Children’s Consignment Sale – the BEST Clothing Bargain!!

Where have my tip posts been? I seem to be running out of time in the day between my giveaways I have been blessed to host and getting geared up Children’s Consignment Sale season!! (I hope you have been enjoying the giveaways, feedback is always welcome!)

Have you ever been to a Children’s Consignment Sale? If you haven’t been to one, you are missing out on some of the best clothing deals around.
What is a Children’s Consignment Sale? The sale are organized by an individual or group. Individuals can sign up to consign their items. This means that they price their items and get a set portion of the sale price (most of the time in the 50-65% range.) The consignors drop their items off and they are done. The sale organizers take care of the advertising, set-up, managing the sale, and distributing the checks. Some sales ask for volunteers and give them extra perks such as shopping before the general public.

I went to my first Children’s Consignment sale when my oldest child was a few months old. I thought I was in heaven. Gently used clothes with no stains or tears at bargain prices. It was like the clearance rack at the mall but even BETTER! Shirts for a dollar, winter coats for less than $5, outfits for a couple of dollars … I could go on and on. I have bought clothes, shoes, toys, and even my little guy’s crib bumper (that was a steal at only $2.50!!) at consignment sales. All that being said, new clothes are the exception in my kids closets and dressers. This is one of the HUGE ways we stay within our budget.

So how do you find out if there are any sales in your area? I have found google searches to work very well. Type in the largest city or area near you and “children’s consignment sale” to see what results you get.
So if you don’t find any results, what do you do? Consider organizing your own sale. My neighbor and I are running one here in our area. The first sale was in my garage this past spring. Our fall sale is expected to bigger and better. This will also be the reason I am missing part of next week so I apologize in advance!

So how do you shop these sales? Here are my consignment sale shopping tips:

• Plan ahead. I go with a list of what need and what sizes (example: winter coat size 4T) so I am buying what I need and don’t get home and realize I forgot to look for coats.
• If you have time, go check out the sale when it opens.
• Wait to buy until discount day, if you can. I always shop the last discount day of the sales. They tend to be 50-75% off the ticketed price. That makes for even better bargains!! How else can I get a winter coat for my oldest for $2.50??
• Go early on discount day for the best selection
• Take something to carry your items in such as a reusable bag or laundry basket. Your arms will thank you.
• Take your check book or cash. Most of these sales do no take credit cards so plan ahead!

So for me it is back to hanging and tagging my clothes for the sale. My little guy coming three weeks messed up my plan to have this all done before he came. I will get it done prior to the sale since this is all money in my pocket from clothes my kids can’t wear any more. Plus I will get some major fall/winter shopping done!! Maybe after the sale, I will post some of bargains in a new post.

If you have questions about consignment sales, leave a comment or email me! If you shop them, let me know your bargains!!