This is something we are asked frequently. Store owners decide to sell their store and as part of the package, they wonder if they can sell their consignment software along with their store. The answer is, no.
With software, you are typically purchasing a license to use the software, not the software itself. A CD or a digital download is not the *thing* you’re purchasing. Instead, you’re paying for a license (or licenses) to utilize software in your business. Even with free or open source software, you don’t own the software.
BCSS tries to use this as a marketing tactic, but it’s a bunch of bologna. See our Consignment Software Vendor Overview for details on each of the consignment software vendors, along with their contact information, respectively.
If you are selling your store or if you are about to purchase a consignment/resale store, make sure you get the details of the license transfer directly from the consignment software vendor in question. Typically, you must pay a license transfer fee. There are stipulations though – e.g. is the store name and location the same, but the store owner is changing? You cannot just close your store and sell your consignment software to a completely different store, in a different location. Always check with the software vendor directly to verify the terms of their license agreement.
Make sure you know what you’re buying if you’re a prospective new store owner. We’ve had many new clients buy a store, thinking the consignment software was included. None of the major consignment software vendors will allow their software to be resold. Don’t make the mistake of buying something that isn’t allowed to be sold in the first place.
Just in case anyone missed it…
No, you cannot sell your ‘used’ consignment software, nor can you purchase ‘used’ consignment software.
As always, if you have any questions, just let us know!
Dean
I am a Software Developer, System Administrator, and consignment software specialist. I currently manage hundreds of consignment workstations, point of sale systems, and database servers all across North America and I am the developer of Peeps' Software, Peeps2Go, and Peeps' Consignor Login for iOS and Android. I've been helping consignment & resale store-owners since 2003. I started The Computer Peeps in February of 2010. Peeps' Software launched in 2016 and is now on hundreds of systems all across North America. I have successfully converted dozens of stores from all of the major consignment software systems. After 20 years of working with consignment stores, I understand the unique challenges consignment & resale store-owners face. From electrical issues in old buildings or strip malls, to advocating for them when their old consignment software keeps crashing.
but Dean, I bought my LIberty USED the first time around, I just had to pay Liberty an activation fee. Have things changed?
Hi Carolyn,
With software, you actually don’t own it. One cannot sell Liberty to another person. So it wasn’t that you bought Liberty used. The terminology can definitely be a bit confusing, but you didn’t actually buy Liberty used.
Here’s how it works:
– If you decide to sell your store today, but you are keeping the name Baja Rosi’s and the physical store location is the same, then you can TRANSFER the software license to the new store owner (IF it hasn’t been previously transferred, that is). NO SOFTWARE IS BEING SOLD in this instance. You are simply transferring the right to use the license of the software to the new store owner, as Resaleworld allows this in their End-User License Agreement. The software was not sold in this case.
– If you decide to close your store today, but you are truly closing the store, you cannot sell your Serial # to “So-and-So’s Consignment Shop” across town.
If you have any questions about Liberty’s licensing terms, you can call Resalworld to verify the terms of their license. Ask Resaleworld if you can sell your software to “So-and-So’s Consignment Shop” across town. 🙂