Best Buys at Consignment Sales
Welcome to consignment sale season! Many multiples clubs around the country are hosting huge consignment sales in September and October. If you’re a new parent of multiples, it can seem overwhelming! If you’ve never been to one, read these basic tips for shopping consignment sales. Since it’s now fall, I made a list of the Best Buys at Consignment Sales for this season. Hope you have great luck shopping!
Winter Coats and Boots
When kids are young, these specialty items get very little wear and can look almost new the next season. I’ve found heavy winter coats, snow pants, and boots at 25-50% off their original prices. Look for good brands like Lands End and Columbia, and you should be able to pass them down to younger children or resell at a future sale.
Halloween Costumes
You can’t beat the prices at consignment sales for Halloween costumes, and the selection is great if you’re looking for doubles or coordinating costumes for your twins or triplets. These are another item that are barely worn, but keep in mind that for preschoolers, it might be worth picking up a few extra costumes to stock a dress-up station at home. My girls kept these bunny costumes longer than they fit!
Holiday Tees & Formalwear
There’s no reason to spend top dollar on fancy dresses and suits that only come out for the winter holidays or are worn for a few hours for family portraits. Like the winter wear, you’ll find practically-new tops, dresses, ties and pants for boys in amazing condition since they’re only worn sparingly. I also like finding Halloween and Holiday tees for a few dollars compared to $8-15 new in the stores. Since they can only be worn for a few weeks around the holiday, I prefer not to pay full-price!
Large-Scale Baby Gear
No matter the season–fall or spring–consignment sales are the best place to find an assortment of low-priced baby gear like Exersaucers, high chairs, Pack & Plays, swings, strollers and more. At the beginning of the sale, you’ll find many of these in various conditions at every price range (some new sellers often overprice these items trying to recoup their expense). By shopping early, you can score the lower-priced gear in excellent condition. There is very little that you can’t buy used–a huge way to save money as a parent of multiples–but be sure to purchase your car seats new to be sure they meet current standards. You may also want to carry your smartphone with you to the sale to look up products on the CPSC Recall list.
My absolute best consignment sale buy was a fully-furnished Barbie house for $35! A house like this without any furniture new is over $100. !/photo.php?fbid=10150359472784567&set=a.10150359458334567.303539.510474566&type=3&theater
That’s awesome, Michelle! What a great find.
We don’t have a multiples sale around here, but we do have a pretty great Consignment Sale that happens twice a year. I don’t dress my twins in matching clothes very often, so I am able to get most of their clothing there. My best purchase was an Imaginex Batcave for my son with all the cars, figures and extra stuff. It was easily $200 worth of toys and I got it for $30! It made a great Birthday gift! 🙂
Great score on the Batcave! It’s such a huge savings when it’s all bundled together like that.
My best deal was a Double Snap n Go stroller I bought for $60, used for a year, then re-sold for $40.
I bought almost all my twins’ baby items at garage sales and our Mothers of Multiples club’s Buy and Sell. I wanted to share my strategy for shopping the big sales.
1. Print out your registry or a list of what you’re looking for, along with prices. That way you know a deal when you see it.
2. Grab the big stuff first. 80% off on onesies may save you $10, while 30% off on a stroller can save you $50. Plus, there are lots of small items to choose from and they’ll not sell as quickly as the big stuff.
3. Don’t bring your kids. Do bring bags to carry your stuff in. Also bring cash.
4. Bring a pen and paper or business cards so you can exchange contact info with people you meet. I now shop directly from the ladies who used to sell to me at my local sales, saving us all time and money.
The Snap n Go is a great item to buy and resell, since it lasts forever! Great tips–thanks for sharing, Courtney!
I love a good sale! I always shop off season and wait for a sale and a few coupons (I have great luck with Macys). Also, now that my twins are older and I can no longer sell through twins’ sales, I turn to eBay and sell their gently-used ski clothes there.
I hear you, Christina. With older kids I don’t find as much at consignment sales so I combine coupons and sales like you do. I still resell, though, to recoup those expenses.