Just Between Friends Sale

I've blogged about the Just Between Friends Sale before see here. Most of you have probably heard of it but for those that haven't it is a children's consignment sale held twice a year at different locations all across the country. The one I attend is where it all started and as I understand is the motherload as far as the size and amount of goods at each sale. The building it's held in is 58,000 sf of space and has over 1,500 consignors with an estimated 200,000 items. It's HUGE!!! 

This year was my first year to consign and I am officially hooked!!! Consignors set their own prices for their items and make 65% of the sale of each item. If you volunteer you can make an additional 5% for a total of 70% on your sold items. Which I did this year also for the first time. I only had to volunteer for a 5 hour shift and I received the additional 5%, I got to shop early (which is HUGE) and I also received a skip the line pass for checkout (I didn't even realize how amazing this benefit was until the day of and when I was finally ready to check out and the line was at least 1 1/2 long).  

I had 140 pieces that I put into the sale to be sold and I sold all but 9 items. I haven't received my check yet (it's mailed to you within two weeks of the sale) but I made approximately $400!!! Isn't that AMAZING!!! It is relatively simple to prepare your items and they have an online barcode tagging system that makes it very easy. I had a lot to prepare this time because it was my first time and I was doing 3 years worth of clothing. This fall I will have a lot also since I was only able to put clothing for the spring and summer seasons into this sale. But after I consign in the fall/winter sale this year I will have a lot less each time to have to prepare and sell which will be less time consuming. I have already got my bins ready to go and labeled for my fall/winter items. And after the new baby outgrows all of our large baby items, such as strollers, carseats, bouncers, toys I will consign all of those items as well. 

Here are some of the things I had laid out while preparing.

This year I was on a mission to buy all of Jackson's spring/summer wardrobe during my shopping trip and also to maybe get a few things for the new baby. I scored big time on Jackson and I also got a book I was wanting to read for the new baby, breast milk storage container, Medela unopened microwave bag sterilizers and a few outfits for the new baby. Here is my haul in the picture below minus the two pair of shoes I got for Jackson and the two new Duo Maternity nursing bras I bought (I forgot to include in picture).

Jackson's items minus two pair of shoes.

All of the items minus the shoes and bras.

  I spent $220.83 on all of it! MAJOR SCORE!!! I would have easily spent double that if I had purchased all of this at retail shops. Some of the clothing items for Jackson and Kate still had the original tags on them and were brand new. The two pair of shoes I got for Jackson were both brand new and would have retailed for at least $50 for just those two items, I paid $11 for both. The milk storage container I bought was only $4 and it looked brand new and it retails for around $20. All the clothes were name brand with the exception of a few Target and Walmart brand play shorts I bought for Jackson that looked brand new. In total for Jackson I got 4 pairs of play shorts, 5 play shirts, 6 pairs of khaki and navy shorts (Gymboree, GAP, Old Navy and Polo), 13 Polo type shirts (8 were GAP, the rest were Old Navy, Children's Place, Polo), and two pair of shoes (Keds sneakers and Kenneth Cole leather flip flops). Most of the items for Kate were Carter's, GAP, Old Navy and a few brand new outfits from Target. Also got a swaddle wrap and the cutest Gymboree bathing suit for her.

I encourage all of you to check out a sale near you. I know that not all of the sales are as large as the one I attend but it would totally be worth your time to check it out. And if you have lots of baby and children's clothing laying around you are wanting to get rid of I would strongly encourage you to think about consigning. You make wayyyyy more money at the JBF sale than you would selling in a garage sale or taking to a consignment store. And if your interested in volunteering, it's totally worth it for the shop early pass (which you also get to do if you just consign, but if you volunteer you get in before all the consignors do) and the skip the line pass. If i hadn't had the skip the line pass this year I don't know if I would have been able to stand for another 1 1/2 in that line because this pregnant momma had literally shopped till I about dropped.

Just Between Friends Sale

For those of you that haven't heard about the Just Between Friends Sale, you will be so happy you read this and hopefully go find one in your area and save LOTS of money on items you would have bought anyway.

It's a children's consignment event held twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. You can find clothes, shoes, toys, cribs, strollers, car seats, bedding, play-sets, highchairs, books, room decor, Halloween costumes, swimsuits, athletic gear, maternity clothes.....the list could go on forever. Just wait to see the pictures below and you will get a better idea of what I'm talking about. You can get all of these items for a fraction of the cost compared to retail prices. I'll show you what I bought this year and give you the retail price versus the price I paid. Your mouths will seriously hit the floor. The Tulsa JBF sale that I go to is held in the Exchange Center with over 58,000 sf of space.They had over 1500 consignors this fall and more than 200,000 pieces of clothing. IT'S HUGE!!! I started going to this sale in the spring of 2008 after my son was born in the fall of 2007. I couldn't believe all the bargains I found. My only regret was not knowing about it while I was pregnant. It seriously made me kinda sick to walk around and see the EXACT same items I had paid full price for just a few months ago now on sale for a fraction of the cost. I've now been to the sale six times as just a buyer and I think that next spring I am going to sign up to be a consignor. Consignors set their own prices and make up to 70% on the items they sell. It's a win-win for everybody. You get to clean out your closets and attic and make money and then use that money to buy new stuff you would have probably bought anyway but now for a fraction of the cost.

I know some of you are probably saying, "Used clothes and toys? That's not for me." or I don't want to have to dig through a bunch of junk to find a few good items." Well let me try and convince you otherwise. I too had that mentality originally when I first heard about this event. I didn't like the idea of buying used stuff to give to my child. I think I felt this way because I had this picture in my head of dirty, worn out crap that nobody else wanted. I also pictured it being a bunch of bins you would have to dig through to find maybe a couple good items. I won't even go to the Victoria Secret Semi-Annual sale because the thought of digging in little plastic bins for my size bra and panties while other women try and grab them away from you makes me crazy!!! I'll take my Wal-Mart and Target panties thank you very much! =) This event is NOT like that. It is so well organized and laid out, some retail stores I shop could learn a thing or two, and its held in a clean, air conditioned facility. It has all the clothes organized by sizes and hung on double bar racks in perfectly lined rows. (My OCD side loves this!) All the shoes, costumes, swimsuits and maternity clothes are also organized by size. The toys are organized by age and the larger toys are organized by outdoor or indoor use. All the baby gear items are grouped together by type-strollers, bouncers, car-seats, bedding, jumpers, walkers, etc. They only allow gently used items to be sold. Clothes can't be stained, ripped or torn up. Many items I've found still had the original tag on them. Shoes are all inspected carefully, they don't allow worn out, scuffed up or unwashed shoes into the sale. All toys that take batteries are required to have batteries in them so you can test to see if they actually work. Anyway, I could go on and on about all the wonderful things but until you go to your first sale you won't be able to fully grasp the big picture. They currently have sales in 23 states and are always expanding. Hopefully you can find one near you and start saving money this fall.

Here are the items I bought this time at the sale:

Little Tikes Desk & Chair, Crayola Double Sided Art Easel, Black and Decker Jr. Power Workbench, Little People Race Track, Lite Bright, Touch & Feel Flash Cards, Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera & Case, Little Tikes Digital Camera.

Clothes. All of these are from Gap, Old Navy and Children's Place. 

I went to Amazon.com and was able to find the exact same items for everything except the clothes and the Little Tikes desk which I found on Ebay. Here are the retail prices with the price I paid next to each one.

1. Little Tikes Desk and Chair: Ebay: $99.99 I Paid: $25
2. Crayola Double Sided Easel: Amazon: $61.99 I Paid:$14.00
3. Black & Decker Jr Power Workbench: Amazon: $69.99 I Paid: $10.00
4. Little People Race Track: Amazon: $38.99 I Paid: $6.00
5. Lite Bright: Amazon: $17.14 I Paid: $6.00 (Brand New-Never Opened)
6. Touch & Feel Flash Cards: Amazon: $9.95 I Paid: $4.00
7. Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera & Case: Amazon: $83.97 I Paid: $20.00
8. Little Tikes Digital Camera: Amazon: $34.50 I Paid: $5.00
9. The Clothes totaled $18.00 at the sale for all five shirts and one pair of pants. Retail they would have been probably around $80.00 at least. 

That equals a retail price (w/o tax) of $496.52. 
I Paid $108.00 (w/o tax). 
That's a Total Savings of $388.52!

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how large this event is:

View from above of the entire sale. (Picture from http://tulsa.jbfsale.com/pages/shopper_information) 

This is a shot from a story the local news station did on the event. That's me shopping on the far right hand screen of the picture in the navy shirt.=) 

Here is the link to the main Just Between Friends Sale. Go check it out and see if there is a sale going on near you. And if you've been to a JBF sale, please share your experience. And for any consignors out there, please let me know if you have any great tips that will help me in the spring.