Consignment & Pawn Shop POS Software

Consignment and pawn shops have an issue that is not a factor in other retail operations: the providers may want their merchandise back. Inventory tracking and auditing are the primary concerns for those looking for consignment tracking software, thrift store software or pawnbroker software. Pawn shops in particular have strict regulations concerning documentation. In most states, even voided receipts must be retained and filed. A number of states require that pawn systems be approved by the state. Pawn shops are also subject to PATRIOT Act Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and IRS Form 8300 requirements.

Consignment shops are not typically subjected to the same scrutiny, but the record keeping tasks are similar. Consignment stores do not generally buy inventory, they hold it for others and pay the sellers. Consequently, the inventory consists of all unique items which must be linked to the owners until sold, then the correct amount calculated and remitted - making consignment inventory solutions very specific to the industry.

For both consignment shops and pawn stores, general ledger and payroll are identical with general retailers. Both have special requirements for customer information, accounts payable, and especially inventory. Web based consignment software is becoming a vPawnbrokers have unique requirements for accounts receivable to track payments from clients with items in pawn.

Key Requirements for Consignment Shops and Pawn Shops

We often hear questions from users such as, "Are there free consignment software vendors?" and "What is the best consignment software solution?" These questions are difficult to answer--there are a number of consignment point of sale software and thrift store POS software systems that can meet users' needs. However, there are a number of features that users should look for when evaluating these solutions. Owners need core accounting, but should evaluate the following functions to meet their unique requirements:

Updates in Consignment Software Programs & Pawnshop Software

Pawn shops, resale boutiques and similar stores are becoming increasingly popular as consumers look to get rid of unwanted goods and purchase high-quality used items. As the landscape becomes more competitive, consignment sale software and pawnbroker pawn shop software vendors have updated their solutions to meet demand. Here's a recap on how three of the leading vendors have updated their resale software solutions:

• Resaleworld. The makers of Liberty4 produced a number of applications for mobile and tablet users in 2011. By the end of the summer (2011), Resaleworld had released and updated its resale-store locator app iHeartResale, as well as introduced an item-entry iPad application. In December 2011, the application was made available for the iPod Touch and iPhone, as well. April 2012 saw another product update, with version 2.0 of reCommerce, offering integrated online e-commerce for resale store owners.
• DataAge. DataAge has completed a number of updates this year to improve its pawnshop software. In response to the recent fluctuation in gold prices, DataAge added a mass-pricing adjustment feature to allow pawn store owners to save time making inventory-wide adjustments. In April 2012, DataAge added enhanced search functionality to its solution. Users are now directed to customers’ interaction histories when individual ticket numbers are entered. Additionally, users can now search by cell phone number, improving the ease-of-use of of the solution.
• InBloom. This provider of consignment store software made a number of updates to its solution and services in the past year. The newest version of InBloom Shop Software made a number of workflow and design improvements, such as when moving from item return and voiding screens during a sale. Additionally, this POS system for consignment store now offers a progress status bar when processing large requests and predictive search (much like Google’s Instant feature) for both contacts. Additionally, the vendor now offers both annual and monthly-subscription support plans, priced at $350 per year or $35 per month.

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