As it turns out, my three-year old son intends to continue growing, and his current clothes intend to continue staying the same size they’ve always been. As it also turns out, used clothes for preschool-aged boys are hard to come by.
First, I tried posting a want ad on Craigslist. I posted twice, about two weeks apart, and got only one response. It was from a woman who gave me not her address, but rather the intersection on which she lives. Naively thinking that no one would give an intersection location unless there were only one house at that intersection, I went there. To my surprise, the intersection had the usual four houses, one on each corner. And yes, I did in fact knock on all four of the houses’ doors and ask each person who answered if they planned to sell me 4T boys’ clothing. None of them did.
It was not amusing.
The woman finally e-mailed me back an address–funny concept, those convenient identifying numbers that are so much more definitive than random landmarks or vague intersections–but it got deleted. Plus, she wasn’t sure when she could really say she’d be home, and I felt that I had wandered aimlessly around her neighborhood enough for one lifetime, so it kind of washed out.
Craigslist was a bust.
Then I checked E-bay, and was surprised at how popular lots of used 4T boys’ clothing are. I looked at several completed auctions and realized that by the time you’ve outbid all the other users and paid for shipping, you’ve paid about 2.50-3.00 an item. I’d be willing to pay that for individual items, but I’m reluctant to pay that per-item price for a huge lot of clothing which may contain several items I don’t like.
Next I hit the thrift store. I thought that perhaps my earlier experience had been skewed, and that maybe I’d find the prices to be more reasonable this time. No such luck. At Goodwill, boys 4T clothing was marked at four dollars an item. Four dollars! (They were also, by the way, charging a dollar for sun-warped children’s paperbacks, and ninety-nine cents for a battered foam sword with pieces of foam falling off it. This was particularly funny because the sword was a buck at the dollar store when it was brand new.)
Now, if I’m going to pay four dollars for boys’ clothing, I have much better options than used stuff of questionable cuteness.
What I’ve learned is that boys’ clothing is a lot harder and more expensive to buy secondhand than baby and toddler clothing is. I’ll keep my eyes peeled to see how yard sale season looks, but I suspect that I’ll have to start being more aggressive about stocking up on good sales at retail stores. And I’ll just stay out of Goodwill.
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I don’t know if this will help you but a friend and her friend both have daughters that were born in the same month about a year apart. They go together to purchase clothes and split the cost with the intention that the clothes will be passed down to the younger girl when the older one has grown out of them. Because this gives a distinct advantage to the older child, the older child’s mother pays 60% and my friends pays 40%. This helps even things out in case one of the items is completely ruined.
Interesting! I really like that idea.
Yes, I remember those days with my son. Luckily we found a garage sale, one day, and the lady was cheaply selling very gently used boys clothes of high name brands. I felt like I hit a gold mine. And for a couple of years, that is where I got my son’s clothes.
Plus I used to work at Robinson-May in the kids clothing and hit the clearance racks. My employee discount + the clearance… I was getting Osh-Kosh and Guess clothing at $5 bucks a pop!
So, I simpathize with you and hope that you find your very own goldmine!
Bummer you had a freak incident on the Craiglist post - as if your time was not worth any thing. People amaze me. Have you tried Freecycle? I am part of a Freecycle group and we get toddler clothing posts all the time.
I have to say $4.00 on a used boys shirt is not that bad if it is an item that was of good quality/name brand to begin with. I do have to admit I wouldn’t pay $4.00 on a Kohl’s or Walmart brand resale item.
Check to see if there is a JBF sale in your area (http://www.jbfsale.com/home). I started buying and consigning my childrens clothes last Spring and have been very happy with the quality and pricing found at our local sales. I made back all my money that I spent the previous season so it evens out. I do admit that I had a lot of Gymboree, Janie and Jack, and Childrens Place to sell so I was able to get a good price point on the resale.
I got my sister-in-law to sell her 3 toddler boys clothing this last Fall with JBF and she made over $1000.00 from 3 different sales. It’s a little time consuming washing, ironing, and hanging everything but it is well worth it.
Just a way to save and make some.
Perhaps a second hand kids store like “Kid to Kid” might have some decent prices?
Also - do you have relatives in another area of the country who might get stuff off craigslist for you? Sometimes what is hard to find in one area is easy in another and if you are going to travel there, or shipping is cheap, people can help one another out.
Wow. This is much easier in our area. We get most of our clothes for my son (not quite 3 yet) as hand-me-downs from his cousins, but when we do have to buy stuff, there is plenty of selection at nearby garage sales and the three second-hand children’s stuff stores that are a short drive away.
I can commiserate with you! I just spent several frustrating hours today at Goodwill, Salvation Army, and a few resale shops…only to find that boys clothing is practically impossible to find at the charity places and ridiculously overpriced at the resale places. Why should I pay $10 for a used pair of jeans at a resale shop when I can buy them brand new for $15? Hand me downs are great, but don’t have family or friends with children older than mine and my oldest son’s jeans never fit my younger son…totally different body build.
When my sons were babies I had pretty good luck at resale shops, but once they hit the rough and tumble stage of 3T and on, it was basically useless to try and find used clothing (especially pants or jeans). Now that they are much older, 13 & 9, I thought that surely I’d have better luck. Fat chance.
Wal-Mart & JC Penny’s are still my best bets for boys. They wear out the Wal-Mart jeans too fast, so I get these from Penny’s or sometimes Sears when they’re on sale, but for shirts and basically everything else I go to Wal-Mart. I don’t have time or the patience for garage sales. But, I did check out ebay when I got home tonight and found some pretty good bargains, so that may be where I turn now that my hubby got laid off. good luck!
TinyTexans: Ain’t it the truth! It’s like starting at age three, all boys clothes vanish from all secondhand venues. CRAZY! And I’m with you! When I was growing up, all seven of us were hand-me-down dressed from head to toe, and now I’m sitting here going, “Where did my mom get all of those?” LOL.
I second the Freecycle idea, if there’s one in your area. My niece has scored a ton of free clothes for her boys this way.
Perhaps you could put an ad on Craigslist, or a note up in your church (if you go to one) or at a preschool (ditto) to see if you could organize a small-scale clothing swap. This takes work, I know, but maybe you could make it happen.
This summer, hit every garage sale in your neighborhood — and if you find killer deals be sure to buy “up,” as in “the sizes he’ll need in a year or so.” I saw some amazing kids’ clothes for a quarter or 50 cents last summer.
Best of luck to you. I hate paying retail, too.
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve had to buy clothing for little boys, considering that mine are now 19 and 21. I didn’t have too much trouble finding clothes for them but I used a “system”. I shopped mostly at Saver’s, and I shopped OFF SEASON. I also shopped off season for myself. Now that it’s cold out, I’d be there buying summer clothing. Shorts, swimming trunks and t-shirts, in the next size up. In the middle of summer, I’d be there buying long pants, long sleeved shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants, coats. I was always disappointed when I shopped at Kmart or Walmart for clothing. It seemed to wear out quickly. That is part of the problem I think you are experiencing. We all know how boys wear out their clothing faster, but the quality of items we find available make that happen even faster.
I forgot to also say that I just went to http://www.savers.com and if you fill out their year end survey (before January 2) they will send you a free coupon calendar. I bought the calendar last year and it had some pretty good coupons. Savers website claims the coupons in the calendar are worth over $200.