A Belarusian woman invested about five thousand euros in a second-hand shop in Poland, and is now trying to sell it
Viktoriya bought a second-hand shop in Wroclaw, although she had never worked in retail before. She figured out supplies, prices, and customer relations. But she felt that this business was "not hers." Now she is looking for a buyer for the shop. The Belarusian woman shared her story with Most.
Photo from Viktoriya's Instagram
In Belarus, Viktoriya worked as an accountant and simultaneously ran her own business related to vending coffee machines. In 2020, she moved to Poland. First, she settled herself, and half a year later, her daughter Polina and granddaughters moved to her.
At first, Viktoriya had to work as an employee — first as a cook's assistant, then as a cook. But the employers' attitude was harsh. It was difficult for a person used to working for herself and managing her own time to get used to it.
"For me, the issue of ecology is acute"
The idea to buy a second-hand shop belonged to Polina — Viktoriya herself initially did not consider such an option. But she saw in it a motive close to her — ecological.
— It was more a solution to the problem of disposing of used clothes. This is important to me. I sort garbage, I treat it responsibly. For me, the issue of ecology is acute.
But soon Polina got a job as an assistant in a dentistry, and the shop was left to Viktoriya.
Had to learn and find everything from scratch
Viktoriya had no experience in retail, so she had to learn about second-hand from scratch. She searched for suppliers online, entering queries like "wholesale second-hand suppliers," and choosing those with whom it was easier to communicate. Many such organizations have specialists who speak Russian.
The main problem turned out to be volumes. Not all suppliers are ready to work with small batches. And large deliveries are not suitable for a small shop: there's simply nowhere to store the items.
A kilogram of clothes for two zlotys
The second-hand shop works with two types of goods: used clothing and stock — remnants of new collections from shops and outlets.
— You can find wholesale suppliers who sell clothes even for 2-3 zlotys per kilogram (up to half an euro), — Viktoriya says.
Suppliers sort items by categories. Most often, they use a division into A, B, and C: in the first category — items in good condition, in the last — already with noticeable damage. Clothes are also distributed by type and season — you can buy, for example, a whole bag of jeans or only skirts.
— Of course, not everything goes into the shop at once. You display about 15-20%.
Stock items have their own peculiarity: these are new clothes, but most often not in the most popular sizes — for example, XS or 3XL.
It is difficult to trace the exact path of items, but, according to Viktoriya's observations, clothes most often come from England, Germany, and Italy.
"I'll buy something else since I saved money"
Viktoriya sets the prices in her second-hand shop herself. She focuses on the condition of the item, brand, and average online price, gradually lowering the price. Some items — for example, clothing and branded positions — she sets at a fixed price on a separate shelf.
Viktoriya is ready to give discounts — they allow her to retain customers and motivate them for additional purchases.
— He thinks: "Oh, they gave me a discount. Maybe I'll buy something else since I saved money. And I'll come back next time too."
"They turn up their noses and leave"
Unlike in Belarus, second-hand shops in Poland most often do not sell clothes by weight. Here, each item has a separate price tag, and then the price is gradually reduced throughout the week. At the end, there is a final sale with maximum discounts.
This model works especially well in chain stores: if an item didn't sell in one location, it is moved to another and re-displayed as new merchandise — at a higher price.
Small shops, like Viktoriya's, don't have this opportunity. The assortment is updated slower, and she cannot buy more goods: there's simply nowhere to store and display them. So regular customers quickly notice that items are repeated.
— The same people come, see that the assortment doesn't change, and ask: "When will there be new merchandise?" "Well, look, there is new merchandise." But they turn up their noses and leave.
Elderly customers, according to Viktoriya, often look for items at the minimum price — for 2-3 zlotys (half an euro). But students from neighboring Germany are a completely different category.
— They convert to euros, their eyes widen that you can buy such an item for pennies, — and they take it.
"Sometimes my daily revenue was 10-18 euros"
Viktoriya bought the second-hand shop as a ready-made business — for about 20 thousand zlotys (approximately 4700 euros), and invested another 10 thousand in goods (2850 euros). According to her estimates, opening such a shop from scratch would cost 15-20 thousand zlotys plus a deposit for the premises.
Income was unstable. In good periods, for example before New Year, income could reach 500-600 zlotys (120-140 euros) per day. But then in January and February, sales were weak.
— Sometimes my daily income was 50-80 zlotys (10-18 euros). I understood that this was a disaster.
Viktoriya works alone in the shop. On days when there were few customers, she wrote a book — and just finished it. Over time, she realized that such a business did not suit her. She has already put the shop up for sale and plans to go to the Baltic Sea for a while.
— I don't know how to deceive, persuade people, say that something suits them when it doesn't. There's no merchant in my soul.
But she doesn't regret the new experience.
— If something comes into your life, it doesn't come for no reason. Whether it was a successful or unsuccessful experiment — something good should come out of it later.