Saturday, September 22, 2012

Fall Consignment Sale Finds!

We just finished up our Greater Kansas City Mothers of Twins fall consignment sale today. Whew! It's a fun weekend, but a lot of work. Tons of prep time goes into pricing things, but it's totally worth it in the end. And the weekend out of the house is a nice perk too!

May I just say, I LOVE consignment sales! Especially ours! Our sale is known to have some of the lowest consignment prices in the metro area and pretty strict rules for the condition of the items being sold. It's so nice to get the kids' clothes in one spot, all at once, at affordable prices, and know that they will be in good condition.

At this point, I never pay retail prices for clothes. Awesome!

So I thought I'd share a little look at our consignment sale, complete with before and after photos! And I have to tell you about some of the great deals that I found as well! I'm excited, so thanks for humoring me! :)

The empty room at 2pm on set-up day!


And five hours later, it's completely transformed!

Toys! I do all of my Christmas and Birthday shopping at consignment sales. I've found absolutely awesome toys for the kids in near perfect condition! Some of my finds from this season were the Little People Dollhouse, Little People Three Level Garage, and The Little People Airplane and School Bus. I saved at least 50% on each if not more!

My set-up job for this sale was to help organize the books, DVDs, puzzles, and games. I picked up a few new board books for the kids for $0.50 each, along with some $0.25 coloring books, and a *new* mega pack of playdough for $5.00! It's such a bummer that our second lockdown is on the horizon, but I'm looking forward to doing some crafts with the kids to pass the long wintry days.

Bigger items are kept in a second room. I grabbed a step-stool (gotta work on hand washing with the kids!) and a pop-out tunnel in this room. Our occupational therapist brings hers over for the kids to crawl through sometimes. A friend pointed out the tunnel to me and I snatched it up! I paid $4.50 for a tunnel that normally retails for $20! I love finding great deals on things that will help the kids' development and that are fun!








And, of course, the main event is the clothes! I'm able to completely outfit all four kids at this consignment sale for such a small amount of money! I routinely find shirts for $1-$1.50, pants for $1.50-$2, dresses for $2-$5, and shoes for $2-$5. These are really nice clothes too!

At this point, between kind folks who have passed on their outgrown kids clothes to us, and this sale, I think we are in pretty good shape for the fall/winter/early spring season! Yay!


But my very best find was a Little Tikes Table with Four Chairs! Little Tikes tables with two chairs start around $45 on their website. I paid $8 and got two bonus chairs! And that, my friends, is a perfect example of why I love consignment sales. We now have a little table to sit around on snowy days while we color and play with playdough. Perfect!

Whoever invented consignment sales has my undying thanks! We keep a separate fund for consignment sale shopping, and my goal is to simply break even with what I sold. Once I get my check for the items I sold, we put that money back in the fund to replenish it so that  we have money to spend on the next season's clothes. It takes a little planning, and a willingness to work with what is available, but we are able to save quite a bit of money this way. Not to mention that it is a very gratifying adventure!

Have you ever tried shopping at a consignment sale? Did you find anything amazing?

20 comments:

  1. Love this particular sale! It's the best one in the KC area (and there are a lot to choose from)! Got a brand new pair of boy's tennis shoes for $2.50 and a pair of fireman boots (to go with the already purchased Halloween fireman jacket) for $3.00. These boots are $18 at Target! When I brought them home the kids LOVED them! We always look forward to the KC Mother of Twins Sale. --Andrea from Blue Ridge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember pulling the tag off of your fireman boots! Those were a fantastic find! So glad you were able to make it!

      Delete
  2. The last two weekends have been great. Last weekend we went to the Northland Mothers of Multiples sale and this weekend to the Greater Kansas City sale. Got some really good deals at both. I really loved the Northland one the best, and really love their new website. www.kcnorthlandmoms.com I can't wait til the both of the Spring Consignment Sales, hopefully they'll be on separate weekends.
    ~Susie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was planning on going to the Northland sale last weekend but then our main water line burst, etc, etc. I haven't been to that one, but hear really good things about it as well! I'm hoping to make it out to that one in the spring.

      I hope the consignment sales are on different weekends too! :)

      Delete
  3. Love this post Rebecca! Well, guess I'm kinda partial as well. But after going to 13 out of the last 14 GKC sales---(I have been a committee member for the last 12 & a Board member for the last 9)--I can't imagine my life w/o consignment sales now too.

    Rebecca, you are such a great writer --we would love to have you as a guest columnist with the newsletter :) And I so glad you got some great stuff!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw! Thanks for the compliment! I'd love to write for the newsletter! Just shoot me message on FaceBook or through email at some point, and I'll get writing! :)

      Delete
  4. Sweet!!!! Good for you! You'll have to post a picture with the 4 kiddos at their new table sometime! I'm with you Rebecca...garage/consignment sales are the best! My sister and I just had one last weekend too....whew, talk about WORK...like you said, but, the pay off is huge. Some extra cash and slso a more clutter free home!!! I love it!! yay!
    Connie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll definitely post photos of the kids at their new table at some point! It's out in the garage right now. I'm going to wait until it gets colder and we are on lockdown before I bring it in. That way it is something new and exciting to keep them busy!

      Glad you were able to clear out some too small/not needed items and make some money too! :)

      Delete
  5. Thanks to people like you and my sis (Lori), I was able to snag some bargains! I figured I saved 60-75% off of retail! It was nice to 'meet' you as I checked out! Been praying for you and your family since your vert tough week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was nice to "meet" you too! Congrats on your new little one! I wish we had had a few minutes to talk, but it was pretty busy.

      I'm happy to hear that you found some good deals as well!

      And thank you SO much for the prayers!

      Delete
  6. You got some great deals! I love consignment sales too. They are great. When there are so many bodies to dress...You can dress four for the price of one retail! I love all the photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Consignment sales are definitely awesome! The savings can't be beat!

      Delete
  7. Love seeing all the stuff and hearing about your deals. While I don't have kids so don't hit those consignment sales, my mom and I have become serious consignment sellers/shoppers. We frequent one HUGE consignment store that sells clothes, books, household items, furniture, etc. And lots of it is brand new designer stuff. Amazing what you can find! Friends who discard really great designer clothes tell me they "don't want the hassle of preparing the clothes as the consignment stores direct" (current season, clean, on hangers, etc.), and I am dumbfounded at the amount of money they are losing by just throwing away great clothes. (And if I was the right size, I'd be asking for those clothes and designer shoes!) Different people certainly have different priorities!
    Lee Ann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't found a local consignment store that I love yet. The prices always seem to be kind of high. But there are a couple of thrift stores where I've found some good stuff! I just have to look a little harder and examine the condition of the clothes a little more. Your consignment store sounds amazing! I'm so glad that you have that option!

      Delete
  8. I'm a new follower from the Harvest.

    http://coupongator2.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hello,

    I am visiting you through Harvest of Friends Weekend Blog Hop. You have a lovely blog and I love your content. I am now following your blog, please check out my blogs too and return the love: Empowered Mommy and Pregnancy Forum

    Thanks for your time. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Ana! I'll hop over and take a look at your sites as well! :)

      Delete
  10. New follower from the hop! Quads?! damn!

    Wish I could have taken part in that consignment sale!

    XOXO
    Paula

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for coming by, Paula! It was a really great consignment sale! I hope you can find one to check out soon!

      Delete

We would love to hear what you think! Please know that all comments are on a slight delay as we approve them on our end. Thanks for commenting!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...