FAQ’s

In a recent study, discussed in Parenting Magazine, 60% of parents said that their children’s clothing was the biggest expediture of the year. With 9 out of 10 mom’s saying they will spend more on their child’s waredrobe this fall than their own!!Even with this alarming new, some parents are still hesitant to buy pre-owned clothing. So I have encluded some frequently asked questions below to help you out…

Frequently Asked Questions:

If you have a question that you do not see posted here, PLEASE feel free to contact Lilybean’s Market at lilybeansconsignment@gmail.com or post a comment below.

 

1. What is consignment?

Consignment is the process of selling pre-owned merchandise through company, whereas the profit made from the purchase is shared between the consignor and the owner of the company.  It’s pretty simple really. Here’s an example: You have 20 items that you want to consign.  I look over the 20 items to ensure they meet our guidelines and standards.  If approved I will price each item individually, take pictures, describe and place them on the site.  When purchased, the money will be split between you (the owner of the merchandise) and Lilybean’s as the owner of the store.  Once a month you will recieve a check with all of your earnings for the month until all of your items have sold.

2. Why BUY pre-owned? Isn’t it easier to just shop the sales at the local stores and buy new?

This is a great question and one I have heard a lot from my friends prior to introducing them to consignment shopping.  I used the “shop the sales” as well, but I always found myself buying more than I had anticipated when looking through the merchandise because inevitably there is a full-price item that catches your eye and is a MUST HAVE!

So why buy pre-owned?  For children <5 years old they grow amazingly fast and rarely get full use out of the clothing that their parents are spending good money on.  On occasion, we (as parents) buy clothes for them that end up not fitting them or they refuse to wear and the tags never even get taken off.  These are the perfect clothes to buy pre-owned. They have been worn slightly, show no signs of wear (no rips, stains, etc.) or in some cases never worn at all. 

As far as “shopping the sales”… go right ahead! But when you’re tired of clipping coupons, or trying to make it on “DoorBuster” Days, searching for a place to park, and waiting in line at checkout, we’ll be here. And besides, there are a lot of other things to spend your money on, why spend too much on clothes when you can get them at >65% off retail prices everyday of the week!

3. What brands do you accept/not accept?

We are a boutique consignment store and want to ensure that we are carrying clothes that will easily last through the wear that kids may put them through so we are selective in what we will accept.  If you are interested in selling or consigning with us, please fill out the Contact Us form and we’d be happy to send you that information. 

Currently we do not accept: Garanimals, Circo, George, Jumping Beans amoung others.  We also only acceptlimited Carter’s.

4. What if I live out of state and want to consign?

No problem! After reviewing the Welcome Packet and ensuring that your items meet our standards you simply ship them to us.  We will inspect them. If all items meet our guidelines we will either make you an offer to purchase or you can consign them and we will reimburse you for 1/2 of your shipping costs.  If all items do not meet our guidelines and we must return some to you will will not reimburse shipping costs. However, if certain items are not accepted you have to option to donate, and those items will be added to our seasonal donations. 

5. Do you have a brick and morter store?

No we do not.

6. I usually DONATE my clothes, what should I do?

Lilybean’s Market believes in giving back to our local and overseas communities. Therefore, if you decide to donate your clothing to Lilybean’s we would LOVE to have them and add them to our giving. If the items meet criteria for selling, we will sell your items and give your monetary commission to a charity.  If your items do not meet criteria for selling, they will be added into our local seasonal donations. 

7. What charities do you give to?

Lilybean’s is located in Northern Virginia, so our local charities will all be chosen out of the DC Metro area.  The donation sites change according to the needs of the facilites we are working with, but we focus our first priority on family homeless shelters.  The Lilybean’s founders have a long history working with a charity overseas in Africa that provides a variety of care to their community including an orphange for children with AIDS. This charity is first priority for monetary donations. 

If, at any point, a consumer would like to suggest a charity we are more than happy to take it into consideration.

8. I have heard of people buying/selling their clothes on ebay and craigslist.  Why should I work with Lilybean’s rather than the other online opportunities?

Selling: Most parents don’t have the time to do the research for pricing, take pictures, write descriptions, answer multiple emails and filter the spam that comes with listing their items online.  Most end up settling for less money for their items by grouping them all together to decrease the hassle of listing.  After selling you then have to pack and ship, or arrange for pick-up at your house (scary) or a mutual location which is time-consuming.  If you sell with Lilybean’s, we can arrange for local pick-up or we assist you with shipping costs and then we do all the work!

Buying: Buying from online auction sites or advertising sites can be difficult.  Online auction sites can take up to a week to know if your have “won” your item.  The number of pictures of the items may be few and the seller can be deceptive with their descriptions.  Pick-up can be a hassle as well.  Buying from Lilybean’s is safe and secure.  We work with PayPal to allow for secure checkout with your PayPal account or credit card.  We ship quickly and can offer package tracking if you desire.

Currently we are also offering FREE SHIPPING if you enter the code: SHIPSFORFREE at checkout…