Consignment Shopping for Kiddos

For quite some time, my friend and daycare provider Mandy, had been telling me about this great children's consignment shop one town over.  Wouldn't you know I finally make it as the store is closing?  To my defense, this is due in large part to the store hours, which were during my work hours.  They've been open this week during the evening and I got a chance to slip out of the house the other night.  I really hope they can find a new location because the women who work there are really great and know what people are looking for.  When I went, I left with a pair of leggings, a cardigan, 2 dresses, a pair of Hanna Andersson clogs, and a hoodie for Dean for $40!!  What a steal!

Below are the things I bought and links to other sites (some contain affiliate links) so you can check them out for yourself.

// 1 - Hanna Andersson Clogs // 2 - Ralph Lauren Baby Dress (some great deals below) // 3 - Janie and Jack smocked ladybug dress // 4 - 77kids hoodie (AE toddler) // 5 - Zutano leggings // 6 - Gymboree cardigan (similar)

When I was looking for the exact Ralph Lauren baby dress I bought, I saw so many cute dresses on sale that I had to showcase them below.

Since I couldn't fully capture the dress in my round up above, I had to show a full picture of Janie & Jack dress I got for Faith.  How cute is the scalloped hem?

Image via My Kids Threads, buy here size 2T

TIPS

1. Look for tags marked new

As the owner was explaining to me, one mom turned in a bunch of never worn girl clothing.  Why - because her daughter no longer wants to wear girly clothing.  I know there has been plenty of times that I'll find clothing never worn by my kids - because I forgot I bought them or my toddler starts boycotting jeans.

2.  Look for high-end, hard to buy brands

Some brands like Boden, Hanna Andersson, and Vive Le Ferte can be hard to get, not in your area or only available online.  I'm not often at a mall that has a Nordstrom, or similarly, going to the Wrentham Outlets.  I typically prefer to buy clothing I've seen in person although I'm a heck of an online browser.  You may be tempted to go overboard, but consider that brands like GAP go on sale ALL THE TIME.  I think if you're patient enough, you can wait and get a 40% off everything sale with GAP and then the pricing is similar to pricing you'd find in a consigment store.

3.  Look for shoes

Good kid shoes are expensive - if you can find a pair of shoes in excellent condition, why not buy them used since your child will only wear them for a few months.  I remember being so excited when Faith moved into toddler sizes, thinking, this is going to be so much easier - one size for a full year.  The problem - she needs different clothing for each season and by the time that season rolls back around, her clothing from before is usually too small.

4.  Do online consignment shopping

There are a lot of instagram accounts out there now that people use to sell their kids' clothing.  There's also THREDUP, Poshmark, and Ebay.  Some instagram accounts that I've found:  olliepopshop, littlepeppermarket, bboys_closet, mylvlittles, claires_tiny_threads.

Are you a consigment shopper?  Do you do consigment shopping for kids' clothing?  If so, do you have additional recommendations?

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