Consignment Selling

Well, I have started consigning again. I did a little bit of selling on consignment while we lived in Mississippi and Arkansas, but now I'm doing it consistently. A lot of people have told me that they don't consign because it takes too much time. It does take some time, but I think it's very worth it. And once you get organized, it doesn't take near as long. I have held on to everything baby for the last four years. Everything. Now that we are settled again, we decided it was time to start purging the baby things and get our storage shed cleaned out. Some people have asked me why I've held on to things for so long, my reasons are simple. I didn't know if we were done having kids and how do you even begin to go through everything? With the help of my awesome husband and sweet son (Dakota was taking a nap), we pulled EVERYTHING baby out of the shed and dumped in the living room:

Having my living room look like a scene from Hoarders was not my favorite way to live for a week and a half, but it had to be done. I didn't want to sort in the shed because weather is unpredictable and being indoors allows the kiddos to be within reach if they needed something. I worked on this for a week in a half. The first thing I did was sort clothes. Currently I'm a consigner with a cute consignment shop in Washington, IL, called Castaways Consignment, that sells children's clothing, women's clothing and maternity clothes. I started consigning with them in March (when they first started accepting summer/spring styles). I had two large totes full of clothes Dakota had outgrown, so that's how I started.

Most consignment stores have strict policies on the types of clothing they'll take and even brand names. I know this, so I know not to let my feelings get hurt. They know their clients and what their clients are looking for. If you bring something in that wouldn't appeal to their clients, they won't accept it to sell. The consignment store I'm working with sells a lot of Baby Gap, Gymboree and Old Navy. They are looking for clothes in good shape, no stains or tears, all buttons and zippers working, and bought within the last 3 years. This consignment store keeps your clothes on their racks for 60 days. After those 60 days, you can choose to pick up your unsold items or they will donate them to a local charity. After 30 days on the racks, Dakota's clothes made $86! After 60 days on the racks, only two items of Dakota's didn't sell! I am super impressed! This has been very encouraging for me and so I've brought in three more totes full of kids clothing. Everything at this store is itemized, so I know exactly how much each item sold for and what the items was. Then I make 50% of the profit. This particular consignment store is able to mark things a little higher than other stores I've been in, so that helps the seller (me!) make a little more money. So consigning with Castaway's Consignment has been an ongoing thing for about two months now. Each time my kiddos outgrow clothing or a new season comes, I look the clothes over real good and decide which of my many totes they go in. Currently, I have the following on-going totes in their closets: CASTAWAY'S CONSIGNMENT, FALL/WINTER KIDS CONSIGNMENT SALE, GOODWILL, and HAND-ME-DOWN/GIVEAWAY TO FRIENDS. It sounds crazy and confusing, but it's really easy (if you can live with totes in their closets).

I'm super picky about what goes to my consignment store because I know the clients who shop there are equally picky and I want my things to sell successfully and quickly. So, what is the Kid's Consignment Sale I've been working on?... I had been to a large kids consignment sale in Little Rock, but didn't know one existed here until another mom at our playgroup mentioned something. She got me the information and I was off and running. The consignment sale is located in Peoria, just about 25 minutes from where we live, but all of the prep work is done online - easy!! So, back to the huge mess in my living room (how do I get so side-tracked?) As I was sorting through clothes in my living room, I was doing the same thing I do with the kids closest. Nothing with stains can be sold at the kids consignment sale, so all of the stained clothes went into a HUGE box for Goodwill. Once the clothes were sorted into their proper areas, I decided to take a break from the clothes and start cleaning and pricing the baby stuff. Jason and I are not 100% sure that we are done having kids, but for now we are very content with our precious two kiddos. As much as I'd love to hold onto everything baby "in case" we have more kids in the future, it just doesn't make sense right now. I first thought that I'd have a huge "BABY" garage sale, but when I learned about this Kids Consignment Sale, I knew I'd have better luck there. I'd rather sell the kids' baby things at a sale where people come specifically looking for kids/baby items, rather than take my luck that the right people will come along to my garage sale looking for everything baby. The pricing of the items was very easy. I logged into their website with my consigner information, wrote a brief description for each item and priced it however I chose. With this sale, I made 70% of the sale. Once I finished pricing, I printed off the tickets and cut each one:

Then I had to figure out a way to attach the price tag to each item. Because this is a kids' sale, a lot of shoppers come in accompanied by little ones, so they really stress that you should attach the tags securely and also secure any loose items your selling. For example, I sold a toy we had gotten Jax for his first Christmas. It had three balls that came with it, so I taped the balls to the toy. Smaller items when into Ziploc bags that I sealed shut with packing tape. Once I had an item tagged, I moved it to the outside of the living room perimeter (behind the couch). Here's the picture of tagged "organized" items:

The toys and baby items were easy to price, tag and organize. The clothes, took a little time. Remember, I have not given ONE thing away in the last four years. I went to a few local dry cleaners begging for hangers, bought a few at Goodwill for $1, and snagged some (with manager's permission) from the dressing rooms at Wal-Mart:

Once the clothes were were sorted, I pinned them to hangers and hung them on my new hanging rack:

On the rack, the clothes were much easier to sort through and price. Once they were priced, tag cut out and attached, I bundled them with a zip-tie according to gender and size and put them in the front seat of the car:

In the end, I'd say the work I did on the Kid's Consignment Sale was well worth this:

I realize what a long post this was, but I wanted to give details so anyone considering consignment might be encouraged. It's work, but worth it and once you're organized, it's pretty easy. Now I'm gearing up for the fall/winter Kid's Consignment Sale where I'll sort through all the kids' winter clothes and also baby gear and toys that didn't sell in the spring sale.

What in the world are we doing with the money we're making?
For now, I'm splitting it between the kids and putting it into their savings accounts. We have been fortunate to receive 99% of their baby things and clothing as gifts to them and we feel the money belongs to the kids. If I continue to consign as they get older, this money may go toward new clothes for them at the beginning of the school year, sports/music/art fees and equipment and maybe help pay for summer camps and church activities along the way.

What about hand-me-downs?
I mentioned briefly that there is a tub in their closet with this label as well. Anything that was given to my kids as a hand-me-down goes back into this tub to be passed along to someone else. I also put items in here that I don't think will sell well at Castaways. Kota has a little friend at church who is 18 months younger than her, so Kota's hand-me-downs have been easy to sort and hand out. Jaxon, however, doesn't grow quickly, so a lot of his younger friends have caught up with him in size. We're working on things being full circle and teaching the kids about giving because we have been given to!



I mentioned at the beginning that I've held on to EVERYTHING for a very long time and not exactly sure why. As I spent every spare minute sorting through their things, I realized part of what letting these things go represented. Each time I pulled Jaxon's infant clothes out of a box, their smell brought a flood of memories to mind (and a flood of tears). His little infant clothes represented our first home in Kansas and all the promises it held. We have so many wonderful memories there and bringing our first baby home to that house will always be one of my most treasured memories. As I pulled out his toddler clothes and breathed in their scents, memories of our first experiences in the Air Force came to mind. We were so terrified of moving away and starting over, yet so excited for what God had in store for us. We made so many wonderful memories in Mississippi and met some lifetime friends along the way. Then I started finding Sissy's infant clothing and was reminded of living in Little Rock with good friends next door and across the street. Bringing Sissy home for the first time to a temporary house seemed so strange, but turned out perfect as we were surrounded by so many lifetime friends that supported us.

This whole experience of selling and consigning has been worth every second, because it finally allowed me to let go of all the feelings I've had over the last four years. It was very healing to get to touch and smell these baby things one last time. I worried that getting rid of everything meant saying good-bye forever to these memories. But getting to see everything one last time, actually made it easier to say good-bye. I was able to flood my mind (one last time) with these wonderful memories and then send these things on their way, with the prayer that another family might be able to make their own memories with them some day.