Learn more about your three resale options in this blog post, and learn how amazing maternity resale really is! 

Any store that acquires used goods for resale is a resale shop. Resale shops fit into three categories: consignment, buy-outright, and thrift.

Here are the main fundamental differences between the three. 

Consignment

"What is consignment?" a customer recently asked me. "I've heard the term before but I'm not 100% on what it means."

Consignment is a selling situation where there is an agreement to pay a supplier of goods after the goods are sold. In Happily Ever After Maternity's case, the supplier is a Mom (or expectant mom) who has maternity & breastfeeding clothing she wishes to sell. When HEA sells her clothing, she gets 40% of the sale price in cash. 

Maternity consignment, we're selling you another woman's clothing, and paying her for the pieces you buy! 

Maternity consignment is awesome, you're helping out our business, another mom, you're saving money on awesome pieces of clothing, and you're helping the environment.

Buy Outright (BO)

Buy outright shops buy secondhand goods outright then try to resell them. At HEA we do have some BO items. We used to operate exclusively as a BO shop but made the switch to consignment to better serve our community of Moms. We still have some of these items in our inventory, and from time to time we will go on-the-hunt for sold out items or for special requests. 

As a general rule, Buy Outright shops sell at a higher margin than consignment, this means they pay less for items than a consignment shop would. 

Thrift

Maternity Thrift is the resale of used clothing. But unlike consignment & buy outright, these items are donated and cost the store nothing. These items are often resold at low low prices because the store doesn't have the added expense of buying the clothing or paying someone for it. An example of a Thrift store is Value Village, they receive their items b donation then resell them to make a profit. 

Happily Ever After Maternity is not a thrift shop. We gladly accept donations. Our donations are priced the same as our consignments, and only quality items are kept in stock. Items that aren't acceptable for resale are donated back into thrift shops in our community. We love donations because they help cover our operating expenses, give back to the community, and subsidize shipping costs.

Did you know when we offer a $10 flat shipping rate? Shipping costs more than $10, we still need to cover the remaining balance of our shipping cost.

Reuse Reduce Rescue

There are many reasons you should shop for maternity resale, only one of which is to save money. You'll feel like a superhero after you read all the benefits!

Resale is saving the planet.

• Raw materials. No new environmental exploitation to create the textiles necessary to make these garments.
• Cleaner water. No water used for the dying & manufacturing process. Some fabrics shed fewer microplastics the more they are washed.
• Carbon emissions. Lower carbon emissions at all stages of production. No shipping of raw materials to factories, No factory work, no extra packaging, no flights across the planet to a warehouse, no further transportation to distribution centers, retailers, and then on to you.
• Less waste & packaging. The extra packaging, cardboard & plastic bags are kept out of the landfill and recycling centers. When clothing is shipped, every single piece is placed inside its own plastic bag. The bags are boxed and the boxes are stacked on pallets that are then wrapped in plastic to keep them all together. Then they reach distribution centers where packages are taken apart, repacked and shipped to individual stores.
• Landfill Space. The clothing keeps getting worn and stays out of the landfill.

Resale Benefits Domestic Economies

Money is spent locally and supports local people.

The resale of maternity clothing at HEA maternity puts money back into the pockets of Canadian Moms. It does not put money back into the pockets of national or international retail giants.

You've seen it all over social media, supporting small, supporting local helps families put their children in extracurricular activities, helps pay for braces, it helps businesses give back to their local communities by sponsoring events and sports teams. 

There are many reasons you should shop maternity resale, let someone else pay full price, and enjoy all the benefits of your mindful buying decision!