Release Those Pajamas from Purgatory

Studies at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro confirm what many of us suspect: People often consign certain possessions to a state between use and discard. The researchers refer to these collections, generally maintained either in the household or in storage lockers, as “purgatory.”
     Items in these collections are prime candidates for retailers to offer trade-ins or credits toward purchase of new items. Realize that if the consumer really didn’t want any item like that, they probably would have disposed of it. The fact that it’s in purgatory means it’s not quite right, but the consumer might very well be attracted to another item similar to it.
     The wrinkle, though, is that the researchers also found how consumers usually don’t think much about the particulars of the items in purgatory. When they consider them at all, it tends to be as “stuff I should decide someday what to do with” rather than “those pajamas with the Christmas tree designs, those earrings which are too large for my tastes, and….”
     To straighten out that wrinkle, be specific in your ad messages and with your face-to-face selling: “We’re having a great sale on pajamas, and we offer merchandise credit on gently used pajamas and other clothes you might have stored away.” Give prompts for different specific item categories at different store visits by shoppers and you’ll start them thinking what they can bring in to your store.
     But what to do with the used items? You might sell them or donate them.
     Successful resale takes planning. Unless your sole business is resale, reserve a section of your store for it. Auto dealers don’t mix new and used cars. For many consumers, used merchandise still holds a stigma. The stigma can rub off on new merchandise if it’s physically close to the used. There’s even evidence that having the same salesperson handle both the new and the used can decrease the willingness of the shopper to pay maximum price for unused items.
     Donating items adds a socially responsible angle which enhances temptation to release those pajamas from purgatory. You could donate directly to charities or to a retailer that sells used items and contributes a portion of the revenues to charity. To maximize the effectiveness of an appeal to social responsibility, tell shoppers how even a single trade-in makes a difference.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more: 
Sow Trade-Ins with Social Responsibility
Trade On the Right Trade-In Payments
Resell Consumers on Buying Used Items
Repent with Recycling