The best thrift store POS depends on where your stock comes from. Charity shops need donated goods tagged quickly and sold, while consignment shops need splits and payouts tracked for every item. Decide which you are first, then check the donor receipt if you're a charity. Eight tools follow, in no particular order.
Thrift shops and consignment shops look alike from the pavement, and they're often lumped together in software lists. Behind the counter, they run on different records, and a till that's great for one can be hard work for the other.
Every description here comes from the vendor's own site, as of Nov 2026, and I've sorted them by the kind of shop they were built for.
Donations or consignors: which shop are you?
Charity thrift shops receive donated goods. There's nobody to settle up with after a sale, and the hard part is getting bags of mixed stock tagged and onto the floor quickly. Volunteers often do that work, so the system has to be simple to learn.
Consignment shops sell other people's things. Every sale creates a debt to the person who brought the item in, so consignor splits and payouts sit at the centre of the software.
Mixed shops do a bit of both, or sell bought-in goods alongside. Ask each vendor to show both kinds of item going through one till, and don't accept a promise instead. If you've got little stock complexity and just want something simple, my list of free POS systems is a useful comparison.
The donor receipt check
Here's one to add to any till demo. If you're a charity, can the system print a donor receipt that describes the goods without putting a value on them?
It matters because of how the US tax authority describes the paperwork. The IRS page on written acknowledgments says that, for a contribution at or above its threshold, the acknowledgment must include a description, but not the value, of a non-cash contribution. The donor decides what the goods are worth.
So a receipt with a tick-box list of goods and a blank for value is one thing. A receipt where your volunteer has typed in what the coat's worth is another. Ask to see a real receipt from the system, not a screenshot of the feature.
This isn't tax advice, and rules differ from country to country, so check with your accountant and your own tax authority.
Thrift-built, consignment-built, general retail
Thrift-built. ThriftCart and Thrift Works start from donated stock. The first talks about donation tracking and colour-based discounts, and the second sells itself as one package of software, hardware and support.
Consignment-built. ConsignCloud, SimpleConsign and Ricochet POS are built around consigned goods. They're the right place to look when most of your stock belongs to someone else, and a heavy setup if nobody's ever owed anything.
General retail. Loyverse POS, KORONA POS and Square for Retail are plain tills with stock control, and they weren't designed around donations or consignors. A small shop that only needs to ring up sales can get a long way with one, as long as it's happy keeping donation records elsewhere. For more in this group, see my guide to retail POS systems.
Eight thrift tills by name
ConsignCloud
Best for: Resale shops mixing consigned goods with booths, as it tracks who owns what and how consignors get settled, with central checkout and vendor reporting.
KORONA POS
Best for: Thrift shops run like ordinary retail; it's a cloud till for retailers and franchises, and its site says no hidden fees or forced contracts.
Loyverse POS
Best for: Shops running the till from a phone or tablet, with stock, staff and customer tools; its page title calls it free POS software.
Ricochet POS
Best for: Shops selling their own retail stock next to consigned products, since it's pitched as an all-in-one till for consignment.
SimpleConsign
Best for: Vendor mall and resale operators; this cloud consignment software includes vendor mall tools, so it's a better match for owner-consigned stock than donated goods.
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Square for Retail
Best for: Retailers with more than one location wanting real-time stock updates and customer data together; its site says it flags slow moving stock.
Thrift Works
Best for: Thrift stores wanting one supplier for software, hardware, training, support and merchant services, with a point of sale and a kiosk mode.
ThriftCart
Best for: Nonprofit thrift stores handling donated inventory, donation tracking and online sales, with colour-based discounts for donated stock.
The eight tills compared
| Tool | Built for | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| ConsignCloud | Consignment POS | Resale shops paying consignors and booth vendors |
| KORONA POS | General retail POS | Retailers and franchises wanting a cloud till |
| Loyverse POS | General retail POS | Running a small till from a phone or tablet |
| Ricochet POS | Consignment POS | Consignment shops selling retail and consigned products |
| SimpleConsign | Consignment POS | Resale, consignment and vendor mall stores |
| Square for Retail | General retail POS | Live stock across locations, including slow movers |
| Thrift Works | Thrift POS | One package of software, hardware and support |
| ThriftCart | Thrift POS | Nonprofit shops tracking donations and colour discounts |
My advice for a charity shop manager
Pick for your busiest back room, not your quietest counter. Donated stock arrives unpredictably, and every extra field a volunteer has to fill in means more bags left unsorted. If a system makes tagging slow, the shop floor gets thin whatever the checkout looks like.
Start with the thrift-built group if donations are your whole model, and only move to a general till if you've seen both and they're more than you need. If you're not a charity and most stock belongs to consignors, go straight to the consignment group. And if you're running out of ideas for where stock's getting lost, my guide to inventory software for small businesses is worth a read.
Before your volunteers go live
A till that's fine for a manager can still fail on a Saturday with a new volunteer. Try these before you switch:
- Ask your newest volunteer to ring up a sale with no help, and watch where they get stuck.
- Run a colour-tag discount, or whatever method you use to clear older stock, across a full rail.
- Process a return on a donated item with no original receipt.
- Print a donor receipt and read it as the donor would.
- Export a week's sales and donation records, then check your accountant can use them.
Keep your old system or paper records running side by side for a short while too, so a bad Saturday doesn't lose your numbers. And ask what training's included, because a volunteer team changes all the time and you'll be teaching this again.
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Frequently asked questions
What is a thrift store POS?
It's a till and stock system for shops selling secondhand goods. Some are built around donated stock, some around consigned stock and some are general retail tills used in a thrift shop.
Is thrift store POS the same as consignment software?
Not quite. A charity thrift shop mostly receives donations, so there's no one to settle up with. Consignment software is built around splits and payouts to the people whose goods you're selling.
Can a thrift store use a general retail POS?
Yes, if you're happy to keep donation records elsewhere. Check how it handles lots of one-off items, because general tills usually expect stock you can reorder.
Should a donor receipt show a value?
The IRS says a written acknowledgment for a qualifying contribution describes a non-cash gift but doesn't give its value, and the donor decides that. This isn't tax advice, so please check with your accountant.
How do colour tag discounts work in a POS?
Stock gets a colour tag when it reaches the floor, and that colour goes on discount for a set period. It's a way of clearing older donated goods, so ask each vendor to show it working at the till.
What matters most for a volunteer-run shop?
How quickly a new person can learn it. Time your newest volunteer on a real sale and a real return during the trial.
