Second Hand Clothes - Good Bargains or Just Gross?

by Amy Hatch (Subscribe to Amy Hatch's posts) Feb 18th 2009 5:00PM

Categories: Money & Work, Playground Bureau

Remember when thrift-store shopping was the the ultimate sign of indie cool? Hunting down checkered polyester sport coats and ratty sweaters to go with an attitude of studied ennui was all part of the scene.

But then came the kids. Dress my precious babies in pre-enjoyed onesies? Stained pajamas? Worn-out snowsuits? Never. Totally unacceptable.

The only sanctioned hand-me-downs were from my sister, whose taste is exactly the same as mine (organic cotton, bright colors, high-end labels) and whose washing machine I've seen up close and personal.

Kids Consignment Shopping

Do you shop consignment for your kids? In this economy, it pays to have a strategy for second-hand buying. Here are seven ways to get more bang for your consignment buck.

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The first trick for making consignment work is to get organized. Create a spot in your child's room for outgrown clothes, and add things to the bin or pile each time you think of it. When the bin is full, launder everything and decide what to sell and what to donate.

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Sort your cast-offs carefully, because everything you take to the consignment store has to be in pristine condition -- no stains or tears or wear spots. Fortunately, babies and toddlers typically outgrow things before they wear them out, so you should have plenty to sell back. Everything that's not perfect goes in the give-away pile.

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Donate before you shop, but don't just drop your donation and run. Go into Goodwill and look around. See anything in really great condition? Snatch it up and add it to your consignment shop pile. You'll pay pennies for it here, but you will most likely get more back at the consignment shop.

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Don't expect much of a return for high-end duds -- fancy dresses and elaborately smocked pieces, for example. You'll make the most money on play clothes, because that's what people are looking for. Of course, if you're looking to buy a party dress, shop consignment. You'll pay virtually nothing for that fancy frock!

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Find a consignment store that either specializes in children's clothes or has a dedicated area for kids clothing. Make sure you are clear about the store's terms of service, too -- what they buy and how they pay and how long they will hold things. And feel free to negotiate, both when you're selling and when you're buying.

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If possible, get the store to pay you in not in cash but in store credit. Cash is tempting, but you'll get more bang for your buck this way. Take your haul of too-small clothes in and come home with a whole new wardrobe for your tot -- without ever opening your wallet.

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Take good care of your consignment finds -- treat stains immediately and launder gently -- and you might be able to reconsign them when they're too small!

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I sound like a horrible snob, and maybe I am, but the economy is forcing me to re-adjust. I have boxes of hand-me-downs from people I barely know in my basement. These are clothes I would never, ever have considered pre-recession. Need new clothes? Hey, kids, let's go to Gymboree! Take clothing from friends? Mortifying.

I know lots of people don't feel shy about taking hand-me-downs, and it doesn't bother me to give ours away, but I'm still coming to terms with dressing my kids in pre-owned anything. (And I draw the line at used shoes.)

Last week we made a run to the thrift store to drop off some of the baby's outgrown clothes. My daughter roamed the shop while I negotiated with the owner. When she came back holding a white hoodie covered in rhinestones, I opened my mouth to tell her no.

Then I looked at the tag: $4.95. The kid needed a sweatshirt, this one looked clean and she picked it out. We bought it. My daughter was thrilled, but I'm still a little uncomfortable with the idea of being a second-hand family.

What do you think of buying clothes second-hand or from a thrift shop?

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Comments (50)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Trish C 2-18-2009 @ 5:19PM

I think that buying toddler/baby clothes NEW is silly and wasteful, since they grow so fast that they're out of them before they've hardly been worn.

I do all my kids' shopping at a nice consignment shop a couple of towns over. They're pretty picky there about what they'll take (no stains, no damage) and most of the time the clothes still look new when I buy them.

Melissa 2-18-2009 @ 5:32PM

Trish, I totally agree with you! I got hand me downs from friends who had girls before me, and I go to a little store a couple towns over that takes "gently used clothing", because when I give them my stuff, they give me store credit AND a discount! I wash everything before my daughter wears it anyway, whether it's new, from the "gently used" store, or from a yard sale. I'm not against new stuff, but when I do buy new, it's usually from Walmart or Target! Anything from Macy's is usually from my boss and his wife, or my bff who works there and gets a nice discount!

Trish C 2-18-2009 @ 5:38PM

I really prefer to buy secondhand high-end labels over buying new Walmart/Target. I've found the clothes are better made and last longer.

Kendall 2-18-2009 @ 7:28PM

I'm in total agreement with you both. Kids grow sooo fast! And they don't exactly keep clothes in pristine condition, either. For me, "new" is a mindset--your 3-year-old is still going to think the used t-shirt is new, and if it has a superhero on it, even better.

http://www.sheamediaco.com

Tracey 2-18-2009 @ 9:55PM

I also buy used clothes from consignment stores and through consignment sales. My kids don't realize they're not new, and wouldn't care if they did know. The clothes are all high quality and I in turn take great care of them and sell them back. It's almost like "borrowing" clothes for the one or two seasons they get to wear them. With the money I save, we are able to go and do special things like the circus, concerts, tubing, zoo and children's museum memberships, baseball games, etc.

liz 2-20-2009 @ 2:18PM

I am a big "2nd hand buyer". It hurts to pay full price when I can
find name brand items at "stores" some people won't step into. With the "recession" it is not hard to continue shopping because I have done so recession or no recession. When I can buy a beautiful Talbot jacket and pay $1.00, I am sold.

DOLLI 2-20-2009 @ 3:06PM

YOU ARE SO RIGHT. AND THE BEST PART IS NO ONE KNOWS BUT YOU. AND YOUR KIDS CAN HAVE MORE AND BE VERY FASHIONABLE (TRUST ME) AND AN ADDED BONUS. THE MONEY YOU SACE CAN HELP TOWARDS OTHER THINGS LIKE FOOD AND UTILITIES

kim 2-18-2009 @ 9:05PM

i look for decent thing where ever i can find them.. and if that is ar second hand places then yay me.. being a mom of 4 , i have to make everything count and cant always afford high anything fr everyone.. i too raw the line at shoes ... but everything else im good with.. and honestly i find better things at these shops.. than i can a department store..
but hey if you can afford to buy a baby a name label and want to waste your money there then that is your choice.. my fanily is ahand me down family.. wityh in reason of course .. but none the less help is hlp no matter how you get it .

Kathy 2-18-2009 @ 9:22PM

There are some really smart moms on this board! I have been exploring thrift/resale shops since the 1960s! My kids were born in the 70's, and we had great fun picking up some priceless stuff! Of course, we also shopped in department stores, but the real treasures were the originally expensive things we picked up in resale. I am really careful now, though, looking for things for my grandchildren. The fabric content and country of origin are a real concern; so we still need to be careful and choosy! Also, I have a lot of really good designer clothes in MY closet that were found in thrift/resale shops.

mickey 2-20-2009 @ 2:24PM

Hey, there are some really smart dads too. My kids rarely need dressy clothes (slacks, white shirt, ties) but when they do, man I can dress them for 10 bucks, and good clothes too. I also found my teenager three pairs of Levi Dockers in his exact size, two were in great condition $7 bucks each and one was brand new still with the tag $10. We buy a lot of new looking T shirts and windbreakers. Hey, you do what you have to do. I would shop there even if I didn't have to. Too bad for the retail stores, boo hoo.

AngelaFay 2-18-2009 @ 7:53PM

My girls almost exclusively wear second-hand clothing. It's less expensive, it's soft, pre-shrunk, part of a re-use/recycle mentality AND everything you buy new looks the same after you wash it. The trick -as othe posters have said- is to be selective about your purchases. I have a local consignment shop that I frequent and I make my way through the local GoodWill about once a month...you'd be surprised how many high-end new or washed once items you'd find. Besides, I don't want to raise my girls to have the opinion that they *must* have new brand name items. That's a recipe for brat-itude.

Dorothy Lestha 2-18-2009 @ 9:08PM

When I was growing hand-me-downs was almost all I wore.

When I started making money on my own. I apssed up hand me- downs never wore them or excepted them, My kids either I gave thier clothes away but nover re-cycled clothes.

re-cycled clothes are in for me now. Why pay a small fortune when I can pay much less at a yard sale or thirft shop.

My kids what ever they do is up to them.

Dorothy

Sabrina 2-18-2009 @ 8:15PM

There's this myth out there that things from Salvation Army, Goodwill, and other second hand shops are all garbage. But it's not true. Yes, it takes you longer to find something nice, but it's worth the price. Yes, you have to wash them when you get them home. But how much different is it than buying new clothes that have been tried on in a dressing room? Not much.

I also suggest hitting up your neighbors with kids a few sizes bigger than yours to see if you have anything to trade, and yard sales. Yard sales are so wonderful for this sort of thing, and there's a chance you'll find clothes tags-on too.

Jordan 2-18-2009 @ 8:21PM

I have to say, I agree with the others, Amy. I buy stuff new but I've never been opposed to garage sale finds or secondhand stores, either. I have never found things to be stained or worn, I guess I just shop in the nice ones! And I love to find nice hannas, gap, or mini Boden stuff that is so affordable.

Amy 2-18-2009 @ 8:49PM

I am a thrift store shopper...for me and my children. I have a washing machine and use it to clean all the clothes I buy. I also buy shoes from the thrift stores too. I picked up a pair of leather Stride Rites for my son yesterday for $8 and an almost new pair of red Ecco Mary Janes for me last month for $4. I think it's smart to buy second-hand. I'm able to buy more and nicer brands than I would be able to afford first-hand. Also, if we think globally, there are many who would find the fact that our children have more than one pair of shoes (used or new) silly and unnecessary.

Jennifer 2-18-2009 @ 9:10PM

I don't think I'm a snob at all, and I don't shop at used or consignment shops. The few times I ever went into those shops, I found the prices crazy high for ugly/used clothing. Almost all of my kids' clothing was purchased during sales, and from what I have seen, I have paid about the same or even less for good quality new clothes than what I could have purchased used. Plus, I don't want to waste time hunting and searching hoping to find the gems among the junk. I do almost all my shopping online for the kids and take advantage of great sales and free shipping. It helps that I live in CA with great weather so most clothing can go year round as long as I have some sweaters and coats too.

That said, I do like the few hand-me-downs we get from my SIL because she has similar taste. I really haven't found a reasonably priced consign/used/thrift store with good quality clothing for kids. I don't think I'm wasting by purchasing new either because I've been able to pass our kids' clothes to families who are really hurting and need them. If there were a store that had both a good quality selection and reasonable prices, I would be all for it.

isisaquaria 2-19-2009 @ 10:19AM

I do not use them to purchase clothes either---mainly because everytime I go into one I get sick from the smell and it doesn't wash out--I actually went with a friend to drop stuff off and ended up having to throw out the clothes I was wearing because the smell. And it was a very clean store-

I am one of six and the only handmedowns I wore were the homemade dresses for first pics, first xmas, first easter--washed and put away for next child--wore once by ea child. My parents felt it important that we all had our own stuff and our own idenity, and I agree.

And besides, to make my three girls even wear each others HMD and then buy my one son everything that gets to be his and his alone--NOT FAIR. Although he has alot more clothes than his twin sister--the 13yo and 6yo girls both love clothes, and all of us are so excited to have a boy to dress.

Heather @ Domestic Extraordinaire 2-18-2009 @ 9:25PM

I have always shopped second hand or clearance/ultra sale racks. I always inspect every item of clothing that I am purchasing and wash it before we wear it. Living off one income-I have done what I can to utilize our resources more responsibly. I don't buy used shoes but you can't really clean the shoes like you could a pair of jeans. I have a neighbor that is always giving me hand me downs for my younger daughter and we don't end up using most of them because they are stained or really out of style. I do share the girls' clothes as The Chicken out grows them, but I make sure whatever I hand down or donate is in like new condition, if not it gets pitched in the trash or if i can use the material for something else I will.

My sister (step) on the other hand never uses hand me downs for her boys. Even from boy to boy-I think mainly because of the hideous clothes she had to wear at her mom's house that once belonged to her cousins or something 15 plus years earlier. I say to each his own I guess. Good Luck with whatever you decide.

SoMo 2-18-2009 @ 9:33PM

My kids are small and wear clothes for much longer than most. Example, my 6 year old is still wearing shirts that are 4T and my 3 yr old son is wearing 18 mos shorts this summer. I got 2 summers or more out of shorts for both kids, which is good since we live in the Deep South.

I use to buy everything at regular price, but that is when we had the money and one child. I have learned that I don't need to do that. I rarely look at regular priced clothing in the stores and can usually get Gymbo, GAP at Target prices or less. You just need to know when to go and buy ahead.I am already buying for next winter on the sales going on, now.

I have done the consignment shops. I don't really do thrift stores, because I am not a hunter. I have learned the good consignment shops and can find a lot of good items there. I have even broken my own rule and bought shoes for the kids. The point is that most of these items don't get worn much and sometimes you can find store brand clothes with the tags still on them.

I usually try to look for second hand special occassion clothes, because that, in my mind, is a waste. Although, I will let my daughter wear special occassion dresses whenever she wants just so it doesn't feel like a waste. I have, also, used stores such as Marshall's and TJMaxx and have found such names as Plum Pudding at good prices. Really, there is no reason to buy at regular prices if you are willing to take a little time and look. The biggest thing is sometimes you just have to wait for that bargain to appear, but when it does it is very satsifying.

Hillary 2-18-2009 @ 11:31PM

I don't think there is anything wrong with 2nd hand anything as long as it's inn good shape. This economy is horrible and we are trying to stretch every dollar. With a little boy on the way and only girls in the family we will definately be looking for any deals. We started shopping for lots of clothes on eBay because the prices are so cheap if you get a couple of bad pieces (meaning a little too worn or not your style). you can always donate them and not feel like you really wasted money.

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