Consignment Shop

One of the best things I discovered shortly after I had my first baby was a local children’s consignment shop. I had never shopped at thrift shops or other used goods stores, but it soon became a source for many children’s clothes and toys.  And soon, I found myself selling things as well, like all the baby clothing and gear that we went through so quickly.

Here are my tips for things I have learned over the past 8 years or so!

Buying

Consignment shops may vary quite a bit, but the basic idea is that you can get clothes, shoes, baby gear, etc. at a deep discount.

Here are some tips:

~ Follow the consignment shop on Facebook or other social media, if they have an account.  The shops I follow post pictures of new items at the shop, discounts, events, and more.  One of my local shops often has $1 sales or clearance sales that they post about, which are best taken advantage of it if you can get there right at the beginning of the sale (because those are the kind of sales where things sell very quickly!).

~ Shop often and opportunistically.  If you have a shop close by, check their inventory frequently.  A lot of the best products gets snatched up right away, so I have learned that the more often I check, I have better luck finding items I like.

~ Be sure to check end-of-season deals.  Just like regular stores, consignment shops usually have sales at the end of each season.  I have scored some amazing deals this way, stocking up for the following year.

Selling

You can make money selling items through a consignment shop.  Sometimes you can sell clothing for money, other times you can have a consignor account where you accumulate money that you can put towards purchases (often at a discount).

Some tips for selling:

~ Go through and organize what you want to sell.  I keep several bins of stuff that I want to get rid of, marked by season.  This way, I can keep track of what I can sell seasonally, since consignment shops generally only take items that correlate with the current season.  When I pack up clothes at the end of a season that the kids have outgrown, I organize as I go.

~ Go through clothing in good daylight or with a good light.  You want to make sure you see all stains, etc. that they will likely see when they go through your items at the consignment shop.

~ Have a stain treater, lint roller, and a fabric pill remover on hand to help with helping to make clothes look their best.  I generally try to get out all stains, remove all fabric pills, cut off any loose strings, etc.  It may also help to sun dry the clothes you plan to consign to make them bright and fresh-smelling.

~ Read the consignor information carefully.  Do they want you to hang all clothes, stack, or fold?  Are they only looking for particular brands? Make sure you prepare the clothes so that you can maximize how much you sell!

~ For toys, shoes, and more – use baby wipes, Magic Eraser, and other cleaners to get your items spotless. The better you clean and prepare your items, the more likely your items will be chosen, and the more likely your items will actually sell and get a return on your items.

~ Often when you sell your items on consignment, you can be paid or keep the money in a consignor account.