Consign online your kids’ outgrown items

Anyone who has a baby understands how quickly little ones outgrow things, almost before they have had a chance to wear out an outfit. Because of this, and because children’s stuff can take up a lot of space, online consignment stores are becoming a trend. Here are some ones you may want to consider, the next time you clean out your child’s closet or drawers. 

Josie’s Friends, LLC (www.josiesfriends.com) 

Josie’s Friends, created to aid impoverished children worldwide, may be based in Georgia, but they accept quality children’s and maternity items from anywhere in the United States. They want clothing, accessories and footwear that is clean (freshly laundered on the clothing and accessories, if appropriate); free of stains, odors, marks and pet hair; has the appropriate size tags and brand tags (though any brands are accepted); and with all buttons, snaps and zippers in working order. They do not accept toys, books, socks, or used blankets. 

How It Works: Send them your stuff and you’ll receive an e-mail confirmation. Once your item sells, you’ll receive 50% commission within 15-30 days in your PayPal account. 

What You’ll Like: They do all of the prep, photography and marketing of items for you. 

Kidizen (www.kidizen.com)

Kidizen works one of two ways, first, you can become a seller and set up your own shop on their website; or, you can allow their Style Scouts to sell your outgrown kids clothes and you get paid (but for this second way you have to live near their store.) But anyone, anywhere can sell through the first way and in this way, you are in charge of your own “business”, meaning photographing and captioning your listings, managing your inventory and running your store. 

What You’ll Like: The company provides lots of help on how to price your items, what to list in what season, and how to set up your store for success, plus they have a supportive community. The store is both a website and an app. 

Lil Jelly Beans Consignments (www.liljellybeans.com)

The online store, located in New Jersey, accepts all maternity and children’s clothes, including accessories, school uniforms, dance wear and Halloween costumes year round through the mail. (They prefer named brands.) You request to become a consigner and then send you a shipping label to send them your stuff. They tag, code and photograph your stuff and list it for you. 

What You’ll Like: You get paid within 7-14 days of selling items (minus a $9.95 shipping fee for that postpaid envelope they sent you.

My Kid’s Threads (www.mykidsthreads.com)

My Kid’s Threads in Newtown, Pennsylvania, gives consignees a prepaid mailer bag that can be filled with 52 name brands of like new or gently worn clothes in sizes newborn to 16, plus maternity clothing and then this bag can be dropped off at UPS. They will inspect, prep and list your items for sale on their website. 

What You’ll Like: Choose a 50 percent commission in My Kid’s Bucks (usable on the website and payable five days after the sale) or a 40 percent cash payout via PayPal around the 15th of each month (or you can donate the money to charity, if you’ve made a $25 or more commission, and this is tax-deductible).  

Poshmark (www.poshmark.com)

Poshmark is an app and online marketplace and community for the sale of clothing, shoes and accessories for men, women and children. Users join the community, take photos of things they’d like to sell, post them on Poshmark and share the listing with the community, and Poshmark sends you a prepaid shipping label to mail the item to the buyer. You get the cash when the item has been delivered. 

What You’ll Like: Poshmark isn’t as discriminatory about the brands being sold (they have over 25 million items and more than 5,000 brands) as some of the consignment apps and sites. It takes fewer than 60 seconds to list your item. 

reCrib (www.reCrib.com) 

reCrib has been described as the love child between eBay and Craigslist as it features gently used kids’ gear, such as cribs, strollers, high chairs, furniture, bicycles and toys, of the highest quality, and is searchable by a you-determine radius from your zip code. Its founders are parents who were clearing out the stuff their kids outgrew and realized there was not an online marketplace devoted to selling kids gear, and thus reCrib was born. 

What You’ll Like: reCrib handles all of the money and takes a 20 percent commission, meaning unlike Craigslist, you won’t have to worry about accepting money or negotiating price with strangers. 

Swoondle Society (www.swoondlesociety.com)

Swoondle is a cross between a consignment store and a swap meet. You request a prepaid shipping bag from the website, and then you fill it with your child’s outgrown clothing and shoes, and mail it back through the post office. They process what you’ve sent and  assign each item a credit amount. Then you use the credits you receive to buy stuff that fits your children now. 

What You’ll Like: The better the items you send in, the better the items you’ll be able to buy. Items on the site include special occasion wear, outerwear and costumes. 

ThredUP (www.thredUp.com)

This site claims to be the largest kids’ consignment and thrift store online. They sell more than 35,000 brands of clothing, shoes and accessories. To sell on the site, order a free sellers kit, fill the bag and then drop it off at either FedEx or USPS, and once the bag is processed you’ll get cash or credit for the items they’ve accepted.

What You’ll Like: Payment is upon acceptance so you don’t have to wait for the items to sell. On luxury designer items listed over $100, you will receive an extra 10% payout once items have sold.  Pay is via credit, Discover gift card, or PayPal cash. 

Author: Jill L. Ferguson