Tips for Shopping Children's Consignment Sales for the Best Bargains

Shop like the pros by following these tips for shopping children's consignment sales. While everyone wants their children to look nice and be dressed in the latest styles, budgetary constraints can make that problematic.

Children's consignment sales are a budget-friendly solution for keeping your child's wardrobe fashionable at a fraction of the cost. As a plus, you can feel good about reusing clothing.

Volunteering Is an Excellent Investment

Something most shopping sale pros agree on is the value of volunteering your time at the sale. Most sales hold a pre-sale event, and give volunteers shopping preference. The best bargain basement treasures are usually found prior to or at the very beginning of such events, so a small investment of time can yield huge dividends in terms of maximizing your budget dollars.

Plan Your Shopping and Budget

Speaking of budgeting, another vital tip is to establish a budget for the sale. Inventory your children's current wardrobe and look for gaps to fill. For example, is her favorite sweater too tight? Plan to look for another, and buy it a size larger for good measure. How about his beloved blue jeans? If you can see through the patches and holes, add that item to your shopping list. Your goal is to get to the sale with a listed of the clothing your family needs, and know the desired colors to coordinate with other clothing. Being prepared with a list saves time and money.

Knowledge is Power

Know the most popular brand labels for children's clothes and search for those brands; Oshkosh, Carter, Hanes, and Health-tex, for instance. Do a little research to find out the price points of new clothing in those brands, so you can compare and get the best value.

Inspect the clothing prior to purchase; most consignment sales are final sales. Look for zippers that work, garments with all the buttons, and clothing that is in overall good, wearable condition.

Measure your children before you go, and add those measurements to your shopping list for ready reference. At a minimum, you need to know chest, waist, inseam, and hip measurements. You may want to tuck a tape measure into your bag or pocket so you can measure apparel on the spot.

Squeeze Those Pennies

Make sure you get every possible amount of savings you can from each sale. Many vendors begin to mark down the merchandise as the sale progress. What this means to you is the final day of the sale may save you as much as 50 to 75 percent off the original prices. While the selection will not be as broad and deep as it was at the beginning of the sale, the additional savings can add up, especially if you plan well, and stock up on items for the next season or size.