People who want to know how goods get into a store without being bought rarely ask us. They ask Reddit, a trade forum or gutefrage - and for a few months now also ChatGPT, which in turn googles “consignment shop reddit”. We read the threads that come up: brands trying to get into a store for the first time, and store owners putting someone else's goods on their floor for the first time.
Eight questions keep coming back. Here they are with what the community answers - and with what we say about it. The threads are linked; quotes from German threads are translated, quotes from English ones are verbatim.
“How does consignment work in a shop day to day - separate till, shared receipt, contract?”
The founder of a housewares brand has a tea shop in Berlin that wants to sell his products, and asks in the sellerforum how consignment can be run “most simply in everyday practice”. The retailers' answers are sobering: without its own risk the shop has no pressure to sell, the goods “go stale”, and more than one reports settlements that never came or shops that closed overnight.
That gap is exactly why Spreat exists. The customer buys at the store's till, but legally directly from the brand. Receipt, settlement and payout run automatically through the integration - no second till, no tally sheet and no invoice the brand has to chase the store for.
“The retailer wants 30 percent commission - is that normal?”
A self-employed bag maker was approached by a retailer who wants to display her goods, and asks on hobbyschneiderin24: “he wants 30 % commission on the retail price for every item sold”. The forum considers 30 percent normal - rent, staff, electricity - and advises pricing the shop items higher accordingly. One dissenting voice finds the split of risk unfair, because the maker is left with theft and late payouts.
At Spreat the brand sets the store commission itself, between 10 and 50 percent, and the store decides whether that is enough. The commission is paid by the brand, out of the retail price, automatically with every sale. On top come 5 percent per sale for Spreat - also paid by the brand. The store pays nothing: no commission to Spreat, no setup, no monthly fee.
“Does VAT come out of my commission or on top of it?”
A shop owner wants to sell handmade goods from a small business and works out on gutefrage that at 20 percent commission she keeps “only 0.30 euros per bag”. A former tax adviser explains sales on consignment as two supplies, one from the maker to the shop and one from the shop to the customer - and that the VAT has to be priced into the commission.
This is the part where consignment fails in practice: two supplies, two invoices, and the shop's till does not know the difference. In the marketplace model there is only one sale, made by the customer with the brand. Spreat issues the receipts, the brand gets its revenue, the store its commission - each with the right tax, without anyone recalculating.
“How much of the retail price does the retailer keep?”
A toy maker wants to get into physical toy shops and asks on gutefrage: “What percentage of the retail price does the toy retailer keep for himself?” The answer: 30 to 50 percent, depending on how much advice and space the product needs, all a matter of negotiation - or a markup of 100 to 130 percent on the purchase price.
The range is right, and at Spreat it remains a matter between brand and store. What disappears is the buying: the store buys nothing, so there is no purchase price, no markup and no capital sitting on the shelf. What counts is the commission the brand offers - and every store sees it before saying yes.
“I can hold out for two more months - how do I rebuild my assortment?”
The owner of a plant and decor store in a big-city neighbourhood is being undercut by a new wholesale market across the street and writes on r/selbststaendig: “I can hold out for about 2 more months before I have to give up the shop.” 124 comments suggest workshops, advice, editions with local artists and an assortment the wholesale market does not carry.
Every one of those tips costs stock, and stock costs money that will not be there in two months. A marketplace in the store turns this around: brands put their products on the floor, the store is the host and earns on every sale without buying anything first. The new assortment arrives before the capital for it would.
“Brands turn down consignment because they get no updates and no payments”
A founder on r/smallbusiness describes the problem from both sides: stores want consignment for cash flow, brands turn it down - “Brands are not keen on it, because they don't get any updates”. The community asks for fixed delivery and return windows, payouts straight through the store's POS and simple reports per supplier.
That is, point by point, the list Spreat is built on. The brand sees every sale in real time, the payout arrives automatically, and the goods remain the brand's property until they sell - what does not move goes back, without anyone owing anyone.
“Wholesale or consignment - which is better for the store, which for the brand?”
A coffee brand asks retailers on r/smallbusiness which model they prefer. The answers: when buying, the retailer expects a higher margin because he carries the risk; with consignment he accepts less because he risks nothing - a good way in until the product has proven itself. One retailer disagrees: never consignment again, because shelf rent goes unpaid and unsold goods pile up.
Both are right as long as consignment is a slip of paper between two people. Once settlement and payout run automatically, the reason for saying no disappears: the store has no more effort, the brand no more payment defaults. What remains is the question whether the product works with these customers - and the marketplace answers it faster than any pre-order.
“Do I give the shop the goods and get the money when they sell?”
A woodworker was approached by a shop owner and asks on r/woodworking: “Do I give them the boards and then get profit when they sell?” The community says: with a small shop, yes, but set the commission so the shop actually shows the pieces - and do not hand over too much at once. One tells of a shop owner who disappeared with the art.
Yes, exactly like that - with one difference: at Spreat the brand knows at any time which piece is where and what has sold. The sale runs through the store's till, the money through Spreat. Trust is nice; a receipt that belongs to both sides is better.
What the threads leave behind
- Consignment rarely fails on the idea, almost always on the settlement: two supplies, a till that does not know about it, and a payout someone has to do by hand.
- The commission ranges the forums quote - 20 to 50 percent - are also the ranges in the marketplace model. What is new is not the price, it is who pays and when.
- Stores want an assortment without capital, brands want floor space without payment defaults. Both are the same solution once the till sits in the middle.
No. With consignment the shop sells someone else's goods in its own name and settles later. With Spreat the customer buys at the store's till directly from the brand; the store is the host, provides the space and receives a commission. Legally that is a marketplace, not a consignment deal.
Nothing. The store pays 0 percent commission, no setup and no monthly fee. The 5 percent per sale is paid by the brand, as is the store commission.
The brand offers it, between 10 and 50 percent of the retail price. The store sees the offer and decides whether to take the brand onto its floor.
