Smarter Mom: Consignment Store Hunting

[AmyKuras]

It is not cheap to dress kids. They grow fast, blow through sizes like the wind (my son spent like 18 months in 2T and about a week in 3T) and invariably are the wrong size in the wrong season if you have by some stroke of luck managed to stockpile some hand-me-downs or bought ahead at end-of-season clearance sales.

One way to save on name-brand clothes is consignment stores. At these, you can sell your outgrown kids' clothes that are in good condition and get store credit or cash. I find these are not always great money-savers; between clearance sales, regular sales and special offers I find I can save more on brand-new clothes. But let's say your child transitions into a new size in, say, April; it's not warm enough yet to buy a bunch of shorts or play skirts in their new size, but they're only going to be in cool-weather clothes for a few weeks, most likely, so you don't want to buy warm sweaters and cozy pants for just a short few week's wear. And even if you did, regular stores have shifted to summer merchandise. That's a good time to hit the consignment stores.

If you don't have one near you, check out ThredUp; you can buy used clothes for a fraction of what they would cost new or send in a bag of your child's nicest used clothes and get cash or credit.

Do you shop consignment stores? What good finds have you come across?

[ethans_momma06]

Smarter Mom: Thrift Store Shopping.

[Jukebox_Jenny]

I love them but there are no good ones near me.

[circle_of_life]

I checked out ThredUp, they're way too picky.

[dixiegurl223626]

I love finding antique toys and nice brand clothes

[omm76002]

I well get small babies clothes there but the other they get the more I find the clothes already worn out. I just wait for Babies'R'us and Old Navy to put everything on sale and just a few dollars for new clothes. I hate garage sales, I never find anything that is worth anything.

[wendums1229]

TFS

I shop at them when I can

 

[mrswillie]

Quoting momofsixangels:

Garage sales are the best place to get great deals!

Last year I got Bullhead jeans for ds for $1 each. (They come from PacSun)

[mrswillie]

Quoting dixiegurl223626:

I love finding antique toys and nice brand clothes

We have one here that only sells high end clothing and such.  They even have Coach.

[azpreemiemom]

I have found a lot of cute stuff. A few weeks ago, I found a Hurley dress for DD. I have better luck with DD than DS. I don't usually find a lot of good stuff fro baby boys.

[CkDanceEc]

Another AMAZING option are SEASONAL KIDS CONSIGNMENT sales - there are over 2,500 sales in the country each spring or fall and you can typically find THOUSANDS of items (enough to dress your kiddos for an entire season for a couple of hundred dollars!)

Find sales here: http://www.ConsignmentMommies.com - a list of seasonal consignment sales across the nation