Q: What % of cost can I expect out of my merchandise?
A: DWS’ "Program For Your Success" has typically generated 92% to 139% gross sales of estimated true cost of inventory. Your sales results may vary, depending on your margin, age of inventory, customer base, location, competition, timing of sale, etc. After discussing your particular situation we can give you a figure agreed upon by both of us when the representative visits your store (without cost or obligation).
Q: How much does DWS’ Program cost?
A: See Our Brochure "Program For Your Success". On Average 6% to 12% of actual sales.
Q: Are there any other costs paid to DWS other than their fee?
A: Only the Opening Day Direct Mail Advertising, but that is a part of your advertising budget.
Q: How do I pay DWS and when?
A: As stated in the contract. Credit Cards also accepted.
Q: Is there a consultant in my store each week?
A: Yes, your consultant will arrive 1 week prior to the start of the sale to prepare and be in the store each week during the sale to make sure we accomplish your goals. Your consultant will be able to walk you through each step of the sale so you know what to expect on a daily and weekly basis.
Q: Do I need a permit or license to go out of business?
A: Some towns and states require a permit and some do not. We can help provide that information. In some cases you may need 10 days to 30 days, prior to starting your sale for you to apply for your permit or license.
Q: When is the best time for me to run my sale?
A: Anytime is the right time!
Q: How long will the sale take?
A: It depends upon the amount of merchandise you have. Sales generally average anywhere between 6 to 12 weeks. If you run a sale too long, your overhead cuts into your profit and on the other hand, if you end the sale too quickly you have to accelerate the markdowns, so you don’t recover the maximum out of your inventory. Timing is crucial on a sale of this type.
Q: What kind of advertising will we use?
A: Generally, we use direct mail and newspapers, sometimes T.V. and radio. However, we will evaluate the advertising media to be used when the consultant arrives at your store.
Q: Who pays for the advertising?
A: The merchant pays the advertising, but we determine a percent advertising budget in advance based upon your inventory. Keep in mind that no matter what avenue you take, you will have advertising costs. Our advertising averages 2 to 6%. National average is 4% to 8%.
Q: How do I sell my fixtures?
A: We have an aggressive program to sell your fixtures. In many cases, the sale of your fixtures covers our fee. We provide Free direct mail advertising for your fixtures.
Q: Do I need to close the store to prepare for the sale? If so, how long?
A: We recommend closing the store 1 or 2 days prior to the opening day, to prepare for your sale. The preparation is the most important part of your sale. However our outside banners build curiosity while closed. What you lose in being closed is more than made up for opening day.
Q: Do we have to mark all of the merchandise?
A: Good news, very little merchandise will need to be marked because we use specialized sale charts, that save time, money and manpower, throughout your sale on markdowns. Other companies use an agonizing process that keeps your staff busy for 5 days.
Q: How many people will I need for the sale?
A: Extra help will be needed for about the first 10 days of your sale, depending on the amount of employees you already have. We will advise you once we decide upon a start time if not before.
Q: When should I tell my employees we are going to go out of business?
A: We recommend that you tell your employees 7 days before the consultant arrives, and we will put you in contact with a federal retraining program that will assist your employees in finding other employment.
If you're just thinking about conducting a Going Out Of Business Sale, the last people you want to tell is your employees and customers until you make a final decision because if there is a delay for any unexpected reason, you do not want your employees telling your customers because they will start looking for a new home. This means lost sales. This is tricky but we have lots of experience turning a negative into a positive so please ask.
Q: When should I stop ordering, or should I order more merchandise?
A: Before your sale begins, we recommend that you continue to order your everyday selling items, plus if you can purchase any off price merchandise at 10% or more off your regular cost, on merchandise you know you can sell, this will help offset the cost of your sale, which has been done many times before.
Q: What kind of advertising will we use?
A: The national average on a sale of this type is 4% to 8% of the projected sales. Our advertising averages from 2% to 6%. We will set up an advertising budget with you before your sale starts.
Q: What should I tell my creditors?
A: We have "accounts payable" form letters that you can use to send to your creditors to inform them of your intentions. Our consultants can help guide you through this but don't give legal advice.
Q: How should I handle accounts receivable?
A: We have "accounts receivable" form letters that you can use to send to your receivable accounts to inform them of your intentions and collect past due accounts.
Q: What do I do with left over the merchandise?
A: With our program, very little, if anything, is left. You might be able to donate it for a tax write off. Check with your accountant on this.
Q: What if I sell the business during the sale?
A: As stated in the contract, all fees become due. However, just add the fee to the price of the business, as has been done many times in the past.
Q: How much lead-time does DWS need before I decide to have a sale?
A: We need, at the very least, 10 days to 2 weeks. Ideally, we would like to have 3 to 4 weeks, as much needs to be done before the consultant ever arrives at your store.