If somebody discovered a $7,000 Dior purse being offered for $1,700, they could be suspicious. That is why, for mother-daughter duo Dianne and Gabrielle Melillo, the consignment enterprise is not nearly good merchandise. It is about belief.
“We work in a discipline the place our objects are pre-owned,” Gabrielle says. “Our prospects should belief us and our stage of transparency. We deal with them like we might deal with our mates. We’d by no means steer them within the incorrect course on these things.”
The Melillos are franchisees with Season 2 Consign, a model that sells secondhand items in individual and on-line. They opened their first territory in 2023 in central New Jersey (a territory is their assigned area for sourcing items), and this yr, after being named one of many Worldwide Franchise Affiliation’s Franchisees of the Yr, they opened a second territory in northern New Jersey — making them Season 2 Consign’s first multi-unit house owners. Right here, they share what they’ve realized constructing a trust-based enterprise.
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Dianne, why did you determine to open a Season 2 Consign franchise?
I spent a few years working because the nationwide gross sales director of North America for high-end European designer Giambattista Valli. I am 58, and my husband owns auto physique outlets. He made me suppose that I needed to personal my very own enterprise. I used to be promoting and shopping for my very own luxurious objects on the secondary market. When Season 2 Consign introduced on Instagram that they have been going to begin franchising, I jumped on it.
Gabrielle, why did you determine to develop into a 50-50 accomplice along with your mother?
I labored for just a few totally different firms, various from style to lip balms. I knew about e-commerce as a result of I ran the businesses’ web sites. I am 31, and I stop my job to do that. I needed to begin my very own enterprise as nicely.
What have been your largest challenges?
Dianne: The technical half was a giant studying curve. We use software program for all the things: loading issues onto the web site, how we do issues with our consigners. Gabrielle actually knew that side of it, however I knew the place we might make a revenue, how objects wanted to be priced, what the good luxurious objects can be if we might get them.
Gabrielle: I needed to be taught the entire names of the leathers, the forms of purses, extra concerning the luxurious side of it, and the entire historical past behind the posh objects and luxurious manufacturers. We’ve got a really savvy buyer base.
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How do you acquire these savvy prospects’ belief with pre-owned objects?
Dianne: Individuals will attain out to us by way of DMs. They will contact us by way of Instagram. One buyer purchased a $2,000 bag from us and requested us for a video on tips on how to change the strap. One other one requested us to take a photograph of one thing in a bag. We’re very private with our prospects and our consigners on so many ranges. We are going to take that video for them.
Is that sort of customer support totally different from what your opponents supply?
Gabrielle: Very totally different.
Our prospects aren’t simply our followers. We consistently get feedback thanking us for serving to them. I really feel like the one manner we get to that stage of feedback is when you find yourself so near your prospects.
Dianne: And since Gabrielle is my daughter, now we have insane belief between us. We’ve got the identical objectives for this enterprise, and we work so exhausting. It is such an unbelievable labor of affection.
Do you ever meet your prospects in individual?
Dianne: Sure, once we do pop-up outlets. We did occasions at a rustic membership, a boutique, and a few spas. A lot of the ladies who get Botox and spa remedies are prepared and prepared to purchase luxurious objects.
That appears like a target-rich setting for refilling your inventory too.
Dianne: A few of these ladies have such huge collections, they’re giving up their baggage that they do not use anymore. That is mainly the place we get our stock. These occasions — a few of them have been actually superb for us.
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