Opening of the Adidas discount center

Almost everyone wants to save money by buying high-quality branded items.

Encyclopedic reference: stock (from the English stock - 'reserve') is a trading format that allows customers to save money by purchasing branded items, and retail chains to increase the volume of working capital. The idea of ​​stocks is based on economy. The basis of the stock assortment is inventory that is unsold by large retail chains during the season. It is unprofitable to store illiquid stock, so brand stores offer leftovers to stock stores at reduced prices. A certain share of goods in stock is confiscated—things seized by banks to repay loans.

Almost everyone wants to save money by buying high-quality branded items. This means that it makes sense to think about how to open your own stock. Moreover, experts assess the barrier to entry into the market as low.

What is second hand?

The concept of “second hand” appeared almost a hundred years ago, when British citizens organized a collection of items in support of the French resistance. After the war, this practice became popular: enterprising people began to buy old clothes from the population for a small fee, put them in order and sell them at a profit. As a result, charity became a business.

Today, a huge flow of American and European clothing is coming to Russia, which makes many entrepreneurs think about how to open a second-hand store. Such products are divided into two large groups:

1. Original. Items are packaged in the same composition in which they were collected. Theoretically, you can find anything in a bag - from cracked dishes and washed trousers to new branded clothes. The original costs no more than 2 euros per kilogram;
2. Sorting. Items are sorted by type and seasonality - jackets, jeans, dresses, shoes. The bag usually contains clothes of approximately the same degree of wear. Sorting is sold for 4–12 euros per kilogram.

Analyzing which products are in greatest demand in 2021 in Russia, wholesale suppliers classify all used clothing depending on its condition. So an entrepreneur can roughly understand what exactly he is buying:

• Stock. Represents completely new things. Stock is made up of unsold store balances, clothing removed from mannequins, last year's collections, as well as warehouse inventory. May have invisible defects, faded paint;
• Cream. Consists of minimally worn clothing and new items without tags. The packages contain models from famous brands and designer items. The cream is quite expensive, so second-hand store owners are reluctant to buy it;
• Lux. Includes items with subtle defects and minor wear. The package may contain up to half of new clothes, including popular brands. It is profitable to sell luxury items by the piece, and not by weight;
• Extra. These are normal everyday clothes from inexpensive brands with minor but noticeable wear. Also, up to a third of new goods can be found in the bag. Items from famous designers are almost never found in packaging;
• 1st category. Represents items with obvious wear in the form of pilling on knitwear, slight deformation, faded colors, torn buttons. The packages contain exclusively casual clothing;
• 2nd category. Consists of items with significant wear in the form of deformation, difficult to remove stains, worn areas and holes, faded paint. Such clothes are the cheapest and are sold only by weight.

Before packaging, items undergo disinfection and temperature treatment, as a result of which they acquire that very specific smell that alarms customers. However, it’s easy to get rid of: you just need to wash your clothes.

Each batch of second-hand goods is packaged in durable bags weighing 50–150 kg and supplied with a hygienic certificate, which indicates the type of chemical and method of processing. Therefore, such clothes are often safer than clandestinely produced consumer goods.

How to find a place for second hand?

If an entrepreneur is not going to open an online second-hand store, he will have to worry about finding a good place. You need to focus primarily on high traffic: no one will go to a retail outlet located away from the main pedestrian and automobile routes. Besides:

• In elite areas, you shouldn’t open an obvious second-hand store. But a store with branded stock may become in demand here;
• It is profitable to open a second-hand store in areas of budget new buildings if you focus on children's items and clothes for young mothers;
• In older neighborhoods populated primarily by retirees, a store with inexpensive everyday items will be popular;
• Regardless of location, there should be no competitor stores operating in the same niche near the outlet;
• Being close to a local food market, inexpensive shopping center or supermarket will be helpful. You need to look for such points of attraction in the area;
• The entrance to the store should be slightly away from the main street. The fact is that many people are still embarrassed to buy used items.

Is it profitable to open a second-hand store?

Is it profitable to open a second-hand store? Success depends on whether the businessman can find a high-traffic location in some densely populated area. The experience of entrepreneurs and statistical data show that:

• An active advertising campaign will attract 1-1.5% of the population. In the absence of competitors, you can count on a zone of influence with a radius of 3 km from the store;
• The population density in large cities is 4,800 people per square kilometer. Accordingly, up to 35,000 citizens will live in the specified area;
• If you open a medium-sized second-hand store in a residential area of ​​Moscow, you can count on 350 customers making purchases with each delivery;
• With an average bill of 600 rubles per week, the retail outlet will earn 210,000 rubles. Revenue for the month will be 900,000 rubles.

Is it worth opening a second-hand store in such conditions? First of all, you need to estimate the store’s income taking into account the increasing discount:

Second hand sales

Analysis of the ratio of income and expenses shows that this business has good economic efficiency. If you remember how much it costs to open a second-hand store, you can calculate the payback period for your investment:

Profitability of second-hand goods

Business Features

When choosing which store to open in a small town or in a regional center, domestic entrepreneurs are wary of the idea of ​​selling used items. This skepticism is explained by the peculiarities of the Russian mentality: citizens willingly wear the clothes of their relatives or friends, but are embarrassed to purchase shirts or dresses “from someone else’s shoulder.” Meanwhile, declining income makes them think about saving. Therefore, today people are beginning to understand that it is better to buy high-quality European second-hand goods than Chinese consumer goods, which will fall apart or fade after the first wash. As a result, every second Russian citizen has second-hand items in his closet. Second-hand stores are becoming especially popular among low-income residents of the province and young people who have not yet found a good job.

Used clothing is very diverse, so entrepreneurs, in an effort to open second-hand clothes, prefer to choose narrower niches. There are several categories of such outlets:

• Price shops. This format is used for the sale of quality items in the Cream, Luxury and Extra categories. Each item is priced individually and displayed on display with its own price tag;
• Weight stores. It is more profitable to sell clothes with minor defects by weight. This is also convenient for buyers - for a small amount you can buy several things at once. To stimulate turnover, prices are gradually reduced after import;
• Online stores. When choosing what is best to sell in an online store, again you should pay attention to piece goods in the Stock, Cream and Lux ​​categories. It is impossible to sell goods by weight this way: for each product you will have to determine the dimensions;
• Specialized stores. Such outlets sell only certain types of goods individually. For example, you can think about how to open a second-hand children's store or focus on women's handbags;
• Collapses. This type of open-air second-hand store is essentially an ordinary flea market, where things are piled on cots. The assortment includes both clothes from your grandmother's chest of drawers and almost new wardrobe items.

How to find second hand suppliers?

To find out whether it is profitable to open a second-hand store, you need to solve the problem of product supply. It is clear that the entrepreneur will not personally go abroad to organize the reception of things from the population there. Therefore, he will have to look for intermediaries with favorable terms of cooperation. Can:

• Organize wholesale supplies from factories in Europe and the USA. This requires serious capital, since the weight of the minimum batch starts from a ton. You will have to personally go to negotiations, study customs legislation, find carriers;
• Contact suppliers from the Baltics. Here, order sizes are smaller, logistics are already organized, and the entrepreneur does not need to learn a foreign language or look for a translator. However, payments should still be made in foreign currency;
• Contact Russian wholesalers. There are five or six large and several dozen small suppliers on the local market. They buy lots in 120–150 kg bags, and then sort the items by quality and pack them into smaller bales.

A budding entrepreneur should pay attention to the country in which the second-hand goods were collected. The fact is that things from different regions differ from each other:

1. Germany. Pedantic Germans usually wear their clothes to holes, so it is very difficult to find the Luxury and Extra categories in batches;
2. USA. Things are usually very worn and huge in size. In addition, Americans are not known for their reverent attitude towards fashion;
3. Great Britain. Supplies good quality fashion items, including well-known brands. Larger sizes are harder to find here, however;
4. Italy. Sells fashionable designer items in good condition. Lots often contain expensive brands;
5. Canada. Clothes from this country are of high quality—things with labels come across all the time. But there is a significant size discrepancy;
6. Australia. This is where excellent summer clothing comes from light and bright fabrics. But there are no autumn and winter items in the batches due to the warm climate of the country.

Typically, wholesale suppliers allow you to view the contents of the bags and select the best assemblies. However, you cannot sort things - the entrepreneur must purchase the entire package. The price depends on the quality and type of things:

Wholesale prices for second-hand goods