There's no doubt that having children can be a costly business. Clothing them is one big expense, especially as they just seem to grown over night. There are ways to save money though through buying second-hand and here are five top tips as to where to pick up children's clothes.
1. eBay
As the best known online auction site, eBay still can hold a few real bargains if you know where to look. In amongst all the "seconds" and brand new listings you can often find job lots of children's clothes in a certain size range. The good listings will detail what is in the bundle, but sometimes they will just mention some of the brands included and you won't know exactly what you're getting.
Now that postage rates have gone up more job lots listings are being put on for local collection only. When you do a search on eBay you can order your search results by the distance from where you live and this is a great way to find lots in your area. Because the potential customers for auctions like this is smaller they often sell for less than ones that will be posted out.
2. Freecycle / Freegle
Freecycle and Freegle are local networks that were originally set up to give new life to things that may otherwise end up in landfill. Most are run as a yahoo groups where people post messages saying what they have for offer or what they want. No one charges anyone for anything and the person taking the goods collects them.
As they are local networks the quality of groups can vary a lot. Some areas don't have much activity yet others move so fast that if you aren't online the minute something is offered you're unlikely to get it. If you're new to freecyle or freegle the best thing to do is join and then spend a couple of weeks just watching how it works. Once you're up to speed certainly try going for anything that you see on that that fits your requirements, but don't be disheartened if you don't get everything you want. If you're after something specific then try posting a wanted notice.
3. Facebook
In an attempt to get around the fees on eBay loads of local buy and sell groups have been set up on Facebook. Do a group search for your local town or city with the words "buy", "sell" or "for sale" and you should come up with something near you. As with freecycle and freegle I'd suggest joining the group and watching for a bit first just to see how it all works.
4. Friends and Family
If you've got friends and family with children slightly older than your own then why not ask them what they do with all the clothes that their children have grown out of. Some people might just be happy to pass them on to you. Others might be planning to pass them on to a charity shop, so maybe you could suggest that you take the clothes in exchange for a donation to a charity of their choice.
5. Charity Shops, Nearly New Sales & Jumble Sales
The more traditional places to buy secondhand clothes have to be charity shops, nearly new sales and jumble sales. As ever these can vary a lot from area to area, but if you do your research you should be able to come up with some bargains.
When it comes to charity shops some will be better than others and I've often found that those for charities that support children often stock more children's clothes (and toys). Take a look at all your local shops and get a feel for which stocks what. Talk to the staff too about what donations they get in. For some charities all donations are centralised and the charity then decides where to distribute things to. It may well be that they have certain branches which all their children's clothes go to.
The NCT runs regular nearly new sales which are great for clothes for younger children – ask your local branch for details. You may also find other local nearly new sales or jumble sales that could be in village or church halls. Most are done in aid of a charity or cause and often the things on sale mirror the cause. Sales supporting baby and toddler groups or funds for a new local playground frequently have more things for children than ones in aid of a new minibus for pensioner trips out do.
Happy shopping!
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