Getting Rid of Baby Stuff

I would be interested in looking at what you have. I am a mother of three and in the process of opening a in home daycare. I would love to know what you have and how much. I could also use some clothes for my little girls. Let me know!

I feel you never get enough dollarwise when you sell clothes on craigslist or consign. I donate all my clothes to Goodwill or Salvation Army & take the tax deduction. It's probably more savings at taxtime than it would be if I sold it all. No worries about meeting strangers either.

You can sell a lot of your best stuff at a consignment store - I like The Tree House in Redmond @ 15742 Redmond Way, ###-###-#### . You get half of the selling price and you can get an idea of what things sell for by looking around the store. One drawback is you can only bring in 6 or 10 items per week (the amount varies depending on how their inventory level is). Call them for more info on being a first-time consigner.
For items you can't resell or that you don't want to hassle with selling or would just like to donate, the absolute best option is Eastside Baby Corner in Issaquah right off 1-90, exit 15. They are a non-profit, all volunteer organization that works with many local agencies and groups to get items for babies and child. They only accept donations when they are open on Monday evenings and Thursday mornings. Check out www.babycorner.org for more info. You can also use your donation(s) as a tax write-off if you itemize your taxes.
Good luck! It's great to pass stuff on as items can become outdated so fast and it is great to get more use out of them by others who will be so grateful.

Equipment and bigger toys I would definitely put on Craigslist - they usually go quickly and I've had really good luck selling/buying baby gear on there. Clothes you could try to sell on there, but to save time, sell them in lots (by size, or season, or style, etc.). You could also take clothes to a baby/kids consignment store. Smaller toys or common toys are usually harder to sell. You might want to try on Craigslist, but if you have no luck, I would just donate them (which is a tax write-off) or give them away on FreeCycle.org (which is FANTASTIC!!!). Personally, I would give things like diapers and formula away and probably donate them to places that help battered women or low-income single moms. They always need things like those and would be so grateful! If you still want money for those items, Craigslist is really the only good option. :-)

I take all my gently used items to Me 'N Moms (Ballard, Issaquah, Lynnwood) and consign them there. The things they don't accept I take to Goodwill or save for a thrift sale, and as far as diapers and formula- there is a shelter for women and children in Seattle that can get them to mothers in need immediately!

Hopelink is a great place to donate. You won't get any money out of it, but the recipients REALLY need and appreciate the supplies. I qualify for help from hopelink as do many of my friends who are in greater need than I...so its first hand experience. They don'r resell stuff, just give it to needy moms.

Consider donating some of your items to the Eastside Baby Corner here in Issaquah. Here's their website for more information: http://www.babycorner.org/

I volunteer with this organization. It is quite impressive what they do for local area moms in need.

And this would certainly "help someone" ... probably a lot of someones :)

Hi, M.! I have to second the Eastside Baby Corner idea. I have volunteered for them before and they are a wonderful organization that would fit the "easy and meaningful" bill. They would take not only the clothes and equipment but also the supplies like diapers, etc. They're not picky, either ~ you drop it all off and they sort through, pick out what they can use, and get rid of the rest. At least that's the way it worked last I knew. As far as I know they are still located in a warehouse back behind the Burger King that's in Issaquah at the T-intersection of Gilman and 900. A very good cause!!

I would go with craiglist's I have a lot of friends whom all just had baby girls and are looking for things and are always checking on Graigslist for stuff. You ould also have a yad sale to help get rid of some stuff or donate it to consingment stores and you get 50% of the profit. Goodluck.

This won't make you any money, but it would be meaningful... you could donate to Hopelink charity. They are in several towns up here and serve the local communities. Good luck in whatever you decide :)

Craigslist is the best place. I personally, am looking for lots of baby stuff on there and I have already bought some. As well, I have sold a lot of stuff on craigslist too. You will get a whole lot more money for the item if you sell the bigger items on craigslist rather than at a consignment store. As well, consignment stores can be rather picky. So, if you are selling clothes, then take them to a consignment store, if it is equipment, then sell it on craigslist. If it is nice and clean you will get more money and sell them quicker too. Hope that helps.

We have had MUCH success on craigslist, both selling and purchasing. It's pretty easy if you are descriptive in your ad, put up at least one or two good pictures and explain that they must be able to pick up between whatever times work best for you, and I always say, "cash only"--because I don't know if the person who wants to write a check is legit, nor do I want to deal with finding out! I never post my address, just my neighborhood. When someone contacts me and says they'd like to purchase the item, then I either work out a neutral meeting place (like if my husband isn't home) or a time for them to come by.

I tried consignment, but I felt so ripped off. Why would I haul a bunch of baby stuff to a store that I had to make an appointment to bring things, only to have it sit and wait, and wait to see if it sold--and if it did, to get only HALF (or less at some places) of what it sold for and then only get store credit until the store "cuts their checks once a month"? Perfect example(my first and last time using a certain very popular local consignment shop): I had some Pottery Barn nursery bedding to sell and took the entire set, some pieces still in packaging--worth about $450 new so maybe $175 to consign--it got tagged, sat on a shelf for whatever their time limit was and didn't sell. I picked it up after the X amount of days were up (I think it was 90)--only one of the items had sold (the mobile), brought the rest home, took good pictures, put it up on craigslist and sold all of it for almost $200 to a very grateful mom (who was trying to match her children's rooms and had the older kids version of the same set) within 24 hours! I made all of the money rather than splitting it with the store who really didn't do anything to encourage the sale of the merchandise other than charge me 50% for some shelf space in a not very easy to access part of their store. I think it's nice that it's an option, and if I wanted to sell a bulk amount of clothes (which I usually just donate) I might, but it's not really for me.

Good luck!

There will be a great Children's consignment sale at Green Lake Community center May 18-20, 2012. You really should check it out, you will be hooked! You can also consign your daughters outgrown clothing, furniture and accessories and earn some cash. At the end of the sale, you may donate your unsold items to the chosen local charity. Here is the website for more information: www.perfectlyoutgrown.com

www.zwaggle.com is a great spot to "sell" your used kids' goods for points, then you can use the points to buy other kids' stuff.

You can go to your local food bank, or one in an outlying area to see if they want the diapers/formula. I know that ours in Maple Valley would LOVE that stuff, there are a lot of moms out there who can't make all their ends meet! Diapers are very expensive and hard for a low-income family to afford.

Or, we have Vine Maple Place here too, an organization that helps single moms who are fleeing an abusive situation by giving them transitional housing. http://www.vinemapleplace.org/Program_and_Services.htm
They might have a young mom who could use your help.

We give to Goodwill and ask for a receipt, which we include with our taxes. Not money outright, but helps make our tax return bigger at the end of the tax year.

Best of luck to you!

I agree with craigslist, and you can try a local consignment shop. There is one in Redmond, (I think it's called Tree House) and they are all around if you search. They help someone else get quality things at a great price and you get 50% of that :) I've done that for years with high quality things...the rest goes in a bin ;)
Take care,
Liz

freecycle.com, but you can't charge for it
Eastside Baby Corner http://www.babycorner.org/, but again you can't charge for it.

I would encourage you to try the JBF sale. I have participated in 3 or 4 of the sales and have been extremely successful - much more than consignment stores. They have a great link on the website where you can easily enter all of the info for your tags, I typically do all of the prep work at night after my daughter is in bed. Then have all of my items sorted by department for drop off so I am in and out quickly.

P. H.

If you want to spend very little time trying to sell the items but get a good amount of money for the items I would suggest Craigslist.

If you want to spend a little bit of time at least a few hours plus gas and drive time I would suggest bringing the stuff to consignment stores and have them sell the stuff you will get a cut of the sale but nothing like you would get on craigslist.

If you want to spend lots of time and possibly get lots of money or possibly get very little money you can have a garage sale.

You can also donate the smaller less costly things and just try to sell the big stuff.

If you really just want the stuff gone Freecycle is also good.

I personally have had good success with both Craigslist and with consignment stores but I live within 2 miles of three consignment stores so it is easy to just go to each of them and see what each will take.

Okay, after I wrote this, I read your responses and am now doing some editing.

I guess my suggestion makes this an "I third the Eastside Baby corner" idea.

The first time I went through baby stuff to give away, I gave some to a consignment store in Ballard. It's (was? I don't know if it's still there..Mother's and me? Mommies and me?) a great store but after all was said and done, the money I got back was insignificant compared to what I'd initially spent. Since then, I've tried to take my things to Eastside Baby Corner ( www.babycorner.org )
They are a community service organization that provides support across the board...all counties, over 160 shelters are helped by this facility. It's an amazing place.

And for my darling, I can't bear to part with it items, I try to give them to someone in my circle who has kids...that way I get to see the clothes being worn again and I love seeing the old outfit on a new kid.

Good luck!

Hi M.,
You might consider selling your items at the upcoming Just Between Friends Sale. JBF is a semi-annual childrens consignment sale and the Fall Sale will be held the first weekend in October at the Renton Community Center. Please take a look at our website at www.seattle.jbfsale.com to learn more about us!

In a nutshell, you price and tag your items using our free online tagging website - drop them off on Friday, October 3rd and you will receive 70% (less a one time per sale $10 Consignor fee) on any thing that sells!! You decide if you want to pickup any unsold items on Sunday OR you may choose to donate them to our charitable partner. We partner with The Renton Clothes Bank (a 501c3 charitable org) and you will receive a receipt for anything you donate.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help!
K.

K. Koitzsch
Owner and Chief Operating Officer
JBF Consignment Sales, LLC
www.jbfsale.com
E-mail: ____@____.com
Address: JBF Consignment Sales, LLC, PO Box 68041, Seattle, WA 98168
Phone: ###-###-#### Fax: ###-###-####

Check out "Why We Love JBF!" on You Tube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTrb43KetYg