About Consignment Software

Choosing the right software is key to keeping start-up costs and aggravation to a minimum. Many a store has failed in part because over-spending on this item added unnecessary financial burden.

1. Initial Cost is only one consideration. Vendors with very high ongoing fees (Liberty, Consignpro, CCE, The Consignment Shop and others) play down the total cost of using their software over time. On Liberty's web site, for example, it now takes 20 (twenty) clicks of the mouse to uncover all of the expenses (like $100 per phone call). An easy decision in purchasing consignment software is to rule out all vendors with ongoing 'service fees'.
   
   
2. Arm Twisting is employed by CCE, Liberty and Consignpro. If support fees aren't paid, service and updates to the software are denied. Such vendors have the audacity to promote their updates as 'FREE!'.
   
   
3. Who's behind the software? With the exception of Liberty and Best Consignment Shop Software all consignment programs are written, maintained and offered by an individual programmer. The list includes Consignpro (Brian Wilson), CCE (Bill Hawkins), The Consignment Shop, et. al. Don't spend $100's and $1000's risking that support for your software won't be around in a year or two. Your money will be lost and you'll have to buy and learn another software program.
   
   
4. Own or Rent? Vendors like Consignpro are only selling the use of their software. You don't own it and you can't resell it later. All money paid is 'down the drain'. Liberty says you can resell it but they charge a 'commission' of 50% ($500) of the LICENSE COST ($1000) so if you resell the software for $500, you gain nothing.
   
   
5. FEES Some software vendors (like Liberty, Consignpro and CCE) stand to garner more in income from fees that the original cost of the software. Over time fees can add up to $10,000 or more! A favorite strategy is to take advantage of stores as they grow. Additional copies of the software (for more computers) are $300 each. Running 5 machines with Liberty runs the annual service fee along to $611.40; Consignpro $250.
   
   
6. Malarky! (ma·lar·key). Slang. (Exaggerated or foolish talk, usually intended to deceive) The consignment software 'industry' is very small and is totally unregulated. Any individual can put up a website and become a poster boy for the program he wrote in his spare time. The 'vendors' with the highest prices and service fees are the same vendors that employ the strategy of suggesting that their lower-priced competitors have problems and they don't, have had unhappy customers and they never have. Wilson at Consignpro goes so far as to post on his website the 3 or 4 complaints (in 8 years) that he's received about a competitor. (Microsoft wishes they had such a great percentage of happy customers!) Liberty distributes an email that totally misrepresents a lower-priced competitor. Wilson stoops so low as to encourage a competitor's unhappy customers to file BBB complaints and attempt to achieve credit-card reversals of their purchases. All the while both Liberty and Wilson are intimating that all of their experiences have been rosy. There's not a consignment shop or consignment software vendor that hasn't had a few unhappy customers. In the end these poor saps just discredit themselves and stave off software purchasers who might do business with them if they were to compete fairly and honestly with (much) lower prices and a dash of professionalism.

There is so much to do when starting a consignment business. Don't rush this decision. Don't be persuaded by fast talk, slick websites and BS. Look at the facts: How much does the software cost - today and tomorrow? Who backs your software? Do I own the software? The ultimate game is for you to discover what's being hidden from your prior to purchase and really, would you knowing and willingly do business with someone who has to trick you into paying more for a product than they lead you to believe it was going to cost prior to purchase?

Lastly, the hidden very significant danger of doing business with an 'individual' is the risk of manipulation. Last year Wilson targeted a group of his users who had not paid OPTIONAL service fees for the past 4-5 years. He offered them a 'free update' which many of them accepted, only to find out that the update purposely disabled their programs. When Wilson was contacted to fix the problem, he refused until the users agreed to pay more fees. This is public record at http://www.damn-ur-spam.com/tgtbt/tgtbt.htm where he also boasts of 'firing' customers when he decides they've asked too many questions. Avoid 'Consignpro' at all cost. Read a full report.