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Originally Posted by ccasanova  I have never been to Goodwill (probaly because I've always assumed that the stuff they carried will look really worn, since they take all donations) and I just went to a JBF consignment sale that goes on twice a year. I did pick up some great shirts, but they were asking $5 for pj's that were really worn! So it seemed too much especially since I just got dd some new pj's for $5. My time is so precious that i usually don't go to stores to just "see" if I can find something, but maybe getting the paper on Sunday's would be good idea to see the sales from home?
Also, I wanted to ask your opinion. If the clothes I buy for my older children will get passed down to 1 younger sibling, do you think it's better to buy new (with a great sale of course) or do you still get enough milage out of it to still pass down and look nice with buying used? For example, if I buy a shirt for $10, and it gets passed down to the next younger sibling, in a sense, it cost me $5 each to dress both kids. If I buy a used shirt for $3 to $5 for my older dd, will I still be able to pass it down to my next dd or are the chances that it will be too worn out? If it's too worn out, it will end up costing me about the same as buying new. Does that make sense?
So what are the guidelines you use for buying preowned? If it has been gently used and still has a lot of life left, what is the most you'll pay for the item? Half of what it costs new? 75% of what it costs? 25%?
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The thrift stores are a mixture of both...some things i'm not sure WHY they are selling them (holes, stains, etc) and then others are practically new. I got DD a really cute childrensplace long johns - pink stripes, kinda reminded me of hanna andersson for $3. They are warm and a perfect fit! They WERE faded a bit since it was DARK pink, which fades easily, but no stains, tears.
I guess i'm just not that picky. I will sometimes buy things that clearly looked "used" because of fading - esp. when no ones going to see it, like PJ's, but i pass on things with stains, holes, etc.
And thrift store finds can definately be passed down to the next kid.
The way i see it - kids are ROUGH on clothing. I just bought DD ( well, a couple months ago) a bunch of new gymboree stuff (on ebay, but still NEW w/ tags). Spent too much and i HATE THEM! They might be cute, but they stress me out. Knowing i paid $20 for an outfit vs. $5 is sickening to me. Watch out with the popcicle! Don't paint in those!!!
Chances are your first kid will wear out your clothes so much by just being a normal kid you wont want to pass them down anyway (i mean, they'll be in "thrift store" condition at that point...so if you don't want to buy thrift store clothes you probably wouldn't want to pass down worn clothing either?)
Thanks in advance for leading me to where the treasures are!
And now I don't live near one. The closest is more then 2 hours away, so even if we only went there twice a year to buy all the clothes we need for the upcoming season, we would still spend more then we would save in the gas that it would take to get there.
