband right after that and he said, “I’m pretty sure that just as many people have gone bankrupt in Franklin as in Nashville…”
Bwa ha ha. Franklin! The nerve. If you’re check bounced it would honestly serve them right!
Bwa ha ha. Franklin! The nerve. If you’re check bounced it would honestly serve them right!
No words!
Well you have certainly returned the offense with this post.
Wow. I’m speechless. I don’t know if I could have handled it as well as you did!
Lindsay,
I am SO sorry you got that impression. Ironically I am THAT girl who said I would take your check. Yes…. it’s me. My name is Heather and I own the sale. I really feel compelled to tell you why I have this policy. If you are willing to listen… I’d love to explain. Here it goes.
1. After our first sale in 2008, I personally had to track down 21 bad checks. I was eventually able to collect on them but not until I had exhausted countless hours in time, gas and embarrassment. I had my then 18 month old child in tow while having to meet up with folks to get cash after their checks bounced. From that point forward, my husband told me NO MORE CHECKS!! 🙂 FYI- there were bad checks from Franklin too. 🙂
2. I have always taken checks from people I know personally. However, today I randomly change my “no checks policy” to a “Franklin only policy”. I turned down Brentwood, Hendersonville, etc. too! The reason?… Not because I am snobby. It’s because I could literally harass a local person until they paid me without driving all around Middle Tennessee like I did in 2008.
3. I did actually take YOUR Nashville check because I happened to recognize you from your blog and figured there wasn’t the need to worry about it being a problem. 🙂
By no means do I think I am better than anyone else for living in Franklin. Ironically, neither my husband nor I are from here. He is from a small farm in rural Missouri and I am a nomad who has lived in 8 states and 2 countries. In my former life, I was a teacher in an inner city Atlanta high school and later in rural Dickson County. I am a follower of Christ and I do not think that ANYONE one human is more loved, special or favored than another human being. I am SO sincerely sorry that my policy came across that way. But ultimately, I beg of you and your readers to NOT judge Franklin and particularly Westhaven based on my silly check policy. I am just one mom… one mom who loves staying home with my child. One mom who is trying to make enough money on the side to help cover the cost of me being “absent” from the workforce. This sale is completely my responsibility and nobody else’s and I will take the blame and the accolades for whatever happens at the Monkey Business Sale.
Just so I can plug my ‘hood a bit. This is THE most generous and gracious community/neighborhood I have ever lived in. The list is far to long and I’m sure to leave several things out but here are just a few of the causes we have supported and organized here in Westhaven.
1. St. Jude Dream Home (every year)
2. Race for the Cure – Cancer 5K and concert every year.
3. Life is Good fundraiser
4. Witt Deane heart transplant fund through CODA ($70,000+)
5. Hillsboro Tomorrow (helped fundraise money to rehabilitate a Leipers Fork school that the County School Board did not cover)
6. Hands and Feet ( A Haitian Orphanage run by WHN residents)
7. The Westhaven Foundation (Funded by donations) that gives Scholarships, etc.
8. An art show to help pay for the funeral expenses of a Spring Hill family that lost their child.
9. Bella Honor Jewlery at Green Hills (Owned by WHN resident who raises money for military families)
10. Wounded Warrior Bike Raise and Fundraiser
I don’t want to seem like I’m going on and on… I just really want to give credit where credit is due. These folks are AWESOME and I hope that someday you can experience Westhaven and Franklin the way I see it. And maybe, just maybe, that quite voice in your head will once again say “I could live here.”. 🙂
Most Sincerely,
Heather McGee
I apologize for not proof reading! My post is riddled with typos and misspellings! LOL… darn teachers are all the same. We only see it AFTER the fact. 🙂
I run our school’s rummage sale fundraiser every year, and I’d like to suggest that you take cash only. Put it in your advertisements and display it on a sign by the checkout table. This will prevent hurt feelings.
I live in an affluent suburb of a medium-sized city and there is certainly a snobbishness among my neighbors against people who live in the “city.”
I forgot to mention that we take all major credit cards as well as check/ debit so hopefully there were enough options to encompass everyone’s needs. Until yesterday, my check policy was “no checks”. I just bent my rules yesterday if they were “local”…. Meaning within my range of being able to stalk for payment! :-)I will be be strictly “no checks” again, no matter if I know you or not. 🙁
Given all your problems with checks, I think this is a very good policy. Hardly anyone uses checks anymore, anyway- the only reason I brought my checkbook is that so many consignment sales don’t take credit/debit cards.
Heather, thank you for taking the time to explain the situation- You certainly didn’t have to “go public” since 99% of the people reading this post would never be able to figure out (or even bothered to try figuring out) which consignment sale I was talking about- so I appreciate your efforts to explain the situation.
I do think the problems could have been avoided if you had made payment options clear at the door and on your website (which I read before I made the drive). I can’t imagine that anyone would get to the end of a 20 minute line, hear “We don’t take checks from Nashville,” and be happy about it– but if I had seen a “We only take credit/debit cards and cash” at the door, all of this would have been avoided.
I gotta give you props Heather! Not many would have the chutzpa to own up.
aw, lindsay…i do understand the “they’re all looking at me” feeling we get as nashvillians…wait, let me be real here…i am from (*gasp*) antioch! even worse!…when we cross down into franklin.
but i also know heather. and know her heart. and remember when she had her first sale, and had to drive all over middle tennessee to track down her money. that’s the reason she does it, and so i am so sorry you had that experience.
Hey Lindsay. I just wanted to chime and give a bit of an additional perspective as well. I run another upscale in Franklin, have 2 sisters who live in Nashville (in not great parts of town), have a dad who is a big blogger, and have lived in various parts of Middle TN for almost my entire life. I think I can sort of see all sides to the story. I just wanted to say that there are snotty people all over TN and gracious, wonderful people all over TN. It doesn’t matter where you live. Should Heather have posted her accepted forms of payment on the door or something? Probably so. It would have helped avoid the situation. However, I just wanted to say as well, that I think as a blogger, you have to be careful about posting about a situation where you don’t know all the details, particularly when you are individually slamming a person. Is easy to forget that person you are talking about is a real person and not just a story, trying their best to help support their family and raise their family at the same time. I know Heather and know that she would NEVER put herself above another person. She has the kindest heart. I know you didn’t call her out publicly by name, but that it can still be very hurtful when someone or their community is portrayed in a very public format in a way very contrary to their actual self. I made this mistake myself once when I was blogging and very badly hurt one of my daughter’s teachers. I never mentioned her name and didn’t think it was a big deal, but it was devastating to her. Her motives were not as I made them seem and I felt horrible after I realized that. I should have fact checked prior to writing. Honestly, I haven’t really blogged since. Words, especially public, can be very hurtful. Just my two cents. From one Christ follower stumbling along the path to another, I hope everyone’s weekend turns out better after today.
I appreciate your perspective and as someone who’s blogged for 6 years and made MANY mistakes along the way, I see your points. However, in this case I wasn’t calling out a person. I was writing about what I thought was bad business practice- and how it made me (and doubtless, other women as well) feel. Anyone running a business has to expect people to comment publicly about it, whether the comments are good or bad. It’s part of what comes with having a business that is open to the public.
Obviously, the business owner took this post about her business very personally and chose to comment here, identify her business, and have her friends comment as well about how nice she is. I’m sure she IS a very nice person and I’m glad she’s changing her check policy. It will prevent this from happening again to someone else. 🙂 And that is ultimately a very good thing for her business.
Lets not make this into more than it is. It’s a business. A business need funds to operate. There have been plenty of bounced checks, since inception. Get over yourself, this isn’t some kind of class war or us vs them. IMHO, I think it says more about you that you were so offended, but then again I suppose the the ignorant have the loudest microphones
Yikes. I think this is the problem with blogs. I miss when we didn’t have the ability to air grievences our in the open to everybody!
I’m in full agreement with Mindy. There are snotty people everywhere. I’ve lived just about everywhere, and have found that, as a general rule, if you’re kind, you’ll see everyone else as kind. If you’re grumpy, you’ll likely see everyone else as grumpy.
I also run a small business, and it pains me to hear Heather say that she got 21 bad checks and had to drive all over Middle Tennessee to collect on them. I’ve had to do something similar. What I don’t think people understand is that there’s not a lot of profit margin in…well…really any small business. Likely, Heather had to drive all over the place because that was her profit margin she was chasing. Without collecting on those checks, she probably wouldn’t have made any money, and we wouldn’t have her charming sale to attend anymore.
I’d say, next time you’re offended, bring it up graciously with the offender. Likely, it’ll be cleared up immediately. And then you wouldn’t have to blog about something that was, really, quite easy to explain away!
Oops. Didn’t spell check either.
Wow! What a story! As a teacher myself, I would think that sometimes we need to learn from our mistakes. How about no checks accepted at all? Sounds like your blogging about this might help keep this situation from happening again and in the mean time, maybe head towards GH or BM for a sale, at least you wouldn’t have to cross the COUNTY LINE!
In reading through the comments, I have a better understanding of what occurred and I know we have stereotypes of Franklin just as they have stereotypes of Nashville. But…the moment you wrote Franklin, I had a horrible feeling of where this post would go and I think you handled the situation graciously. Well done, Lindsay!
Ugh! I would never, ever want to live in Franklin. Blech! We love living in the city and not spending 45 minutes commuting one way every day. Besides, Oak Hill is far superior to anything in Williamson County. 🙂
hah, isn’t oak hill about to be pummeled by storms and tornadoes. yeah, good luck with that .
great job lindsay for creating strife when its not even necessary. Isn’t the saying “we are nashville” mean anything, i’m pretty sure williamson co folks were assisting davidson co folks during the floods (maybe vice versa, maybe not) and we weren’t acting the way you insist.
you are so ridiculous, its pretty laughable. You WISH you belonged in Williamson Co. but i’m pretty sure writing a “blog” and your weather husband couldn’t afford it. get a life, sweetie and a real job.
The post was great (as always) but the comments were awesome!
Fina
Hey Lindsay, I just moved to Nashville a month ago and am still getting my bearings so Franklin is probably a totally different part of the area than Goodlettsville but I wrote this about the good people’s response to my husband when he went shopping outside of the city (we live in Germantown): http://www.ronckytonk.com/2012/02/laughing-quietly-to-myself-just-little.html. He came home pissed!
Oh for crying out loud. Lindsay is know as the queen of gentle snark! It isn’t personal attack. Yay for you, L. I live in East Nashville, which people either think of as ‘the ghetto”, “the artsy neighborhood”, or “the gay neighborhood”. We get it all. And proudly, we stay. I love a trip to whitewashed Franklin as much as the next gal for a smidge of the upscale, but give me good old crazy East Nashville any day. I’ll save Franklin for daytrips.
I have to say, girl, you are brave to put name brand stuff on your kids. I rarely do and they just stain the heck out of it the same as the Target brand. It may last, but nothing can outmatch chocolate ice-cream stains. It’s Target, Ebay, and Lands End Clearance for me, all the way. Saves me gas and fighting with other bargain shopping mamas. My kids are young enough to benefit from the wonderful MOMS Club (another group that has met with your “wrath” to, in my mind, a comical end. It’s snark, people!) in my neighborhood and I have yet to have to buy more than the occasional fancy dress and the right size shoes for the kids because of all of the swapping and passing on. I suppose once they hit school age, that will all change, but for now I’m grateful!
This has got to be the best comment I’ve gotten all year.
It’s interesting- I used to avoid name brands like the plague, but then I got to review a few name brand kids clothes (most notably, Lands’ End and Ralph Lauren) and I was amazed at how much better they held up and how much longer they lasted than the Target stuff. Particularly when it comes to standard school attire, which I wash over and over and over again, I’ve personally been happier (and spent less money) with the “designer” things I’ve found at consignment sales and during big online sales at J. Crew, Hanna Andersson and Lands’ End. And I only buy it at deep discount so that if they ruin it, it’s not a big deal- particularly the consignment things. I generally spend about $6 per dress for my daughter and $3 per shirt/shorts/pants for my son. Can’t beat that! 🙂
[…] if that weren’t enough, I wrote about a bad experience at an upscale consignment sale and got about a zillion Facebook messages and comments from the sale owner’s Bible study […]