What would J16 do?

[Flair Underwood]

This is a completely random, slightly ethical question.

If you:
- Had a TON of girl clothes from NB - 3t.
- Were pregnant with a boy.

Would you:
A) Donate everything to a shelter who could give it away to free to mom/kids in need?
B) Consign as much as you can and get cash or store credit at the consignment store to buy boy clothes?

Granted - IDK if I'm having a boy or girl until the A/S.  But this is honestly a thought I'm having lately.  It's so OBVIOUS to donate it, but it's also painfully obvious how much more budget conscious I'll have to be with two in daycare.

So - honestly: What would you do?

[shan]

Will your family feel complete after 2 kids?

If so, I would consign anything brand name/high resell value that would be worth more to help build up some money for a boys wardrobe.

The other stuff, I would donate.

Also, I find I get much more for quality brand name clothes on my area fb buy/sell/trade than I ever would at a shop. More trouble, but higher return.

Eta: with two in daycare at a tune of $2400/month (omg) , we will not have much/any fun money. So my view is from someone who is trying to save some dollars.

[Flair Underwood]

shan, oh yes. We are two and done, for sure! Thanks for your honest input. I plan to Facebook sell all the "gear" - jumparoos, swings, etc... but the amount of time to sell clothing on there seems so daunting. I like your plan. I have a lot of less then lovely "Boutique" kids clothes from older aunts and grandmas that still have the tags on - all that is getting consigned for SURE.

[Kevinmac]

I would consign what I could and donate whatever isn't sold.

[frecklesnbrains]

I'd be curious to know just how much money you can make from consigning... Is it enough to make it worthwhile in terms of the extra time & effort that may be required? I like shan's suggestion of consigning the stuff that may have highest value, and donating the rest. But honestly if I thought I'd only make a few bucks on each item I may not bother.

[nymama917]

I think it all depends on how much you need to save. If I was sitting well financially I would probably donate. If not, then I would 100% consign/sell what I could get good money for and donate the rest. I see absolutely nothing wrong with selling....especially to help yourself out with the second one!

[Flair Underwood]

frecklesnbrains, It's my understanding it's something like 40 cents on the dollar of the selling price of the garment. So, if I consign a dress that sells for $8.00 - i'd make $3.20. Then if I use that for store credit, I get an additional 15% off the price of items. You're right - i need to look into the process of it. I know they only take "in season" garments and only so many from each person. Also - there is only one consignment store in my little area, so I don't have any other options.

Thanks, guys - for some reason I didn't even think about selling what I could and donating the rest. Pregnancy brain??

[athn64]

Jan 13, 2016 9:21:18 GMT -5 Kevinmac said:

I would consign what I could and donate whatever isn't sold.

This. We have a local consignment sale here that occurs twice a year. The donate a percentage to the local domestic violence shelter and you can also mark your items as donate if they don't sell.

[broadwaymama]

I would consign...in fact I did! I donated a lot too when I found out #2 was a girl. Then if you are done having babies donate as they grow out!

[bighair12]

We thought we were one and done. So I consigned a lot. It wasn't as much as I would liked. But I didn't want store credit. But some money is better than none. Plus our consignment stores will donate the items they don't want.

[mladerri]

I agree with everyone else. I would consign first. Other option is to let a friend/family member borrow. A lot of people gave me things for ds and it was really nice to have those extras for free.

[shoogars]

I would consign. You can always donate what they won't take and he clothes baby number 2 outgrows.

[sandandsea]

First, are you having more kids? If yes, keep them.

Second, go through and pick out any even kind of gender neutral clothes to keep.

Third, how tight of a budget are you talking? Consigning clothes will get you very little back, so is the time/effort really worth it? And from what I've heard, most clothes are rejected unless in perfect condition or very pricey brands. The every day Carters, GAP, TCP, Osh Kosh, etc. clothes are always rejected here. Some place also will give you store credit for consigned clothes instead of cash, so that may or may not work for you.

Fourth, I'd donate, because even if I got $100-200 for the clothes, I'd rather have donated them, gotten the tax write off, and save the time and hassle of consigning.

[babyzebra]

I definitely wouldn't consign them for the reasons sandandsea mentioned. If you're set on getting some cash, you should sell them on your local FB yard sale group. I think you'll get way more money and it will be much less of a hassle.

[Flair Underwood]

sandandsea, definitely done after this one. Thanks for the advice - I'll definitely go through and pick out anything gender neutral - but I'm sure after NB stage, I have almost nothing. I do need to look more into the process. Thank you for your input!!

[shan]

And I agree with pp about spending some time going over the clothes and make sure they're stain free, then organizing them by size/season and listing them in large lots for a flat rate.

[Flair Underwood]

shan, perhaps that's something I can do pre-baby. I am totally paranoid about meeting strangers on the internet though. Silly!

[taberbtb]

I agree with others and say sell/consign. I am in the same situation with 3 massive Rubbermaid totes of outgrown girl clothes, and DD isn't quite 1 yet.

If this LO is a boy I plan on saving a very small amount of the cutest clothing for my sisters who don't have children yet and selling what I can of the rest.

[shan]

Jan 13, 2016 13:12:05 GMT -5 Flair Underwood said:

shan, perhaps that's something I can do pre-baby. I am totally paranoid about meeting strangers on the internet though. Silly!

I do "porch pickup only". So they have my address, I leave it on the porch, and they put money under my mat. I've never had anyone steal from me. However, if you're nervous I would wait to let them pickup until the weekend when your SO is there.

[shan]

Jan 13, 2016 14:17:39 GMT -5 taberbtb said:

I agree with others and say sell/consign. I am in the same situation with 3 massive Rubbermaid totes of outgrown girl clothes, and DD isn't quite 1 yet.
.

My DD just turned three and I have 8. EIGHT. Tubs of clothes she's grown out of. I was thrilled this was another girl so I can use them again. I'm sure there are lots of things that were never worn or only once!

[frecklesnbrains]

We should have a TCF June'16 clothing swap and/or sell. As an FTM, I'll buy used boy's clothes off of any of you. Or STMs expecting a second of the different sex can swap with another STM with the opposite problem.

[mamrotu73]

I have a bunch of boy clothing but #2 is a girl. My plan is to keep my favorites and anything neutral. The local MOMS Club I'm in here has a clothing exchange a couple times a year. So I'll take the rest to that and pick up girl stuff to replace it.

[lakecountrygal]

I would sell and consign what I could first and then donate. We only plan on having 2 as well and I'm in the same boat except with boy clothes.

[csat]

This is what I will be doing with all of DS's clothes I've saved (everything), we are having a girl

1. Keeping as much gender neutral stuff as I can, I think this is much easier handing down from boy to girl vs the other way around.

2. Consigning whatever I can and using the proceeds to buy clothes for baby DD. There is a great little children's clothes cosign shop where I bought a lot of DS's stuff for very good prices. Like most places they give you a higher proportion in credit vs cash for your sold items

3. Donating whatever is leftover or saving for other family members although I really don't want to store it

Don't feel bad about trying to cosign, kids are expensive!

[birdhut]

I just took some stuff to a secondhand store in town that I knew we wouldn't use again. I don't think it's wrong to do that before donating if it helps your family save and helps to get clothes for the other child. I agree with others to consign what you can and donate the rest.

[regal]

I would consign, then donate. I had a ton of girls clothes given to me when I had DS2 that I was told to donate if I had a boy. I ended up getting about $175 off it which I then donated to charity.

It did take some time since I sorted it into stuff that I knew they wouldn't take. Some stuff I passed on to other people I knew who were in need and then donated the rest.

I've dealt with Once Upon a Child and you generally get about 40% of whatever they will sell it for. They only take excellent quality, usually name brand and 1-2 years old.