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Happy Moms Consignment

How To Prep And Tag Items

Tagging Your Items:


Supplies Needed:

  • Hangers (wired preferred, but not required)
  • Safety Pins
  • Packing tape
  • Seran wrap (Needed if selling wooden board puzzles)
  • Ziploc style bags (if needed for multi-piece items)
  • 60 - 110 lb. White card stock paper for printing tags.

 

First Things First:

  • Please carefully inspect all items before bringing them to the sale. All items with stains, holes, unappealing odors, dysfunctional zippers, animal hair, and any other questionable foreign substances will be rejected. See the list of accepted items.
     
  • Appearance is important! Spending a little more time getting your items ready will greatly increase the chances your items will sale. Make sure to button all buttons, snap all snaps, and zip all zippers. Remember that items that are cleaned and ironed will sell much better. Presenting items in their best possible condition means more $$$ in your pocket!!
     
  • Non-clothing items need to be in good working condition with no missing parts.

 

When writing tags:

  • There is a $2.00 minimum price on hanging clothing items.
     
  • Sizing: When typing the size in tag inventory for boys and girls clothing, do NOT use S,M,L, etc. Estimate numbers. For Maternity and Adult Clothing, use letter sizes (S,M,L,XL) instead of numbers.
     
  • Onesies/pants also sell very well when packaged in multiples in ziploc bags. Just place in a bag neatly, tape, and attach tag with tape

Hanging Clothing Items:

  • Wire hangers are preferred, but plastic are accepted if you already have them handy. (Dry cleaners will often give you free hangers when you use their services)
  • Hang or pin (with safety pins) clothing to the top of the hanger so that when looking at the front of the clothes, the open part of the hook is on the left, like the shape of a question mark: ? (See example below)  Place the tag on the right shoulder with a safety pin. (See example below)
  • Pin sets securely by hanging the shirt first, then turn the hanger over and pin the pants/skirt by the waist to the backside of the hanger. This prevents the clothes from sliding. (See example below)
  • When pinning pants alone, pin the waist over the top bar of the hanger to prevent pants from sliding. (See example below)

Shoes:

  • Shoes should be cleaned well and in good condition.
     
  • Connect the pair together securely with zip ties, or sturdy string/ribbon.
     
  • Tag shoes using a large safety pin that is passed twice through the middle of the tag to the side of the shoe. You can also punch a hole in the tag and thread your string/ribbon through the tag. (You may need to tape around the hole to prevent it from tearing. 

Toys/Equipment/Loose Items:

  • All items need to be in working condition and clean. Place any small parts in a clear Ziploc bag with the tag attached to the outside of the bag very securely with clear packaging tape. Secure bags closed with tape to ensure that pieces do not fall out.
     
  • Puzzles: Use Seran wrap for wooded board puzzles by wrapping completely around with the pieces in place, then tape over the wrap to secure the ends. Tape the tag to the outside of the wrap. Make sure all pieces are in boxed jigsaw puzzles, then tape the box closed and tape the tag to the outside.
     
  • Books and videos: Simply tape the tag to the outside of books and videos. If packing tape may tear the cover, use scotch tape or masking tape instead.
     
  • Multiple books: Tape together or wrap in seran wrap to form a set, then tape your tag to the outside.
     
  • Large items/Furniture: Tape or tie tag SECURELY to the outside of the item. *All larger items/furniture will need to be fully assembled before leaving drop-off.*
     
  • Baby carriers/slings:Pin these items with a safety pin to a hanger (with the hanger facing the same direction as clothes-see above) to prevent the carrier from falling to the floor. Then secure the tag with a safety pin to the upper right side when looking at the front.
     
  • Car-Seats: Car seats must be less than 5 years old for safety reasons. (See manufacturer date on the seat.)
     
  • Loose items: Place bibs, bowls, sippy cups, etc. in a clear Ziploc bag with the tag taped to the outside of the bag. Tape bags closed to keep items in and hands out.
     
  • Smaller infant toys: Sell well by placing several items together in a Ziploc-type bag and tape tag on outside. 

 

Printing Tips

Here are some tips to help make sure you are printing your tags in such a way that the barcode will scan easily.

  • Don't print too dark - it is better to print a little light than too dark. Don't print on the "High Quality" setting, print on the normal setting. This is especially true for inkjet printers. Some cardstock papers can "soak up" the ink when it is sprayed too dark, causing the edges of the barcode to be fuzzy and not scan. The edges of a barcode need to be crisp.
  • Align your print cartridges - printer cartridges in inkjet printers can get out of alignment, especially when you change cartridges. This can cause the edge of the barcode not to be clean and straight. There should be a utility that came with your printer software that allows you to align the print cartridges.
  • Do not use designer cardstock - Designer cardstock that is "fiberous" can soak up ink from an inkjet and cause the edges of a barcode to be fuzzy. Use a standard dense cardstock. Avoid cardstock with a "slick" surface, as it can cause ink to smudge.
  • Don't "scale" the printing - when actually printing the barcodes/tags, do not adjust the scaling on the page. Instead, print at 100%, just like the tag is generated. If you use a "shrink to fit" option, or if you change page scaling to something other than 100% it can adjust the size of the barcode, which adjusts the "gaps" between the dark bars and can cause the barcode to be unscannable.
  • Print to .pdf format - If you experience problems with the format of the tag in the browser you are using, try printing the tags in .pdf format to help standardize the formatting across browsers.