Short sleeves and washable with a beautiful cut-out back

Wear Alone or over a t-shirt.

Who would have thought that there are actual yardsale scam artists? With high-tech cameras in regular stores, a yardsale may seem like easy pickings to a thief and scam artist. Here are some things to watch out for when having a yardsale – also what to watch for if you are a yardsale customer.

Be wary of the pushy customer who orders you around and asks you to personally load their purchases in their vehicle. What may happen is that they will return, often when your yardsale is still in full swing, and very loudly complain that they hadn’t received all their merchandise.  This tactic is used to try to intimidate/embarrass the seller into giving an undeserved refund. Meanwhile the “complainer” will continue to shop at your yardsale making sure they haven’t over-looked any bargains.

Distraction is a common tool that yardsale thieves use. Sometimes they may bring a small child and let the kid loose at the sale, hoping that either: 1) the seller will ooh and ahh over the child while they are busy shoplifting a few small items or 2) that the seller will keep an eye on the child to make sure they don’t bump into a table of glassware giving the scam artists opportunity to shoplift or switch price tags.

A shoplifter may try to be less obvious by just taking the actual item (like pocketing a CD but leaving the empty case), or opening a box with an item inside - pocketing the item – and then leaving the empty box on the table so it doesn’t appear obvious.

A scam artist may try to “help” the seller by totaling the prices of their items they want to purchase. Probably 99% of the time, it’s an honest buyer just wanting to save time and be helpful. But if something  doesn’t feel right, you can tell the customer a little fib and say that you need to check all the items because you are selling some items for a friend and have to keep the money straight.

Another scam is for the customer to ask the seller if they have change for $100 bill because they want to make a purchase. They purposely show the bill and flash it. As the seller checks their cash, the customer quickly puts the bill back in their pocket but holds their hand out – hoping that the seller will be confused and give change back for the bill that was never given to them.

Sometimes an unscrupulous seller may try to cover up a defect, chip or stain with a price sticker (or tape). Then when you get the item home, you discover their snaky practice. I heard a story recently where someone bought a honey pot with lid at a yardsale. The lid was heavily taped onto it. When the buyer got the item home and unwrapped the tape, they discovered it was a mis-matched lid that didn’t fit property. Look everything over well and don’t hesitate to check under a price sticker.

Keep your money guarded 100% of the time. It’s best to wear a carpenter’s apron or fanny pack. When someone hands you a large bill to pay for items, leave the bill out in plain view until the change has been made. Then put the bill away.  A scam artist may try to claim that they gave you a $20 bill when they actually gave you a $10.

When selling small valuables, such as jewelry, it’s best to designate one person to watch over the table. I arrived at one yardsale after a group of scam artists had just left. The seller had placed various pieces of jewelry in individual plastic baggies and priced the baggies. What the scam artists did was switch the jewelry within the bags and paid the lower prices for the nicer jewelry. They arrived as a large group and distracted the seller asking questions about various items. The seller was too harried to realize it until after the fact.

For safety reasons, it’s best to have another person or persons helping you conduct your yardsale. But if you can’t and have some scary looking customers, you can pretend to have someone else with you – just yell into the house, “Hey, Bob, bring me a soda when you get a chance”.  It’s wise to have a  cordless phone or cell phone on you (in your carpenter’s apron) at all times. But don’t set it down, because someone will want to buy it.

Copyright 2011 The Yardsale Queen, Inc.

• Choose soft fabrics that drape over curves and flow comfortably.
• A V-neck creates a vertical line and helps balance a round face.
• If you love knits, choose a weight and size that skims you without clinging.
• If you have a full bosom, look for simple bodices. A long scarf or necklace will catch the eye and minimize the size.
• Shoulders are critical to plus size women. It’s important to wear a bit of shoulder padding to balance your lower half. Stay away from shoulders too square or too large or droopy, as you will look sloppy. Experiment with pads for your best look.
• Wear a jacket longer than the widest part of your derriere.
• Pins should be worn close to the face not down on the bustline. Try moving your pins up on your shoulder 2-3 inches. You’ll be surprised at the difference.

     No – that’s why they look so put together. Take some time to select your clothing and accessories every day. Do it the night before or early morning when you have enough time to be creative. Pre-plan!

UpScale Plus (14W-28W) and UpScale Princess (6-16)

     Always a good idea to call your consignment store first for their guidelines or visit their web site. We each have our own regulations that work for our store. Ask what season they are taking and if an appointment is necessary. In-style, in-season, clean and on hangers are our basics.

Closet clean-out. Like weight, closet accumulation does not happen overnight. So don’t expect to clear it out in an hour. Probably three hours is a fair time allotment. A picky friend is also a good thing to have. Agree to do it for each other to make it fun and worthwhile. A nice glass of wine also helps in these circumstances.

1. Keep your “uniforms.” These are the items that you wear every day in some capacity. It might be a blouse and a jacket and a trouser. Put those in a stack on the bed. You already know that your uniform items fit, are flattering and not too much work. Remove everything from your closet including the dust bunny shoe and purse area.
2. Anything with the tags still on it and a year with no wear is probably not a keeper. These are impulse buys and often have no business in our wardrobes.
3. Have a stack for charity, a stack for consignment and a stack for repairs.
4. Work from the theory of abundance. We all have more in our closets than we can possibly wear. Let’s get these items back into circulation.
5. Practice the “in/out” rule. One item in, one item out.
6. If you’re not sure about an item, wear it once before you part with it. There is usually a reason why you didn’t wear it right away.
7. Leave your brand names, fabric and care tags in. You can cut out the size, but the future buyer would like to know how to take care of a garment as well as making sure there are no fabrics she is allergic to. Also leave on your dry cleaner tags. If these have your name on them and you don’t wish to have them left on, let your shop know. They will remove the tags once they have determined that the garment is clean and ready to price.
8. Be sure to include accessories. We treat costume jewelry just like regular clothing. It goes through the consignment period and if it doesn’t sell, goes on to Family Tree. Sterling silver or higher end items are on a special program with a higher split . These pieces are returned to you if they doesn’t sell, so there’s no risk to you.

     Consignment shops each have a season. UpScale Plus and UpScale Princess seasons are dictated by the weather. We are more “in the season” than department stores which keeps us separated from traditional retailers. We think our customers are more “in the moment,” and appreciate us not jumping the season so much. When you shop in winter, we have winter items. When you shop in the summer, we have summer items. Etc.

     In style means items from the past 1-3 years. If your consignment store asks you about your items and you tell her that your clothes are all “classics,” she will substitute the word, “old” because that is usually what the consignor means. Now if you have Chanel or Gucci or Valentino in your closet, we will want to look at your “classics.”

     If you are not one that loves being stylish, you may not know what’s in style and what’s not.  If that’s the case, your consignment store will be able to help you determine what will sell to their customers and what will not. We appreciate a heads-up call so that we can set aside some time for you and not have a bunch of consignors coming in at the same time.

     If you are a discount/outlet buyer, we may not be able to take your items. Our customers want items that were purchased originally at the better department stores. Higher-priced items just have a higher retail value. Check out our Brands We Love tab and you will see we love items that you bought at the snobby stores in Cherry Creek, Chico’s, Coldwater Creek, J. Jill, better boutiques and better quality retailers.

Clean and on hangers. How you present your items to your store is important. If it looks like you respect them, the store is more inclined to review them. The wardrobes we reject are sometimes  for brand names, sometimes for age or condition. Most stores will let you “trade hangers,” if you want to keep your own. We have wire hangers that we will give to you if you don’t have enough hangers.

     Please understand that “clean enough for you to wear again” is not clean enough for us to sell to a stranger. We pride ourselves on customers buying something at lunchtime, wearing it back to the office and not smelling like your deodorant.

     Launder and press yourself or dry clean at the cheapo dry cleaners (Continental has multiple stores in the metro area). My more savvy consignors have everything dry cleaned. Dry cleaning puts “sizing” back into the material and provides a professional pressing job. I would not recommend the discount cleaners for delicate formal wear or specialty items. We recommend Carousel Cleaners  just east of the old Elitch Gardens on 38th Avenue  at 4040 W 38th Ave, Denver, 80211.

What’s hot?

• Big chunky jewelry – look on the sales racks for anything big and bold
• Tailored jackets – add a belt to update
• Purple is the new “black” Wear it with mustard
• Polka dots
• Plaid is in
• Gray is still huge
• Shopping totes