Consignment Software is a computer program which stores information about a consignment business and which performs related tasks like inventory management, sales and settlements processing, and the printing of agreements, price labels, reports and checks (and more).

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What Does Consignment Software Do?

Consignment software 'accounts' for all of the information and variables involved in 'consigning' (the reselling of others' property for a share of the sales proceeds).

The software program interconnects the variables, so that a change in one value will automatically make appropriates changes in all related values. (For example, when an item is sold, a consignment software program will automatically deduct the item from the consignor's inventory and credit the consignor's and consignee's (and employee's) accounts for their portions of the sales proceeds.)

Typical elements in a consignment software program are:

Consignor Records - the owner of consigned items. Record contact information: phone & fax numbers, mail & email addresses, ID number, birth date, active/inactive status, etc.

Consignor Reports - the seller's current dollar balance, how many items remain in inventory, the agreed-upon sales split percentage, balance adjustments and credits, what to do with unsold items, dates of the last new item, last sale, last settlement, unsettled sold items...

Consignor Tasks - Print mailing labels, checks, consignment agreements, reports, sales invoices. Process sales and settlements. Add/delete/discount inventory. Issue store credits and gift certificates.

Customers - the buyers of consigned items. Record contact information and allow each customer record to be 'marked' in a variety of ways (to receive mailings, birthday, zip code, bad check, date of last purchase, dollar volume)...

Customer Tasks - Print mailing labels and reports. Process sales and print invoices (receipts). Process returns and issue full or partial credits. Redeem credits and gift certificates.

Employee Records - employee name & #, address, e-mail address, phone numbers, number of items sold, commission percentage...

Employee Sales Records - item #, description, sale price, quantity, commission % and commission amount...

Employee Account Status - account balance, bonuses, subtractions, dates of hire and termination, last update, last sale and last commission payment...

Employee Tasks - Print mailing labels. Process sales and commissions. Write commission checks. Provide/deny access to software program areas.

Inventory - Read and write bar codes. Record item #, description, date in, quantity, price, item category, details, bar-code number and consignor %. Discount aged inventory (manually or automatically). Batch delete. House Accounts (for store-owned inventory)...

Inventory Reports - for definable periods of date in, last sale, date discounted, price range, item number, consignor and category...

Print - reports, bar codes, mailing labels, small and medium-sized price labels, detailed price labels, inventory lists, details lists, single or batch checks, consignor agreements and reports...

Sales - Apply discounts at POS. Record payment method and amount. Auto-calculation of tax and change due to the customer. Print receipts. Process credit-card purchases. Layaways, rentals, buy outright. Special sales - store-wide discounts or discounts by inventory category - variable dates and discount amounts - % of flat-dollar amount.

Sale Reports - for definable periods based upon invoice date, invoice totals, payment methods, sales person, sales recap and invoices list...

Settlements - settlement number, date, total amount, amount from sales, amount deducted. Settle for one consignor or batch settle. Settle for cash, check, store credit or gift certificate. Print consignor checks.

All sections typically have a provision for making and keeping notes about consignors, their inventory and sales, customers, employees and settlements.

Most small consignment businesses, particularly those just starting out, can run their operations very efficiently with a program having most of these features at a one-time cost of $400. More advanced software might support thermal printers and provide online services like consignor access to account information and adding inventory to be downloaded at the shop.

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