A guide for consignment and resale shops

How to handle consignment end dates and pickup or donate

Every consigned item needs an end: a date after which it leaves the floor, goes back to its owner, or is donated. Without one, the back room fills with things nobody has asked about in a year. This guide covers how to set the term, how to know each item's end date in Shopify, how to warn consignors, and how to close items out when they are picked up or donated. The last part shows how Still Works Consignment keeps the dates and sends the warnings.

1. Set the term and put it in the agreement

Three numbers make up the rule, and all three belong in the agreement the consignor signs:

The term. How long an item stays on the floor, such as 90 days from the day it came in.
The pickup window. How long the consignor has to collect unsold items after that, such as 7 days.
What happens after. Usually the items are donated. Say so plainly, and say whether a sale during the pickup window still pays the consignor.

One term for the whole shop is far easier to run than different terms per person. If you change it, apply the new term to items taken in from then on, so nobody's deal changes partway through.

2. Know each item's end date in Shopify

Shopify has no end date field for a product. The simplest stand-in is a tag for the month the item came in, such as "in-2026-07", added at intake. With a 90 day term, everything tagged July is due to come off the floor in October. In Products, filter by that tag to see it all.

If you need the exact day, add a date field for products under Settings, then Custom data, such as "Intake date" or "End date", and fill it in at intake. It shows on the product page, but filtering by month tag is still the easier weekly check.

3. Warn the consignor before the date

Plain Shopify will not email a consignor about their items, so this is a weekly task. Once a week:

Filter Products by the month tag that comes due in the next week or two, and sort by vendor or SKU so each consignor's items sit together.
For each consignor, send a short email: the items that have not sold, the date their time ends, the last day to pick up, and what happens to anything left.
Note on your sheet that you sent it and when. If there is ever a dispute about a donated item, that note matters.

Keep the email the same every time, so it is quick to send and nobody can say the rule was unclear.

4. Pull items on the end date

On the end date, take the items off the floor and set them aside with the consignor number showing. Until you do, an expired item can still sell, online or at the counter. Decide what your agreement says about that, and pay the consignor if it says they are paid.

If you keep expired items in the back for pickup, set their quantity to 0 in Shopify or archive them, so nobody can buy something that is not on the floor.

5. Close out picked up and donated items

When the consignor collects their things, or the pickup window passes and you donate them:

In Products, select the items and choose Archive. Archived products cannot be bought, but they and their history stay. Do not delete them.
Record the outcome on your sheet: picked up or donated, and the date.
If the consignor picked up, have them sign or initial a pickup list. If you donated, keep the date and where it went.

The same steps in Still Works Consignment

In the app, the rule lives under Settings, in Consignment terms: Days in the store (90 to start, or 0 so items never expire), Days to pick up after expiring (7 to start), and Email consignors this many days before (7 to start). It is one term for the whole shop. Each item's end date is set at intake from that number and stays fixed, so changing the setting applies to items taken in from then on.

Each morning the app emails consignors whose items reach their end date within the notice window. The email lists the items that have not sold with their current price, the end date, and the date to pick up by. It says anything not picked up by then is donated, that a sale before then is paid as usual, and it links to the consignor's own page, which also shows what expires soon. Your own morning email lists what reaches its end date this week.

The Items page has Expiring soon and Expired lists. Until you act, an expired item stays on sale and is still the consignor's. When they pick items up, or you donate them, tick the items and mark them picked up or donated. The app then archives each product in Shopify so it cannot sell, and keeps the record under Returned or donated.

The app is free for up to 15 active consignors and never takes a percentage of sales. It is on the Shopify App Store.

Where to go from here

The Still Works Consignment page has the plain description of what the app does and does not do. If something here does not match what you see, email the studio and it gets fixed the same business day.