I love a good shopping deal. Lately with the kids I just don’t have time to get out and scour goodwill and garage sales like I used to. The cost savings is not equal to the hassle of the carseat/Ergo/stroller fiasco to get everyone out the door. It also seems like garage sale-ing for kids items is not A Thing like it is in the Midwest. All summer my mom hits the local sales and picks up perfect little outfits for 25 or 50 cents a piece! There are quite a few children’s consignment shops here but to me feel pretty overpriced. I’m not ready to part with $6 for a used shirt when I can pick up a new one at Target or the Gap on sale for the same price. That brings me to the wonderful world of online consignment. Shopping in your sweatpants. What’s not to love? Here are the big three that I’ve used and loved. I’ve rounded up a few tips on the buying and selling side to give you an idea what might be best for you (and your kids!).
Instagram Sales:
+ It’s an easy way to browse (all pictures!) but you have to be quick because items go quickly. You just leave your PayPal email address as a comment, they invoice you and boom, sale made.
+ This might be a preference thing but I appreciate it when IG users create a separate “closet” account. That way my feed isn’t bombarded with sale items. I follow a few closet accounts but usually just click over when they announce a sale.
(-) Typically, the bigger the blogger, the more people are buying or bidding. Some sales get a little out of hand when they’re done auction style. I see people paying ridiculous prices for used clothes but for the seller…you go girl!
(-) If you don’t have a ton of followers (shameless plug, follow me here!) you may not have a lot of luck with selling on IG.
I love ThredUp! It’s one of the first online consignment shops I tried. It is so easy. If you sign up here, you get $10 and I get $10 to spend in the shops. They just added kids clothes which, amen and hallelujah!
+ SO EASY! You sign up, they send you a bag (for free!) and you send it in and collect your funds. You can choose to apply the money you make to purchases in the shop or just collect your cold hard cash.
+ Their prices for resale are really great. I’ve found so many cute, new with tags dresses for less than $15! Plus I had sales credit so they were FA-REE!!
(-) They are very picky so more than likely you’re not going to get paid for everything you send in. Their standards are very similar to the brick and mortar consignment shops where they only want the best of the best (which I like as a buyer). It’s sometimes disappointing to not get a lot of money for what you send in. I tend to think of it as an easier drop off than Goodwill. I was going to part with these clothes anyway, so any money I get in return is a bonus. Plus, I didn’t have to pile the kids in the car for a drop off at Goodwill.
(-) They have so much! Which can be great for selection but sometimes overwhelming to comb through it all. I do think they’re getting much better at the search functions.
Kidizen App:
This is the one most of my gal pals haven’t heard of. I LOVE it! You download the App on your phone and its basically a little consignment shop right on your phone. It is all user populated, meaning that you set up your own little shop and sell your wares. Visit my shop here.
(+) The thing I love the most is that shipping is included in the price. No crazy, $2 for the first item, $1 for additional item, etc. to keep track of.The amount you see is the amount you pay. Invoices are sent through Paypal.
(+) You can filter your searches by child (add as many to your account as needed) which makes it so easy to wade through everything. If you’re only looking for little girl tops in 6-9 months, that’s all you’ll see. Maybe everyone won’t be quite as tickled by this feature but I thought it was genius.
(+) Lots of great brands and it is mostly moms posting so they have a pretty good idea on fair prices. Following their IG account is fun too, they highlight cute shops or curated items.
(-) I think you have to be creative in how you present your items or have really good prices to keep the sales coming. I only post this as a negative since it takes a little more time to do a cute photo then a white hanger on the back of the door.
So that’s how I’m doing my shopping online lately! How do you shop for kids clothes? Anyone tried Ebay? I’m dying for a pair of Hunter wellies for the kids but can’t find a thing!
Keep it thrifty folks. 
