I love to shop. There is just something about searching racks for the perfect find, coming home with a deal, and finding treasures along the way. I’m sure I would be a fantastic billionaire. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality in the Oatmeal house, so I have to improvise a little.
I’ve mentioned before that I have roughly a $25/month budget for filling Little Oats’ closet. If you’ve been to Baby Gap recently, you’ll know that doesn’t get you very far (if you haven’t been…go! So much cute!). Even the clearance racks in several stores seem to tip the scales. So, in the interest of finding quality AND quantity, I’ve turned to the secondhand stores in town.
Before you run to Goodwill or the Salvation Army and just clear the racks willy nilly, here are a few tips for being a smart secondhand shopper:
DO:
– look for brand names that hold up well (Baby Gap, Mexx Kids, Tommy Hilfiger, Tea Collection, Gymboree, etc.)
– check seams, buttons, and zippers, and look for wear around knees and elbows. The price should reflect the condition of the item. Holes, missing buttons, etc. can be fixed…but only if it’s worth your time to fix them!
– sell back items that you don’t want to keep; you can make back some money, or roll it into a trade for new items.
– wash and spot treat (if needed) before wearing. While many stores require their items to be washed before selling, you don’t know if that condition has been fulfilled (or if the previous owner used a heavily scented detergent, etc)
DON’T:
– buy a lot of fleece or rayon. It gets pilly and stretched, and tends to look worn very quickly.
– be afraid of hand me downs. If you’ve got a neighbor itching to give you bags of clothes, don’t turn them down. Take whatever you don’t want on your next trip to the secondhand store – you might even make a little money!
– go to the store when you are rushed for time! It takes patience to look through the racks for deals and quality pieces, and if you’re rushed, you might miss something great!
– forget to check the physical size of an item, not just the store tags. I’ve bought a few pieces from the 6-12 month rack, only to get home and realize the manufacturer’s tag says 3-6 months.
Do you shop secondhand? Have you found any great pieces?
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
I love kids clothing ( a bit too much at times) love this info!
honeydew / 7622 posts
Great information! I am a veteran women’s consignment junkie, and look forward to shopping second hand for our little just like Mom did for me. Right now I am embarrassed to admit how many cute Baby Gap packages have been arriving on a weekly basis.
One other tip that I plan on doing- buying white consignment items and tie dying them or rit dying (I’ll keep it simple, only one color) I usually tie dye once a year and it will be a fun winter activity for M and I to do for baby.
pomegranate / 3225 posts
I’m also a consignment shopping addict. There is a whole world of shopping for used kid’s clothes on instagram, too, that is amazing!
coffee bean / 33 posts
love second hand! Luckily here in Atlanta there are quite a few mom groups in the city I live in which allow local moms to just trade/buy/sell right at home!
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
What no one tells you though, is that when you start to move into larger sizes of kids clothing, you find less and less stock. Part of it is because parents get saavy and don’t overbuy as much as they did when the clothes were cute and tiny and part of it is that as kids are more mobile and do more things, the clothes wear out and look pretty bad. So, I’d also plan for having to adjust your budgeting for when your kids get older, because you might not just score the deals you used to!
apricot / 370 posts
We do second hand all the time. There are some great thrift stores in town. For shoes, underwear, socks and swimsuits and like you mentioned car seats, I prefer to purchase new, though one time at the thrift store, there was a whole rack of new kids swimsuits with tags on, from a company that went out of business, so we were able to buy new swimsuits and rash guards for the girls of all sizes at like $1-$2 apiece. We’ve found northface and Columbia jackets for the kids, snow gear, all of this stuff looks new. My 4 year old is big into princesses, so she has about 8 princess dresses and tutus/super frilly skirts that were $1-$3 apiece from the thrift store. We’ve also found some incredible deals on baby/kids gear at thrift stores, some that we’ve resold on craigslist for a nice profit—we found a bob stroller for $40, joovy caboose tandem sit stroller for $30, 2 bugaboo strollers for $25 apiece (!!), bjorn baby carriers. And toys! Used duplo blocks, radio flyer tricycle, kids artist easle, sandbox, water table, even a fancy electric driveable kids vehicle that we bought for $4. I mean there’s so many things at the thrift store, it’s like a treasure hunt . you bring it home, wash it/wipe it, no one else knows it’s used. I agree, you do have to look over things closely, with clothing making sure the seams look solid and no holes or broken zippers.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Great tips! I finally realized how worth it it is to find good quality brand names at discounted prices. They’re so much easier to sell back secondhand too! I now have a target range that I look for in specific brands before I bite the bullet.
bananas / 9973 posts
@looch: Agreed!
I am not one to shy away from shopping secondhand, but around here, they usually cost as much or more (sometimes!) than brand new items on sale/clearance. I’ve seen exact same items I’ve bought new selling used for more than I paid at consignment shops. I have found better luck looking on eBay and newer apps like: Totspot and Kidizen. I totally recommend checking those out!
guest
I agree that you have to find the right spot. For us it is our twice yearly charity consignment sale known for low prices. I pulled out some Salt Water sandals for my daughter, like new, I think I paid $3 for them. I always hunt down any Tea I can find and am getting darn good at spotting their prints.
For sizes I compare everything to Carters sizes since they are the most true in my experience.
pomelo / 5621 posts
I have a favourite kids consignment shop that I go to. The prices are pretty good and they even have a punch card. They only take in quality items, so I find I don’t have to look as hard at each item.
We just got a box of clothes from our neighbour, can’t wait to go through it.
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
We have a couple great consignment stores that I found great items for steals when C was a baby, but I have all but given up in 2/3 t since the pickins are slim at that size. Kids are just rough on their clothes at that age.
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
That’s pretty much the only way I buy clothes for Little P. I can’t stomach the prices on new clothes.