For those of you who aren’t personal friends of mine I am going to let you in on an addiction of mine. Besides Pinterest (hehe), I am going to publicly come out and admit it. I am addicted and in love with consignment sales and stores!

I know  it is an addiction because do you see that picture above. Just looking at it makes me get all excited. I have mentioned before but will reiterate here, I am cheap! Thrifty really. I have nice taste in clothing, but can’t justify spending a bunch of money on an outfit that might be worn once before being covered in a bodily fluid, rejected because it has; too few ruffles, too many buttons, ect.  or out grown with in a week (how does that happen?!). So that brings me to my point. Consignment sales allow me to buy the clothing brands and styles I want for nearly nothing and then make some money back by reselling them!

Now we have been living in this area for a couple years so I have become aware of what sales I like to shop and sell at. Once you start shopping Consignment sales you will figure out your favorites too!

Typically, I sell what the girls have out grown. This consists of clothing, toys (those that don’t get played with or drive us parents crazy!), and gear (think jumperoos, baby baths ect.).  I have a pretty easy system for storing my items ready to consign. As Peanut grows out of things I throw them into a box. When the box is overflowing I take it to our basement. There I have a couple tubs ready for the next sale. One for fall/winter clothing, one for spring/summer clothing, and one for toys/odds and ends.

Usually I shove pieces of an outfit together (bloomers into the dress/skirt or pants into the shirt), this really helps so you have it all in one place. Outfits sell better than single pieces but all the items in an outfit need to be the same size when hung up.  Save all those store hangers to use for the sales. No need to spend money on hangers! Also, invest in a tagging gun. You will want one after you poke yourself 1 or 15 times using safety pins. They are not very expensive and worth the $7 on eBay! Blood on clothing doesn’t help it sell.

Every thing sold is hung up and each sale has specific rules about tagging and hanging. One thing ALL sales have in common a quality control inspection. Before items are hung up or put out sales have people checking each item to see that it is stain free and all parts work (zippers, buttons, batteries, ect). Obviously, there are items that get missed but this is helpful for the consumer.

I spend a few nights hanging and tagging the items, but it is worth it! Last year I sold about $300 worth of items (this was the $$$ in my pocket) and bought about $150 between all the sales! This got me MOST of them items needed for both girls for the fall! I was also able to offset the cost of Peanut’s new big girl carseat with my earnings.

My fall 2011 Haul

Above you can see my haul from one of the sales I went to this fall. In that photo I have 2 name brand winter coats (Old Navy and Osh Kosh), 2 name brand Christmas dresses (Gymboree and Carter’s), a hand full of sleepers, holiday outfits, and a bunch of toys (most were given for Christmas- the zebra is for Peanut’s birthday!). How much do you think I spent… wait for it…. $100. Yup, you read that correctly! $100.  I will use all the stuff I bought for Munchkin again for Peanut, and resell after her.

These sales are NO joke. You need to try and get to the presale if at all possible! The best of the best are sold most of the time before the public even walks in! In order to get to the presales  you need to work a shift (hanging, sorting, checking in items) or be a consignor. I really try and work a shift during set up so I can scope out the stuff we have to have. I usually show up with an empty stroller/wagon and a couple of big blue Ikea bags to grab my loot!

Now you are asking yourself, why haven’t I consigned and shopped consignment sales? Where are they Mae? How can I find these gems in my area? Well look no further… Consignment Mommies  has the answer. They are getting the latest information on sales across the country!

Check them out on Facebook too. They offer tons of suggestions on how to shop, what to look for, how to organize your items to get the most  money for your stuff! You are going to want to check them out and learn from all the seasoned shoppers that frequent their wall. There is a method to consigning and shopping consignment sales and you can gain a lot of information from their posts on Facebook.

This is only the first of what I am sure will be MANY posts on consignment shopping you will see! I am getting excited because the sales are right around the corner.