Today we’d like to introduce you to Satu Kujanpää
Hi Satu, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started Preloved in 2021 and disrupted the thrifting industry. I’m Finnish, and in Finland there are thrift stores where you can rent a spot to sell your items in. I loved shopping at those stores and couldn’t find anything like it in the States. As a mom of young kiddos, I wanted a place where I could purge regularly to keep my sanity, but not have to deal with all the DMs for each item. I also felt sick whenever I sold my items to consignment stores which paid me 10% of what they’d sell for. I always left feeling ripped off. I wanted something better. And I wanted to shop second-hand without digging through garbage. There was a huge need for Preloved, so I started planning.
For five years I planned out every aspect I could foresee with Preloved, and decided to take a leap of faith and open store. I knew people would love what I had to offer. Preloved is truly the best thrift store in the world. I’ve decided that customer service is crucial, and we truly love our customers and work so hard for them to do the best they can when they choose to sell with us.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Finding a place to rent was a huge challenge- since this concept had never been proven, finding a landlord to rent from who would take the risk of a new business was very difficult. It took me over a year to find someone to rent from, but I finally did! I started Preloved in an old building with no bathroom, no AC, no heating, and only electricity in the back of the building.
As we grew, obstacles became more frequent, as I’d never run a company before. Hiring people, writing manuals, growing to new markets, these have all been challenges to overcome. But each challenge is just an opportunity to learn. I make mistakes, we all do. But you just have to keep going.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At Preloved, you can rent a “booth” for a week at at time. We provide tags and all you need to make your booth successful. You purge, tag your items with your prices, and then set up your “closet” in our store for a week, going Saturday morning till Friday night. We do the rest. You are not manning your booth. You get to just leave it while our teams market your items, handle the sales, clean up your booth, etc. At the end of the week you get a Venmo payout. You keep 60% of the sales! We want you to feel like you’re getting as much as you can from your items without the hassle of selling online one at a time or driving to the post office to ship items constantly. Preloved is truly a community effort and we LOVE seeing our communities come together to benefit from each other.
Preloved is a lifestyle. When you shop second-hand, the world is a better place. When you shop at Preloved, you are helping local families and individuals. Preloved is the epitome of “shopping local”! Preloved is a thrifter’s paradise since it’s filled with items people no longer want, but cannot give away for free because they are great brands and amazing quality.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
If you have a dream, make it happen. We are all given passions and dreams for a reason. It’s never easy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://preloved.love
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/preloved.provo
