Buyers, sellers swarm secondhand shops

Like many other consignment shops, the Buffalo Exchange in Fullerton, Calif., has seen an increase in people placing items for sale and in shoppers. (Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times)

LOS ANGELES - As befits a recording artist living in fashion-conscious California, Laura Cohn has an extravagant wardrobe stuffed with world-class labels and high-wattage jewelry.

But she's going for a different brand of shock and awe: Her two pairs of True Religion jeans, which can run more than $300 apiece, cost $35 and $40 at the Lucky You Resale Boutique in North Hollywood. She put down $23 for her Coach loafers.

The 45-year-old Burbank resident is a longtime bargain shopper. Recently married, she bought her wedding dress for $20 on eBay. She rarely ventures into department stores, preferring to "buy designer clothes for next to nothing."

Boutiques are folding and fewer buyers and sellers are going to a shrinking number of retail trade shows. But Cohn is getting a lot of company at consignment, resale, and thrift stores, from parents shopping for back-to-school clothes to sales reps trying to squeeze cash out of samples no one else will buy.

"There's a panic right now, and everyone's scared out there," Lucky You co-owner Dina Kimmel said. "But resale is booming."

Consignment stores sell goods for individuals, who technically own the item until the sale goes through and they receive a portion of the transaction. High-end consignment typically is referred to as resale. Thrift or charity businesses usually stock their stores through donations and keep all the revenue.

In a survey conducted by the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops comparing sales for April 2007 and April 2008 at 185 stores, 75 percent said their sales had increased, 80 percent reported a jump in new customers, and 65 percent noted a boost in suppliers. Just 10 percent said sales decreased.

Department store sales fell 5.7 percent from July 2007 to the same month this year, and the specialty apparel sector skidded 5.5 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.

At Lucky You, sellers have ramped up their spring cleaning, some coming in weekly when they once swung by twice a year. Even wealthier customers who once donated now consign, Kimmel said. The consignor list at Lucky You gets crowded faster than it used to. Kimmel and fellow owner Gina Canepa now accept only brand-name items.

"I can't imagine what it must be like for pawnshops," Kimmel said.

Some consignors are finding that the common 30 to 50 percent cut they get at a store isn't enough. So they head to consignment conventions, where they sometimes see up to 70 percent of the proceeds.

Each of the 65 Just Between Friends franchises nationwide puts on about two events a year, where participants can buy and sell baby clothing and gear. In Tulsa, Okla., the site of the original event, 1,250 consignors gathered for the fall show, founders Daven Tackett and Shannon Wilburn said.

The sale side of consignment also is swelling, with new customers each week, owners said. Pinched shoppers increasingly swap their old goods for other fashions at Lucky You, where a $395 Tylie Malibu bag goes for $120.