Ep. 176 A New Way to Destock Your Store!

As I looked back at all of the content I’ve written, recorded, and shared with store owners, I realized I’ve covered how to destock your store more than nearly any other topic! 

For example:

• In episode 79, I asked if your personal opinions—including those about being “wasteful”—are hurting your retail business.
• In episode 80, I shared my Dead Inventory Scale for store owners. 
• Then there’s episode 39, which is all about tackling fear before Q4 and getting rid of that old inventory you’re sitting on. 
• Not to mention a blog post where I shared 7 ways to get rid of stale inventory! 

There are more, but you get the picture. I talk about how to destock your store so much because it’s a massive problem for brick and mortar retailers. Sitting on extra inventory can really hurt your bottom line and affect your mental health, too. 

A New Option to Help You Destock Your Store: Destash Groups!

In Master Shopkeepers, we’ve thrown around the idea of starting a destash group for indie brick and mortar retailers for years—just ask my founding members!

If you aren’t familiar with destash groups, they’re Facebook groups where people “destash” stuff. Sometimes it’s craft supplies for crafters, other times it’s apparel for e-commerce boutiques, and everything in between.

Destash means “remove from one’s collection,” while destock means to “remove goods from one’s shop.” They’re pretty interchangeable terms!

Along the way, some of us in MSK (including me) have joined destash groups on Facebook, but we just didn’t find one to fit the needs of store owners. It’s common for these types of groups to have tens of thousands of members, sometimes a mix of business owners and consumers, and not all are managed well.

Why We Struggle With Destocking Our Stores

I know that destocking or destashing isn’t always easy for store owners. And if you go back and listen or read the list of content I shared at the beginning of this post, you’ll learn that the struggle is for a variety of reasons. 

Sometimes it’s shame, especially when store owners don’t want to admit they made buying mistakes (at least, not to their customers!). At other times, it’s that they have genuinely tried a variety of ways to get rid of it but still have it. Maybe they overordered—accidents do happen! There are other reasons, of course, but what’s important here is that it happens to ALL of us.

Also, destocking doesn’t only refer to inventory. Can we talk about the amount of equipment we hold onto because we don’t need it anymore, we upgraded to something newer, or we changed brands but the equipment we have still works?! If only another store owner could use it!

Ready to Destock Your Store? Join the Savvy Shopkeeper Destash Group!

I’m happy to share that there’s now a place for you to destock your store: The Destash Group for Retail Store Owners Hosted by Savvy Shopkeeper! It’s where independent retail store owners can buy from and sell to one another. 

First, it’s important to mention that this is a beta program, meaning I’m testing it. It also means it may not stay on Facebook, nor will it always be free. Here’s why:

In order to run a group or service like this well, it takes time, knowledge, and effort. I’ve learned that managing a group or any offer where I provide value means lots of work and customer support, and  I can’t do it alone!

The value of this group is that many of you will sell hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of stock—in fact, it’s already happening in the group! Or, you’ll be able to BUY at or below wholesale prices because retailers can’t wait to get rid of their extra stock. And if managing this valuable group means you’re generating cash flow, then I am SO for it!

With that, this is about quality, not quantity. If you have tried destash groups in the past and they just weren’t for you, please know that this IS different. My team and I are laser-focused on providing all members a good experience, all so that you have a quality group to buy from and sell to.

So, how do you sign up? Fill out the sign-up form at savvyshopkeeper.com/destash. 

The sign-up form is simple. I will give you access to the link to join the group, and you’ll be subscribed to the Savvy Shopkeeper newsletter. You’ll enter your name, email address, store name, and store address. While this doesn’t guarantee perfect buyers and sellers, it will help us ensure that everyone in the group is a store owner.

Once you complete the sign-up form, you’ll be redirected to a page where you can join the group.

What to Know Before Destocking Your Store in the Savvy Shopkeeper Destash Group

When you join, please read the group description in its entirety AND the group rules to make sure this is a good fit for you! If you read through it all and decide it’s not for you, you can click the “cancel join request” button. No biggie!

Here’s what you can expect, per the group description and rules:

This is a group for Independent Retail Store Owners in the US to sell and buy from each other.

Requirements:

1) You must be the owner of a retail store in the United States (we may open this to other countries in the future)

2) You must have a PayPal Account (we recommend this so both the seller and buyer are protected)

3) You must follow group rules (this includes being an honorable store owner who is kind and respectful – no jerks or bullies allowed)

4) You must follow the group guidelines for buying/selling

5) You must sign up and subscribe to the Savvy Shopkeeper Newsletter here: https://savvyshopkeeper.com/destash/. Once you subscribe, you will receive a New Member PDF Guide with group rules and posting instructions.

6) You must be willing to package your items well and ship them anywhere in the US

In this group, you can sell:

1) Product inventory – this can be dead inventory or excess inventory that you purchased at wholesale prices (you’re selling at cost or less)

2) Retail store equipment (scanners, printers, POS equipment, etc.)

This is a business-to-business SELLING and BUYING group, NOT a business support group or business-to-consumer group. If you’d like to join a mastermind group for store owners, consider applying for Master Shopkeepers here: https://savvyshopkeeper.com/groupmembership

Please be sure to review the new member PDF Guide when you receive it via email -OR- visit GUIDE 1 in the group for buying/selling rules before posting.

IF you do request to join, you’ll want to answer ALL the questions to verify your subscription. You’ll also want to agree to the group rules, or you won’t be accepted to join. 

Once you’re in the group, you’ll go to Guide #1 where there is detailed information and guidelines on posting in the group. You’ll also get an email with a downloadable Guide for group members, it pretty much shares the same information in Guide #1 but in PDF format. Save it, print it; do what works for you.

Happy Store Destocking!

Last but not least, the Destash group is currently free for the first 200 members. MSK members have been given access first. Visit savvyshopkeeper.com/destash to sign up and check if there is space available in the group.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know CASH FLOW and PROFIT are two things I preach and teach about. STOP sitting on that dead inventory and get it out the door. CASH in your business should do just that—flow in and out—but it can’t flow freely if you’re sitting on dead stock! 

If you’d like to request to join my Destash Group, visit https://savvyshopkeeper.com/destash! 

Resources

• Join The Destash Group for Retail Store Owners Hosted by Savvy Shopkeeper!
• Ep. 79: Are Your Personal Opinions Hurting Your Retail Business?
• Ep. 80: The Dead Inventory Scale: How to Make Decisions Around Stale Inventory
• Ep. 39: Tackling Fear Before Q4: Getting Rid of Stale Inventory
• 7 Ways to Push Dead Inventory in Your Store
• Free resource: 100+ Quick & Easy Social Media Ideas for Retailers
• Apply to join Master Shopkeepers, the only territory-protected retail training mastermind for independent brick and mortar store owners

Timestamps

• [01:56] A New Option to Help You Destock Your Store: Destash Groups!
• [03:30] Why We Struggle With Destocking Our Stores
• [05:19] Ready to Destock Your Store? Join the Savvy Shopkeeper Destash Group!
• [13:28] Happy Store Destocking!