Ricochet

Pros

It is flexible. I can make this software adapt to my business needs. I can be a consigner, a store shop owner, a flea marketer, ebay consigner, craft store, space rentals, a retail store and so much more. If there is an internet connection I am in business.

Cons

Ease of posting products on to the website. I am hoping the new app with help out with this. I would like to use one simple method to post a product directly to my website with pictures and all. I can kinda of do it with the mobile browser but would be so much easier with a dedicated app. I think this would help our vendors to add products.

Allow for other credit card company choices. I prefer Square as my credit card provider so to process credit cards I need to switch apps to process the transactions. It's a pain but not a deal-breaker.

Cost is a bit high at $109 a month and an extra $39 for the website. So the total annual cost to run the software is almost $1,800 a year. You save a some money by paying annually rather than monthly.

Alternatives Considered

Claris FileMaker, BigCommerce and Shopify

Reasons for Switching to Ricochet

The consignment and vendor feature is top class. It helps the owners use the software so they understand the needs of the business.

Pros

This software is extremely helpful in tracking our consignors, their sales, percentages, and important data such as addresses and phone numbers. The newer format also allows us to add images if inventory items which will be very helpful when we have more staff available to log the inventory.
It is also very helpful to be able for all users to see what inventory items are in stock vs paid out to the client as well as notes left by other users.

Cons

I don't like that the software assigns its own descriptors to each client rather than offering the user an option of using its descriptors or your own. I understand these markers are important for the automation algorithm but not helpful for many. Also, since we do not use bar-code scanning and enter all sales manually, the newer layout DOES NOT ALLOW us to find the inventory by our own parameters in the POS tab (ie. client name or consignor number). This has proven to be a time consuming annoyance.

Alternatives Considered

ConsignPro, SimpleConsign and SixBit Software

Reasons for Choosing Ricochet

Access was using an in-house created database that was more difficult to share among other users with no direct cloud access for changes

Reasons for Switching to Ricochet

It fit the bill at the time and was budget friendly.

Pros

I'm trying to find something positive, with difficulty :-
We found it relatively easy to add inventory.
Having a bar code system is very nice, and simplifies the check out process.
Pulling sales data for monthly sales tax filing is easy.

Cons

Nothing is intuitive, the website interface is messy and difficult to read even on a 18" screen.
Didn't integrate with our payment processor, required a workaround (entering card purchase as check and check as cash)
Being an antique store with consigners, some who were elderly who had great difficulty entering their inventory. One started deselecting sales tax - why? No idea. There is no way to shut their ability off. That was a headache.
There is no way to pull ALL data using DETAILED sales report, this has made yearly tax filing unnecessarily complicated and time consuming

Pros

What I like most about this software is the user-friendly interface. As a new business, we needed a software that wasn't going to take months of trial to figure out and that could integrate a lot of the steps to save time. I love that it has been able to accommodate our business needs as we grow and we are excited for new features to release. We also love the team behind the software who is always available to answer any questions or concerns.

Cons

What I like the least about this software is the limitation on the selection of an integrated payment processor. There is basically no other option. I would love if it could integrate with square so I can take payments on my phone and on the go. Another thing I dislike is the limited information on reports. It would be great to have more bookkeeping/accounting details integrated into them. I also dislike that it doesn't have some basic features I find would be helpful as a business owner.

Alternatives Considered

ConsignPro, Liberty Consignment and Rose for Square

Reasons for Switching to Ricochet

I chose Ricochet because it had the most user-friendly interface and the most features for the price.

Pros

We began our consignment business with Ricochet and truly believe it played a huge part in our success and is a key to our continued growth.

Our team frequently comments on how easy it is to use the software. Many of us have had past experience with systems that were cumbersome and clunky; in comparison Ricochet has an interface that makes it easy to train new staff. Our new staff members quickly get comfortable and confident in using the POS which allows our team to focus our attention on better serving our customers and consignors.

As we have grown, Ricochet has evolved along with us. The Ricochet team is constantly working on making the software better and adding features that give us the ability to do business more efficiently. It is important to us to be partnered with service providers who are always looking to enhance their services because it enables us to also always be improving.

Their customer support is exceptional. A team member is always readily available to assist and answer questions. We appreciate this level of service because it allows us to offer the same value to our customers and consignors.

Cons

There are some features and capabilities we hope to see in the future.

Alternatives Considered

ConsignPro, ConsignCloud and Liberty Consignment

Reasons for Switching to Ricochet

We felt that most of the interfaces seemed dated and awkward. The few systems that had aesthetics and features that were more comparable to modern retail options seemed to be loaded with irrelevant features that made use cumbersome and a little confusing .* When inquiring on the software and attempting to experience demos and trials, we frequently we're never contacted or had a chance to have a conversation with an actual person. The couple times we did speak with someone they felt very disconnected from the software as if they were just "sales reps." This was one of the biggest reasons we chose Ricochet. We were quickly contacted via phone and the conversation made us feel confident in their knowledge, quality of the software, their commitment to offering value, and the type of customer service we would receive. As a brick and mortar store with some online presence, we're in the business of building relationships with people and creating a value to benefit them -- we want to do business with services providers that have similar mindsets. *Please note we haven't researched any other software recently. We opened our store in 2015 and this was our experience at that time.