When venturing into the wonderful world of resale shopping, it is important to understand the differences between the different types of stores that fall under this category.

By Tim Chai and Rosemary Boeglin
[email protected] and [email protected]

First, there are thrift shops, which are shops that sell used articles, especially clothing to benefit a charitable organization. Examples of this would be Goodwill, Thrifty Threads or Salvation Army.

The next type of resale shop is a secondhand, or sometimes derogatively called “junk” shop. These shops sell miscellaneous secondhand goods or antiques. Examples of this would be antique malls or pawnshops. They are often smart to avoid, as their clientele and aura can often be smarmy at best, while the owners/ employees of these stores do well to overprice and exaggerate the quality of their goods. This is not true of all secondhand shops, though. For example Plato’s Closet, Rag-O-Rama, Broad Ripple Vintage and Value World all have strikingly different merchandise and attract different clientele, but remain respectable shops. Secondhand shops have the unique feature of illustrating all different types of business models. For instance, Rag-O-Rama and Plato’s Closet get their clothing by buying from people, but are not consignment because they pay outright for the clothing. Broad Ripple Vintage finds the clothes by going out and looking for items and then resells them at the store for a profit, while Value Village gets its merchandise from donations. They are all considered secondhand shops because they are for-profit, non-consignment resale shops.

Finally, consignment shops are resale shops with the provision that payment is expected (to the provider of the goods) only on completed sales and that unsold items may be returned to the one “consigning.” Basically, it means that people bring in their goods, often clothing or accessories, to a consignment shop. This shop then agrees to sell some, all or none of the items the consigner has brought in. Once an item sells, the consignment shop receives part of the profits from this sale, while the consigner receives the remaining portion of the profits. These shops are typically more expensive than the previous two types of resale shops, but the items are generally newer and of higher quality than those found at the other two types of stores. These shops are also often better organized and give the shopper a more retail-like shopping experience. Consignment stores around Carmel include In Vogue, Carmel Consignment, Designer Outlet and Out of the Closet.

Goodwill

1122 Keystone Way, Carmel – (317) 587-0281

1617 E 151st St, Carmel – (317) 844-1021

10491 Walnut Creek Dr, Carmel – (317) 876-0096

Thrifty Threads

1501 W 86th St

Indianapolis, IN 46260

(317) 802-9612

Salvation Army

234 E Michigan Street

Indianapolis, IN

Plato’s Closet

8238 Rockville Road, Indianapolis, in 46214- (317) 271-1234

8966 E 96th St Fishers, IN 46037- (317) 585-0868

Rag-O-Rama

1067 Broad Ripple Ave

Indianapolis, IN  46220

(317) 475-0870

Broad Ripple Vintage

824 E 64th St.

Indianapolis, IN

(317) 255-4135

Value Village

1201 Prospect St

Indianapolis, IN 46203

(317) 322-1867

In Vogue

11546 Westfield Blvd,

Carmel, IN 46032

(317) 580-0058

Carmel Consignment

13686 North Meridian Street

Carmel, IN 46032

(317) 573-4400

Designer Outlet

1349 W 86th St Indianapolis

IN 46260-2101

(317) 255-3228

Out of the Closet

8517 Westfield Blvd

Indianapolis, IN 46240-2369

(317) 202-0319