My house is bursting at the seams. Seriously. I am continuously amazed at how much stuff we accumulate over the years and now that I have three children, ages 5, 3, and 1, we are literally overrun with kid stuff. I admit that I’m a bit of a mini-hoarder when it comes to my kids' clothes and gear. However, I’ve decided that I’m only going to keep some of the super special clothes that the kids wore when they were babies and I’m going to consign everything else. I can do this.
I’m a consignment sale newbie, so I was thrilled when fellow Mac Kid publisher Betsy Sonnier, offered the following advice.
Consigning clothes, toys, decor, books, etc. benefits everybody involved. For sellers, it's a great way to get pass along your gently loved items. For buyers, you get perfectly good clothes or gear for a fraction of the retail cost.
When preparing to sell at a consignment sale, you really need to break the process down into steps. Otherwise, you might be overwhelmed.
- Go through closets, dressers, toy boxes, bookshelves, etc. and put everything you'd like to sell in one area. Make sure everything is clean and in good condition. Don’t sell something that is broken or missing pieces.
- Separate clothes. Consignment sales generally happen two to three times a year - Spring, Fall and sometimes Back to School. Determine which sale you're preparing for – sweaters, coats, Halloween costumes, etc. are sold at the Fall sales. Swimsuits, lightweight and summer clothes are sold at the Spring sales. When you drop off clothes, you'll need to hang them in the appropriate areas so be sure all of your boy clothes are together and all of your girl clothes are together. If you organize by size as well, it will make dropping off a breeze.
- Clothes need to be hung. Hangers should be open to the left so that when looking at the front of the outfit, the hanger looks like a question mark. Be sure to turn everything right side out, button buttons, zip zippers.
- Group similar items. Every sale has a minimum that you can charge for an item. Generally it’s around $4. Sometimes that t-shirt, no matter how adorable, probably won’t sell for $4. However, if you group two or three t-shirts or throw in a pair of pants, you may even be able to charge more than the minimum. You can also group similar toys and create a “bundle.”
- Sign up as a consignor at your favorite consignment sale. Enter the items you'd like to sell. Print out the tags and fasten them, preferably with safety pins (avoid staples), to the clothing. Heavyweight paper or card stock tags are less likely to be torn off. Make sure to attach the tag to the right side of the clothing so it will be easier for buyers who are thumbing through the rack to see.
And don't forget that you can volunteer to work at your local sale. It's different from sale to sale, but volunteers are usually given extra benefits at the sales. Sometimes the sales are even opened a day early for volunteers.
Happy Shopping!
