Why Buy Consignment Part 2

I know I've mentioned before that I am not a huge fan of buying or selling consignment. I will occasionally stop to poke around one, but not often! I always think they stink of cigarette smoke, and I truly have never found anything even close to great. Instead, I've gotten pretty good at shopping the sales with a coupon, and I do most of my shopping at Gymboree, Carter's and Target. (See what a Gymboree purchase looks like here.)

How much do you think you spend on your kid's clothes in a year? Any guesses? I can't really say what I spend for sure, but I do know that $100 in one trip sounds like a lot! However, what if you planned carefully and only spent $100 5 or 6 times a year??? It sounds like a reasonable amount to me, at least. While I'm sure you could clothe your kids for much less, I'm not entirely sure you could do it with the same sense of style and quality. (Prove me wrong, if you can!)

All that being said, Black Friday was an important kid's shopping day for us. I ordered $85 worth of clothes both for my girls and for gifts for my nieces at Gymboree.com yesterday (and got $25 Gymbucks,) and we hit the Carter's store early this morning. Everything purchased was for my girls, except for one outfit for my new nephew. Here's what I got at the Carter's store for just over $100 after tax.

Pictured you see -

2 three packs of underwear
4 sets of fleece pajamas (Incidentally, one of these was FAR more expensive than I anticipated. Who would have guessed a size 4 set was $10 more than a size 4T set. A good reminder to check ALL price tags!)
4 dresses
1 jacket
1 bubble
5 two pieces outfits
1 one piece outfit
1 fleece jacket

I'm calculating that the average per item/outfit/set is right around $6.70. Right around a middle of the road consignment price, right? But, these clothes are new. Not only that, but both of my girls will wear most things, and since these clothes are such great quality, they will was and re-sell or donate well. At $6.70, I'm thinking I can make close to 50% back on the back end -- even after two kids.

For a general rule of thumb, I did have to set a price guideline. My limit for a shirt is $5. For jeans, dresses and jackets, the limit is $10. (I am guilty of spending a little more on Gymboree shirts and dresses. I just love everything about them, and so do my girls.) However, I do try to stay FAR under those guidelines when I'm shopping at Target and Carters. As another note, I buy the majority of our shoes at Target when they go on sale or clearance meaning they usually cost somewhere between $10-$15 a pair, but the girls usually only have 2-3 pairs at a time, at the most.