Kid Clothes Resale

I give all my kids' clothes that are still in good shape to friends. I have a couple of friends that have kids 2-3 years younger than mine. What they don't want, they pass along down to their friends with kids younger than theirs. I've found that the hassle of reselling is too time consuming.

NO to yard sale. People are usually thinking a 25cents for a nice item. I also do not ant people coming to my house.

ebay- Pros: this will usually get the most money. Cons: some people do not like to buy from sellers without a proven track record

craigslist: hit and miss. This could get more than consignment, yet for me more of a hassle trying to coordinate metering the person (i do not want strangers coming to my home either).

Consignment store: Pros- you drop it off and the store handles the customers. Another pro is some give a store credit at a higher percents than if you take cash (I usually go with consignment stores).

edit: I often give items to friends if it is a favorite thing. I also end up giving bags to Good Will.

Honestly, we just donate. I try to find friends with younger kids to give the good stuff to. Everything else goes to Goodwill type places. A friend swears by the consignment sales (big events held in bigger cities--they sell clothes, strollers, toys, etc), but it was not worth it for me. In our city, you have to safety pin everything to hangers just a certain way. Then you have to print their labels (you have to fill them out with your name and price, first) and pin those to the clothes. You have to hang all of the clothes in the right area when you arrive (0-3, 3-6, 6-12, etc). You get 70% of your asking price (if the item sells). On the last day, you have to go back and pick up all of the unsold stuff (literally search through shelves and racks to find your stuff). People still want bargains. I didn't price anything over $6--it wouldn't sell. I had a BRAND NEW (with tags) Navy Polo sweater (4T) for $6 and it didn't sell. The lady there said nobody pays over $3-$4. Ugh...frustrating--they'll pay $3 for an Elmo sweater from Walmart, but not $6 for a brand new Polo sweater. I made about $200. It took me about 12 hours to hang, pin, label, hang at consignment, and take down. Totally NOT worth my time.

Craigslist is great for big things--like refrigerators, furniture, etc. I would not hassle with it for a $5 item. Not worth meeting (or being stood up) by a stranger. Yard sale? NO WAY. Weirdos coming to your house and haggling over .25 cents??? Ebay--don't you have to ship most of that stuff? Taking several packages to the post office is a pain:(

I couldn't sell water in a desert.
We just donate the stuff, get a receipt and write it off our taxes.

I donate everything. I use Goodwill and the local women's shelter.

ONE time I went to a resale shop with $50+ outfits hardly worn and they offer $2 or so... no stains, some still with tags. No thank you. They offered us $50 for a $500 crib that was used with our daughter from birth til 17 months. They didn't think we'd reload it back into the car but we did and then donated it to the women's shelter.

ONE time I had a garage sale and the same thing, I wasn't asking $50 for my outfits, etc, I was asking about $10 and less (mostly way less) and still the people who came by wanted to dicker so much I told them all to leave, closed up my garage sale and donated everything to Goodwill.

I don't care for garage sales because it is a prime chance for someone to case out your house, sneak in to the bathroom and/or rob you blind while you are there watching. No thank you.

After my experiences, I donated everything and took advantage of the tax deduction which will offset your other costs as well.

On FB, there is a local resale page which is private with a bunch of local moms and they sell a lot of children's things for very low prices. For instance, not much is over $5 for a piece or an assorted bag. Sometimes someone will post a nice outfit that was only worn once or so and get a little more than you would at a garage sale, consignment or resale shop.

My time = $$$ Is it really worth your time?

Best of luck to you!

I have actually had great luck with both yard sales and Facebook garage sale sites for my area. As far as yard sales are concerned, I make sure everything is cleaned and priced before hand, and if people try to offer me less, then I simply say no. I won't make back what I paid, obviously, but I am ok with that, as it helps to make some money at them. The FB sites, I will plan to take all my pictures and postings in one week, and then plan my meetings accordingly. I tend to get more per item that way, as people are specifically choosing to purchase my items. I have never had anyone back out of a sale, and if people do not meet when they are scheduled to, the admin on the site have always been great about removing them from the group. I also will post tops together in a "lot" and sell a handful for one lump sum, which also cuts down on meet-ups. :)

I get the best money on Kijiji (like eBay I guess, but local). The problem is I spend a lot of time taking pictures and making ads. Then people arrange to come and don't show up, or they come and haggle. Selling to second hand kids stores pays much less, but is a lot simpler. I like to do a yard sale every couple of years because the kids can help and learn a lot from it. It is a fair bit of work for not a lot of money, but like I said, it's great for the kids who set up a concession stand and sell their toys and such. Of course donating is the best route, but we don't get tax receipts or anything here, so it is nice to try and get something.

It depends on what you have. If you have mostly high end brands (Janie & Jack, boutique brands), then you can do best on Ebay. BUT - you need to take good pictures, describe each item well and invest some real time. I Ebay and make back close to what I spend for clothing. If you have mid level brands (Old Navy, Gymboree, Gap, Children's Place) it is probably not worth your time to Ebay (although some Gap does well). If you have non brand names, you are probably best donating and taking the tax deduction (which will likely be worth substantially more than you will get at either a yard sale or consignment store IF they will take the items.

I give the good stuff to folks I know with younger kids .. the sort of good stuff goes to my church store.. the holey jeans go to salvation army..

selling is probably not woth the trouble..

Yard sale only if you have other items that make the effort of a sale worthwhile. We often do neighborhood yard sales which bring in a lot of traffic. But little kids' clothing is easy for dishonest shoppers to grab so be sure you have help to police your items. Otherwise children's resale shops (which pay cash on the spot and only take the most desirable items), followed by the consignment shop or used clothing shops where you will only get a fraction of the value.

Craigslist - difficult because you have to photograph everything. Police departments are setting up safe meet-up and exchange zones though, which takes the risk away. Ebay - you have photos and shipping charges, plus their fees. Not worth it except for new items with tags attached.

If all else fails, donate for the tax deduction. I use Big Brother/Big Sister, the Interfaith Hospitality Network, and a local immigrant social service agency so I know things are going to people who really need them.

Hi N.,

I'm with B below. I always donate to the VA and try to capitalize on the annual deduction. quick, easy and our service men and women's kids deserve the nice stuff too. I hope this is of use. :-) S.

I sell on eBay as a part time job. Clothing is one of the difficult items to move. I had great success with baby and toddler lots, but selling older kid or adult things is harder unless the items are expensive brands or otherwise sought-after. I have to balance the potential financial outcome with the amount of time that goes into making the listing.

I recently bought a couple lots of brand new shirts for my sons on eBay and got a wonderful deal because I had no competition bidding against me. Great for a buyer, not so much the seller.

I've been using local selling groups on Facebook to sell some of my kids' outgrown clothing. I recently made $60 that way. More than I would have at a yard sale, less work than eBay. The downside is that you need to make arrangements for people to pick up at your house, or you meet in public, then some run late and others don't show at all.

If you don't want weirdos showing up, you might consider a place like Once Upon A Child or a local consignment sale (we have several locally). I have not had a lot of luck with Ebay personally. You might also donate them to a shelter or civic group for a tax donation.

I tried the consignment store route. Personally, I found it to be a pain. I was supposed to get 30% of the sale, but they are priced so low and then she would have sales all the time to clear stuff out. So by the end (the trip there and back, washing it all, packing it all up..) it wasn't worth it to me. I'd get $20 and wished I'd just donated it all.

We tried yard sale at a community one - again, you charge so little ... for me, it wasn't worth it. I'd rather donate.

I bought second hand stuff off Ebay and I could see that being worth it if you were ok with packaging up stuff for mail and keeping track of it. I bought second hand snowsuits for $20 etc. for back ups at daycare, but I was always surprised at how much some people would get for a nice Christmas dress, etc. Lightly worn stuff went for quite good prices.

I tend to donate or hand down to neighbors or friends. I will sell old equipment (skates, hockey gear) at specialized places (like the skate shop) because they take them and handle it all. My husband does that so I'm not involved :)

Good luck!

Best thing is to find a family/families with kids about a year younger than yours.
We have a younger sibling of O. of my DS best friends that gets DSs stuff.
If you have some very high end stuff that you want to get something back on?
eBay (more effort, risk, time, higher result)
Once Upon A Child (easy, immediate, lower result)

Once upon a child pays you cash on the spot for items. What they don't take you can always face book tag sale. Personally I've always just donated kids clothing or given it away to friends. A lot of the stuff I received was donated or consignment shop so passing it along felt like the right thing to do for me.

I use Once Upon a Child sometimes. They pay cash on the spot (over $25 you'll get a check) and it's really easy! Depending on how busy they are and how much stuff you have for them to look through, it could take 10 minutes or up to an hour (in my experience). They will tell you how long the wait is. If it's longer than 15-20 minutes I will go run an errand and come back. Be prepared to let your stuff go for very little money, they usually pay $1.50-$3.00 (more depending on the brand) per piece, but if you have a lot of great stuff it adds up. They pay decent on baby gear and toys. A few years ago I walked out with $138! I donate a ton too, but if it's new, I like to get a little extra $$ back, it helps with the next round of new clothes. Good luck! :)

i just donate. trying to make money off used kids' clothes is way, way more work than is worth it for my low-energy self.
if you must, i'd do a yard sale. craigs list and consignment stores will involve an ongoing time and energy commitment that would be a pretty pathetic payoff for the very, very little amount of money you can make from used kids' clothes.
see what you can get in one day, and then be done with it.
khairete
S.

If you are on facebook, there may be local buy, sell, trade boards... I know there are plenty in my area!

I frequently see clothing for sale on these pages, both adult clothing and children/teen clothing...... I've bought some for my grandkids from facebook....

I try to hand nice things down to friends' kids first. If I don't have someone in mind I usually donate to the ARC or give to a friend of mine who has a garage sale once a year. I figure she can make a few bucks off of it. I kept a couple of flower girl dresses for over 5 years because I had every intention of Ebaying them. Never did and am happy I finally donated them. I don't have garage sales anymore. I used to do one a year, but found that it's too much work to store everything and get organized for the sale.

I donate and take the tax deduction, unless I have a friend I can just give the stuff too.