How to Price Resale Items Individually

Individual market-based pricing is just one part of any resale store's entire pricing process. Check out our full pricing guide.

The Quick Resale Pricing Process and Formula

For mid-range resale and consignment stores that want to price inventory individually (as opposed to creating pricing book or brand list), a simple, formulaic pricing approach works well. Industry guides often recommend pricing consignment or resale items at roughly 25–40% of retail depending on the quality/type of item.

For mid-range stores, we recommend starting off at 1/3 of the original retail price and then making small adjustments (±10%) for condition or popularity. The goal is to be fast and consistent – you don’t need lengthy brand research. Your process should look something like this:

1. Estimate the original retail price (roughly): Quickly determine what the item sold for new. A brief Google/Product search or your own recollection is enough – you don’t need an exact number. For example, if a jacket was about $60 new, use that. This step should take only seconds, just get a reasonable ballpark of the retail value.

2. Set the base price at 1/3 retail: Multiply the retail price by about 0.33 to get your starting price. For our $60 jacket, one-third would be $20. This rule-of-thumb is widely used in resale pricing. It gives a quick, fair baseline that balances profit with a good deal for buyers. 

NOTE: When using the ⅓ of retail rule for pricing resale inventory, you may want to adjust to a higher or lower percentage. Here are the best practices for adjusting the ⅓ rule of pricing resale inventory: 

First, as a rule of thumb, the more expensive the original retail price, the more value that item retains. For example, if an item’s original retail price is $50 or under, you can probably stay around ⅓ or go even lower. These items are likely not unique, high quality, and so customers can likely find something comparable for cheaper. But if an item is $50-$200 dollars originally, the rarity and quality of these items is higher. You can stay at the ⅓ rule, or you can move up to 40% of the original price. For inventory at $200-$500 original retail price, you can be pricing at 40%-50% or even up to 60% for the more rare. These items will likely have kept their value. If something is over $500 originally, you are stepping into luxury territory. For this kind of inventory, you will want to consult our article on pricing luxury items—but it is safe to say that you can easily sell luxury inventory at over 50% of the original retail price. Here is a brief recap of the ranges:

Low-Tier (Under $50): Resale value could be $15 or less.

Mid-Tier ($50-$200): Resale value might range from $20 to $80.

High-Tier ($200-$500): Resale value might range from $80 to $250.

Luxury/Tier 1 ($500+): Resale value can range from $250 to $2,500+, depending on rarity, condition, and demand.

If you have not determined your inventory pricing model, check out our article that helps you decide if you should consign, buy-outright, or accept donations.

3. Adjust for condition and demand: Slightly increase the price (around 10%) if the item is in excellent, like-new condition or is highly sought-after. Conversely, decrease it ( around 10%) if it shows wear or if it’s a very common style. Small tweaks help the price reflect desirability. For example, if the $20 base item has minor wear, you might list it at $18 (10% off); if it’s pristine and trendy, you could go to $22 (+10%).

4. Quick market sanity-check (optional): If you have a moment, glance at comparable resale items online or in competitor stores. This is not meant to be a long research session. Often you’ll find your one-third-based price is already reasonable. Use this quick check to catch any obvious outliers (e.g. if competitors price it much higher or lower, you may want to adjust).

5. Final “would-I-buy-it?” check: As a last step, ask yourself whether the price seems fair from a shopper’s point of view. You know your location better than anyone, so imagine the item on your shelf and think “Would I pay this much for it in good condition?” If the answer is yes, you’re likely on target. If it still feels too high or too low, you may want to tweak it.

By following these steps (quick estimate, one-third baseline, minor adjustments, and a brief check)

Analyze Your Pricing for Increase or Decrease

How can you tell if your consignment inventory is priced correctly? There are two main ways of checking. 

1. Analyze your sales data. If you have inventory that is consistently flying off the shelves (less than ten days, especially the case if only a couple of days) you can increase prices. Try increasing it by 10-15% increments. If inventory is taking too long to sell (over 50-60 days depending on the category), you will want to adjust pricing and/or use a scheduled markdown system. 

2. Another way to check if pricing is correct is to perform in-depth research on your pricing. This can be an occasional practice where you look more closely at prices on comparable resale platforms and cross-check it with your prices. Pro tip: if you want to develop a pricing book, these research dives can double as price-book building sessions. 

If you want to track your sales data, check out our article on essential metrics and how to get them.

Alternative Methods (Optional)

• Fixed price tiers: Another option is to use price tiers or charts (for instance, “all shirts $X, all jackets $Y”). This is a pricing method mainly used in thrifty-style donation stores that takes in high volumes of low-quality inventory and speed is the highest priority. Keystoning (doubling cost) is a similar idea. This makes tagging very quick but can require occasional manual corrections to stay competitive.

• Competitive pricing: In place of formulas, you could simply match local resale or online prices for similar items. This is essentially a form of market-based pricing done very quickly.

• Brand/category price book: Some stores will create a master brand or master category list. Essentially, all brands and categories have prices that are predetermined. While this ensures speed and consistent pricing, it takes a lot of research and effort to build and can stagnate, losing relevancy over time.

When performing inventory intake, adding digital tags to your inventory can help you stay organized and track sales.

Use these alternatives only if they suit your store’s workflow. In general, the one-third baseline with quick tweaks is a reliable default for mid-range goods. It keeps pricing consistent and fair without the heavy lifting of luxury-level research.