Today I walked into a children’s resale shop with a bag of Audrey’s clothing to trade.  I had carefully organized her outgrown garments, culled out the ragged, stained, and not-so-cute pieces, and waited until everything was seasonally appropriate.  I thought that my bag of clothes would earn me enough store credit to come home with something new for Audrey.   They took one item and gave me $2.00 in store credit.  That and $4.00 got me a pair of pants.  Not great.


Audrey, one month old, in consignment shop fashions

This store, as it turns out, does not donate the clothes they cannot sell, so I almost had to carry them all back home.  At the last moment, the store owner remembered that someone from “an orphanage” was going to stop by later in the day, so I didn’t have to lug the bag home after all.

I’ve had some troubles with other consignment stores, too.  Another shop in my new neighborhood has a very strict buying schedule, so one week they’re taking only boys’ clothes in sizes 6-10, another week they’re buying something else.  Because of this, I go into that store to buy clothes but have never managed to sell anything there.

The consignment shop in my old neighborhood, The Children’s Exchange, was excellent.   They buy and sell clothes, toys, books, and baby gear, and they usually accepted most of the stuff I tried to sell them.  Because they weren’t so picky (or shall I say snobbish?) about designer brands, I also found the selection to be better than most of the other shops I’ve tried.   When Joy visited me while she was pregnant with Roscoe, I marched her right over to the Children’s Exchange, where she stocked up on diaper covers for just a dollar each.

I’ve had such varied experiences with resale shops, and I know consigning my child’s outgrown clothing isn’t the most efficient money-making method–but what is?  Craigslist, eBay, garage sales?  Or do you just donate the clothes you aren’t keeping to charity?  Today is an opposite Works for Me Wednesday, which means we can ask our readers what works for them.  So, what works for you?  Do you try to sell your child’s old gear at consignment shops, or is there a better way?

Don’t forget to join us starting tomorrow evening for Thrifty Green Thursday!