I was born in the morning . . . but not this morning . . .




I swear customers think I must be pretty stupid about my own business. It happened again today - a woman brought in maternity clothes for me to buy. She had called previously (a good thing one would presume) and was told what we tell everyone - items have to be in style and in excellent condition.



I started going through her huge box of items and was only interested in about 25% of them. I made and she accepted my cash offer - a little reluctantly. Then she asked why couldn't I use the other ones?




Truthfully, they were old - not just a year or two, but more like 4 to 8 years old. And in the maternity fashion world, that's a long time. There were labels and brands that haven't been sold in years. Not withstanding the fact that there were rips and stains and animal hair. UGH!




But the politically-correct answer I gave her was, "Well, they're just not styles that my customers are looking for right now."



"Well, that's crazy, " she said rather sarcastically. "These are only about a year old." Now, does she actually think I believe that?



The same thing actually happens fairly often with my regular (non-maternity) consignors. They'll tell me their clothes were purchased within the "last year or two." Then I find brands like Passport from Pier One (who stopped selling clothes oh, about 10 years ago) or Gantos (who went out of business oh, about 6 or 7 years ago).



What in the world makes people think I believe their stories? Do I really look that stupid?




What stories do you have about customers that made you think they thought you were dumb as dirt?