Resale is an extremely diverse type of business, and everyone does it a little bit differently. ConsignCloud has been designed to be highly customizable so you can run your store your way. If there's anything we've missed, we're always open to suggestions!
You can find your store policy settings at Menu » Policy. We've divided things up into a few different sections to keep things manageable.
If you are a new store and still thinking through some of your policies, don't worry! You can go back and change many of these settings later. If you need to make changes to existing inventory down the road — for instance, if you decide to change your store split — imports are an easy way to change a lot of items at once.
Workflow
Workflow policy determines how ConsignCloud behaves when performing certain actions. Settings for point of sale workflows can be found on your ConsignCloud Register settings page.
Print Labels at Item Entry controls whether ConsignCloud will immediately print labels when entering items.
Two-Step Returns allows you to track items that have been returned, vs items that still need to be picked up. If enabled, ConsignCloud will automatically send an email when items are moved to either status.
Payout Types is the list of payout type options that will appear when settling account balances.
Inventory Policy
Inventory policy determines how specific aspects of items work.
Default Inventory Type is the default inventory type for new accounts. This setting is in turn inherited by items from the account they are assigned to. This is only a default, and doesn't cascade through the system when updated.
Default Consignor Split is the commission percent to give to consignors. This can be can be overridden on accounts, categories, and items, in that order.
Item Price Field allows you to enter item prices with or without buyer's fees included.
Item Title Template determines how your item's title is constructed. Wrap item fields in {{Braces}} to include them in the title. Available fields are Category, Brand, Color, Size, and Description.
Categories
Categories are the main way your inventory is organized, and can prove very useful when applying policy or pulling reports. Categories work best when they match natural sections or departments you'd find in a typical retail store.
To add a new category, navigate to the Categories tab in your policy settings section, and click "Add Category". This will bring up a form asking you to name your category and set any optional policy, including consignment period and consignor split. This split takes precedent over an account's split, so use it only in exceptional circumstances.
After your category is saved, you can still edit it down the road without affecting associated items. It's also possible to archive a category, which will remove it from all associated inventory.
Categories can be used to filter, sort, and group for analysis on various table views, as well as in ConsignCloud's advanced reports.
Discounts, Surcharges, Taxes, and Inventory Rules
ConsignCloud provides a flexible framework for adjusting the price of items and the resulting consignor payout using Surcharges. For more advanced uses, inventory rules and schedules can be applied to surcharges, which can be useful when policy needs to be applied only to certain categories, price points, or after a certain period of time. To learn more, visit our inventory rules article.