Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Discovering consignment!


Baby Feet - Megan's new pink suede shoes. They're Hush Puppies! Wooooo ... New they are USD$34. Cheryl got them for CAD$10 at a consignment store.
Originally uploaded by Allan & Cheryl.

Grandpa came today and took Melissa, Michael and Maddy to the playground. The twins were inconsolable about not getting to "GO, GO." So I loaded them up in the double stroller and we headed off on a walk.

Well we found a little consignment store. They sell name-brand, good condition used clothes, shoes, Robeez and knocks-offs, used dance attire, and all sorts of baby toys and gear for way less than retail prices.

I am now kicking myself for donating or passing on most of our prior baby gear. All those little used Robeez I passed on or donated could have been sold! All the matching twins outfits could have been sold. See I figure it's WAY too much hassle to go through the buy'n'sell, and ebay would be even worse. So I've just been donating or passing on to other people. A great stash of stuff has gone back with my mom waiting for one of my sisters to produce children. I just sent a bag of very nice condition too-small twins clothes with my mother-in-law for a co-worker of hers that has twins.

No more. Anything in really good shape from here on out is headed straight for consignment. The inducement - they will evaluate your stuff and let you "trade" for something else in the store on the spot! Of course waiting until your stuff sells and they cut checks IS another option. But knowing me - I'll be just buying more clothes for the girls! Unfortunatly, outside of dance gear - they only carry clothes through size 5. So Melissa and Michael are going to be out of luck.

Megan was in heaven - racks and racks of "Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!" Name brand shoes like "Stride Rite", "Robeez" and "Hush Puppies."

I started trying shoes on them. Maribeth latched onto the first pair - black shiny "boots" and that was it for her: no further interest. She clutched the boots the rest of the time in the store.

Megan was far more picky. As I tried pair after pair on her, she shook her head and said "No, No" and "Not dat!" - all the while struggling to pull the offending shoes off her feet while insistently pointing in the direction of the shoe shelves "NEW SHOES." After about 8 pairs of shoes -I FINALLY figured out which pair she wanted. Pink, REAL suede Hush Puppies! The same color pink as her much beloved pink summer sandals. Now they are a size too big - but she doesn't care and her feet WILL grow!

We spent a bit longer finding a few other items - including some dance tights for Melissa! Her ballet starts next week. I signed up for their frequent buyer card and sale notifications at the checkout.

Our next stop was the local Salvation Army thrift store. Another TINY store - one I have passed often but never gone in until today. Despite its small size, it seemed to have better stuff that a lot of the bigger Salvation Army stores. It'll take things that aren't in good enough shape for consignment. We made only one purchase there - a teeny tiny toddler potty! It doesn't play the "tinkle tunes" anymore BUT it was only $2.29 plux tax. A bargain considering that the cheapest potty at Walmart is $20 and Ikea doesn't carry their $5 little potty anymore.

2 comments:

Mama Bird said...

Wah-Hoo!

Gail at Large said...

Consignment's great! I wish there were a proliferation of consignment shops here like there are on 4th Ave in Vancouver. Also, if you're in North Vancouver I do recall there are scores there, too, specifically for kids/babies.