Question CL or KidToKid?

I am selling off DD's things now. Do you generally make more by listing on CL in groups or by going to a re-sale or consignment shop? I have tons and clothes/shoes and some bigger items too (swing, high chair, exersaucer, etc).

What do you recommend to make the most profit?

You may make more off of CL.. but you have to put more time into selling/marketing the items (pics/listing/responding to ads). If you have a great consignment shop that gives cash versus credit... it will be less profit but less work on your part.

Sometimes my *time* is worth more than the dollar it brings in. If you have the energy - by all means give CL a chance! Or, even ebay.

Not sure which is better, because I have only done mine on Craigslist. Always had great luck!

Last year I had got all of the kids clothes marked/tagged and hung up on hangers (I took all their current clothes off their hangers to use for the garage sale, yeah, PITA, but it was worth it) for a garage sale, because I know I can sell more that way if everything is organized and hung up. Anyways, I decided to do a "preshop" for people on Craiglist so I posted on there, and also a picture of all of the clothes hung up in my garage. I had SO many people come the two nights before my garage sale it was NUTS! I think I sold like $300 before the garage sale even started on Saturday It was so easy, and a few people mentioned they wished more people did it that way. I put in my listing the name brands I had, sizes, and seasons I had.

kid2kid pays 30% of what THEY will sell it for. It's not even worth your gas to drive it there.

I always sell on Craigslist. Most resale places will give you 30-50% of what they sell your item for. I have the time to do the posting on CL and answer emails and set up meeting times with people, so I just do that. I can sell items on CL for as much or more than the resale stores sell for, so it's a lot more profitable that way.

If I had a lot of stuff I wanted to get rid of quickly and easily I would take it to resale.

tumblebug said:

kid2kid pays 30% of what THEY will sell it for. It's not even worth your gas to drive it there.

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Yep. Craigslist all the way. If you have a lot of clothing, separate it into lots, and sell by the bag. I've sold of a trashbag of clothing all in the same size (may not be exact size, but say, it all fit my kid when he was 3 so I put it together) for $30-$40. May not sound like a lot, but considering I buy almost all of our stuff used or off the Target/Walmart clearance rack, its close to what I pay for it.

Toys, do in lots if they're things that are of the same family. But if its something hard to find or sought after, do it alone.

I took things to a resale shop (Once Upon a Child) once and only once. Not only did they act like they were doing me a favor, but they were't great about. "Um, we only take stuff till 5pm Tuesday thru Thursday and it must be in a plastic rubbermaid tub with your name markered on the front". They went through my stuff and chose to keep 2 things out of the bunch! hah! Total waste of time. That's the part people miss, I think. Unless you only buy brand name labels, they don't want your stuff. Since I don't - meh, they're not interested. Worth noting, I not only don't sell there, I won't shop there anymore either. They're too hoity toity for me! Where else can you have the pleasure of buying a USED kids coat for $40. :O No thanks - I'll take the brand new one I got from Old Navy yesterday for $15.

I'm smiley happy today. lol

Takes time to take pics and stuff, but I'm so poor my time isn't worth much.

Thanks so much for the input. I just put all of our little things and what's not worth much in a big box. I will be taking those items to a charity later today. The bigger items will be CL. I will take care of the clothes as soon as I have time to sort and take pics, etc.

I do use a great consignment shop from time to time and I do turn a larger profit from them than the re-sale shops. I have way too much to try that right now though. I guess I'll be donating and CLing 'til the end of the year.

I really like the bi-anual consignment sales. I love Just Between Friends (www.jbfsale.com). I consigned with them this fall and made $260!! I was extatic! But I have a boy and nice boys clothes are hard to find. Girls clothes are abundant... I think that has something to do with it as well. I also sold a few larger items ie a travel system, bumbo, jumper... ect.

Jessica,

In ohio, many of the preschool mother's clubs hold consignment sales in the spring - you get a cut of the profits. This might be a happy medium with the organization being a "good cause" that does some of the work for you.

We do have a great city wide sale in the spring, but I am really short on $$ right now. We don't have enough to pay the mortgage tomorrow. We are borrowing from our parents again. :thumbsdown: I am returning everything I still have a receipt for and selling baby things NOW so I can pay them back ASAP. I was not good at budgeting with our new income after taking more out for FSA to pay for Eva's medical bills. I forgot we make about $300-400 less per month now. Silly me with my mind on overdrive.

Things are getting worked out now, but I need to sell these things as quickly as possible to give ourselves a little cushion until we get out of this FSA thing. I think it ends January 1st, but I'm not sure.

Ugh! I am a horrible money manager. I hate running short all the time. We are really good about staying out of CC debt, but I think some of our bills will be paid on a credit card this week. :thumbsdown:

Oh well, thanks for 'listening' to my vent.

If you need money ASAP, I would look for a resale store that will buy them outright for cash. Some only do consignment. Some only do in-store credit for buyouts.

Or, try to sell them all as a lot, or a few lots on Craigslist. I find that most items I sell on Craigslist take a while to move unless I'm willing to let them go super cheap. To get good prices, you have to wait for a buyer to come along that really wants your items and is willing to pay a fair price.

I'm sorry you're having financial difficulties. That's not fun.

Jess - Splash recently posted about asking to have medical bills forgiven from the insurance company or hospitals. Maybe she has some tips.

I know you might want to get rid of this stuff either way, but it might not be as time sensitive if you get some help on the medical side of things.

Thinking of you.

Just thought I would update for those of you who read about our financial woes. I just totally messed up the budget with DH being out of town and all. Thanks to our wonderfully generous parents who have a little to spare when we don't, we will be paying the mortgage and all the bills this week. They made it to the bank to put money in our account in time for it post by morning. I will be there when the bank opens to transfer the money from our checking account to our mortgage account (we have it set up weird).

Anyway, all is well for the time being. I will continue to sell these things and save what I make. So happy it's not that time sensitive anymore. I HATE to ask our parents for help, but they seemed happy to do it, so we'll take it. I'm sure we'll be paying it back when they are old and living with us, right?

Oh, and about the medical bills. When it became clear that Eva was here to stay for a while, we upped the amount they take out of DH's check for FSA $. We used it to get to our Out Of Pocket max. That's already been paid and the FSA funds just continue to come out to pay that max month by month. I doubt they would change what's already been taken out - or needs to still be taken out to pay retroactively, but I will ask Splash what she thinks.

Thanks for the selling tips. I may be able to save some things for the spring sale and make a little more off of it. We'll see. :thumbsup:

Jess,

Typically, you have a very short window (like 30 days) after a qualifying event to change your benefits in the middle of the year. So, I doubt you could change anything right now. Anyway, I am really glad that things worked out with your family helping.