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Don’t consign with them unless you want to be lied to, disrespected for no reason, shorted on payouts, and not paid.
Before moving from LA I brought some eBay listings to Decades to have less to move, including rare designer and Chanel jewelry – 59 items they priced at $58,250. Their contract has a 90-day deadline, and to get paid you have to pick up checks at the store; so I asked about both before signing. Jarred and Patrick told me they would keep everything indefinitely (past 90 days) and they have a few out-of-state consignors they mail checks to so not to worry. Both told me the prices they set would also be indefinite (otherwise I wouldn’t have consigned most of it).
Six weeks later two things had sold (two out of 59, not great) including a Gaultier tattoo top after 35 days priced at $1,600 (that they were going to pass on until I explained its value). My 50% was $800, but they said it was only $725. I sent screenshots showing $1,600 and how it was on their site at $1,795 (+$195). They said it was discounted 10% after 45 days (but it was only 35), and they charge fees – not in the contract – for “photographing, pricing, ticketing, and research” that they don’t share with the consignor that are “standard in consignment”. Any competent manager knows you factor these into the prices, not charge extra ($200 for putting a price tag on something…) Designer resale shops in NYC confirmed these fees are not standard. Their research consisted of copying my eBay listings, and I gave them the season/year for everything. Ryan, the manager, said that Patrick and Jarred aren’t authorized to tell consignors anything they told me (too late...) and they would send my items back because there are no exceptions. After Ryan said it was discounted 10% he then said he purposefully shorted me because it was on 1stdibs for $1,695 (?). I sent a screenshot it was on 1stdibs for $1,995 so what he said wasn't true. He replied with a rant how they got $1,450 from the sale (not my fault). When I didn’t respond to his rant Ryan said he “loved how my gotcha moment was a complete fail.” (?)
Ryan then said not everything would be discounted, so I asked for a list which I never got. I did get an email from Patrick to call him, and when I called he took the phone in back, said he was “so embarrassed”, apologized for Ryan’s emails, and hoped I didn’t think he and Jarred were lying to me because Ryan imposed the markdown schedules weeks AFTER I brought my pieces in.
Ryan said on 9/2 that checks would be “mailed out the following week”. I never received it. Weeks later Ryan gave me new excuses, and then weeks later he said he was on vacation most of September so my check was never even mailed.
Ryan said they “process 1,000’s of garments and payouts a month.” NYC confirmed that can’t be true (“they’re not TheRealReal”). They’d have to sell 40 pieces a day; they have an average of two sales per month on 1stdibs and they’re not selling 40 pieces per day at the store. If they sold even a few hundred items the store would be empty. [UPDATE: Their month-to-month check sequence is about 70]
For asking about my check and a discount list Ryan told me I was being “hostile” and “insulting his integrity”, and “complaining” for asking for my full payout. He also thought it was ok to short my payout and not pay me because “I wasn’t concerned about pricing and I was simply trying to get rid of all my stuff” (neither of which was true – like I was dumping $58K in items at Goodwill or something). He then said they were “done with me” and “I don’t work for you” (but they’re dependent on consignors for revenues). Then like a passive-aggressive teenager he said he would no longer communicate with me – while they have $56K of my items – and “it’s been a displeasure”.
If this is the way they treated me for $58K, good luck if you’re thinking of bringing them a couple items. It’s been three weeks and they refuse to return my items and pay me, and turns out there were two other items that sold they purposefully didn't tell me about or pay me for.
