Yard sales are great places to start shopping for baby stuff, and yard sale season is fast approaching. Here are some yard sale shopping pointers for you pregnant folks (and the non-preggo, too):
When I was in my second and third trimester, I loved going to yard sales on gorgeous springtime Saturday mornings with my baby daddy--okay, cloudy mornings, too. People would often see me waddle up and fall all over themselves to tell me about their baby stuff, reduce prices on it, or just plain give it to me for free. We picked up a waterproof mattress pad, umbrella stroller, toys, board books, clothing and tons more for 50% or less than retail. We also picked up a bunch of helpful strategies for finding sales, being prepared, and making the most of sale day:
Finding Sales Near You:
Find local yard sales listed on Craigslist, or in your local paper's classifieds section. If you Google the name of your town and "yard sale" and/or "garage sale" many of the Craigslist sales will pop right up. Add the word "baby" to your search or the name of a particular item you're looking for and you'll really be ready to go. You can also use the "find" feature (control F, maybe) on your browser to search for particular items in a page full of results. Try using Google Maps or Mapquest to create a personalized road map with all the sales on it and to get driving directions.
Friday Night:
- Pack some stuff to take along: A few drinks and snacks. Some cash--small bills, please. A road atlas (unless you're one of those fancy GPS-owing types) so you can find your way around winding neighborhood streets. A bag full of batteries--AA, C, D, and AAA--so you can try out those battery-powered items before you buy (but trust me, kids really do like toys even if all the lights and sounds don't work. I know I like them better that way!).
- If you're shopping for baby clothing, jot down what sizes you'll need for winter and summer clothing. Adorable 0-3 months sweaters, for example, will do you absolutely no good if your baby is born in July.
- Search for yard sales with baby and kids stuff in neighborhoods where you know young families live. Look for neighborhood-wide sales and sales clustered in the same area. You can create and print a Google Map with all your sales right on it.
- If you're looking for a particular item, know the retail price on the item so you know whether you're getting a good deal. If you've got a few months to shop, know that you can usually find new items on sale at stores for 30% off. Yard sale items should be priced 40% or more off the lowest regular retail price you can find.
- If you've already decorated or painted your nursery, take along paint chips and/or fabric samples in case you find cute stuff. If you're tight on space, take along a tape measure.
- Get there when the sale starts (8 or 9 a.m. usually) if you're looking for something in particular so you'll get the best selection. Many sales say "no earlybirds," so don't arrive before the posted hours. Get there late for the best bargains, but don't be surprised if some sellers have closed up shop early, especially if the weather's not great.
- Don't be shy about asking sellers for their best deal. I usually say, "What's the best you can do on this." They're usually willing to take at least 10%. The belly will work to your advantage in this area. Striking the pregnant woman's "oh my aching back" pose works well too. ;)
- If you see an item you may want to buy, pick it up and carry it with you. If you definitely plan to buy it, but it's big or heavy, ask the seller to move it aside or put a "sold" sign on it. It's really disappointing when somebody snaps up your bargain while you're still looking around.
- Look over items carefully to make sure all the parts are there and that they're in good condition. If you don't know how something works, ask the seller. Avoid buying used car seats and crib mattresses for safety reasons. Check for recalls and other safety information at Consumer Product Safety Commission and Recalls.gov (Recall and safety info).
photo by supa-pedro via Flickr
22 comments:
In our area, the sales are often Friday and Saturday, not Sat and Sunday. As a working person, I find this really annoying, but if you can take Friday afternoon off, you'll get the best selection.
Also, talk to the owners/sellers. There's no use in rooting around a huge bin of baby clothes for something that isn't there, like gender or size-specific items. Often, they'll tell you "oh, this is all girl clothes, but Susan down the street has 4 boys, try there" and you can save lots of time and energy.
Great tips! Thanks!
These are all great tips. I also wanted to share a site that is pretty sweet to help in your garage sales.
www.gsalr.com
It's a site that allows you to find the garage sales you want and you are able to map it out and even get driving directions so it helps tremendously with planning your route.
Cool stuff!
Hubby and I are huge garage salers and also about to have our first baby! We did pretty well at the sales - our season (here in the south east) has already started and we've also found that sales in the winter, while fewer, can be just as good.
I totally agree about knowing the price of things new before going out shopping sales, some folks really think that their used stuff is worth a lot - and so we didn't buy it. Be prepared to walk away from an item if the seller won't come down on the price - we usually pay 10-25% of new price, depending on condition of the item.
Also, grab the newspaper Friday night and your city map and some skinny post it notes "page markers". I write the address and open times on the slip and then hubby finds it on the map and sticks it there. Sometimes, we'll color code the start times, so pink for 6 am and green for 7 - I hate showing up early. This system really allows us to maximize our sales per hour and reduces the distance that we drive, which is important with gas prices.
The other huge tip is to shop at your consignment sales. This area has sales twice a year and is the best place to easily get all of the baby things that you need! We got a crib, mattress and tons of clothes at our sale. The last days are usually 50% off, which is a great time to stock up on clothes. Just be prepared, our sales have hundreds of people standing in line waiting for it to open on the first day...
I'm not a mom (yet) but we are hoping to start a family fairly soon and I'm just curious as to why people are always warning not to buy used car seats and/or crib mattresses. Are there really that many that have been recalled?
We have several friends and family members who are finished with their baby-days who have given us or offered to give us matresses, seats, strollers, and nursery furniture. Is there a legitimate reason why I should turn these offers down?
I guess I'm just surprised that there seems to be such universal concern over reusing these items. They tend to be the most expensive itmes, so if we can get them secondhand, we'd love to do that. If the previous kiddos who used them survived into toddlerhood, why should I be afraid?
I'm just hoping someone can clarify this a bit for me because -- I'll be honest, I almost feel that it's a little like college textbook publishers coming out with new editions every other year so that you have to buy a new one rather than selling yours back to the bookstore.
Thanks so much to anyone who can educate me on this matter!
-Tiffany
Tiffany-
People dont like to use used car seats because they may have been in a crash and you wouldn't know. After a car seat has been in a car crash/wreck it is no longer in "working" condition. But if you get it from a reliable friend/family member then thats fine! Anything that people you know give you should be fine for your baby to use. You just have to take precaution when using 2nd hand items from others(that you dont know) that can be deceiving. Good luck! and take that stuff, you'll need it!
Thank you so much! That makes sense about the car seats. I'm still a little confused about the mattress thing, but at least I got an answer on one front!
Used crib mattresses have been linked to SIDS. Google for more info.
Target sells some crib matresses for a pretty decent price and I think it's just not worth the chance to use a used matress.
It's a little time consuming (you need to import addresses into excel first) but Batch Geocode is a great tool to map out multiple addresses at once.
The more stuff you buy, the more likely the seller will be to give you a deal. Also, if you haggle someone down, don't then hand over a $50 and expect them to be happy about breaking it. Exact change wins big points.
Smile, say hello and goodbye to the seller. Common courtesy isn't so common these days.
I'll second the recommendation of picking something up even if there's the *slightest* chance you'll buy it. Some yard salers out there are ruthless and will snatch it up before your fingertips are off of it.
Speaking of which, don't let rude yard salers push you around--if you're pregnant, you've got the girth--use it to your advantage & stand your ground!
Finally, if the seller's kids are selling drinks and treats--buy something. You will totally make their day.
See you all at the sales!
Tiffany,
Even if you know the person giving you something like a carseat, I'd still consider getting one new. It doesn't have to be the "super duper delux" version but the saying "they don't make things like they used to" is very appropriate and I don't mean that in a bad way. Even the cheapest carseats upgrade their features to be easier to use. For something that you will probably use daily, it's worth a little money for the ease.
Also, one kid can be rough on daily use items. My friend used the same carseat for #2 as her first and one day the handle just broke off! My baby has had reflux and the dr. recommended he sleep in his carseat so that he's more upright. I can't believe how much time he ends up spending in that thing and often wish we'd gone for a few more bells and whistles. Live and learn...
Another reason to not accept a used car seat is they are only to be used for 5 or 6 years from the manufacture date. Most people will use the same one for their second or even third child so by the time you get it, it's way past that date. If it was still within the dates you could use it as a second car seat for husband or grandmas car, that would still save some money.
I don't think that it is a big deal. You should be able to tell if a crib mattress is in good shape and good quality. The reason used crib mattresses increase risk for sids is that some of the matresses are saggy and worn out. If the mattress is firm and good quality, then disinfect it and use it. My son sleeps on a used mattress we got for free with the crib, and it is way higher quality than we would have afforded new.
In car seats, the plastic and foam starts becoming brittle after 6 years, making it less safe. All plastics and foams degrade over time. If the carseat is fairly new and comes from someone you trust, then used should be fine. We got our infant seat new, but bought an extra base for $10 used. You can tell easily if the base is in good working order, so at least get that used.
I always tell my cousins/friends what I am looking for..last weekend I couldn't spend much time out, but my coworker called me and said she found an item I had been looking for..a perfect Thomas the Train wooden puzzle for $1! So team up with other yard salers who can look for things foryou. Last year I found some great Leapster toys for like $2 each! So don't buy the first thing you see unless it's a good price and in good condition..there will be other yard sales!
I bought a used crib mattress. Baby Bargains stated that old mattresses release fumes or something that increase SIDS. To that end, I bought a vinyl air/water proof mattress cover that zips around the whole mattress. Put a matteress pad and your sheet over that and I see no reason why mattress outgasing and dust would be an issue!
As an avid rummage sale shopper, my advice is don't get carried away! Since babies play with certain toys for only a few months its easy to find deals on things in great shape. But.. remember that babies are happy with a limited amount of toys and too much can just create a ton of clutter in your house. I'm talking from experience!
My advice: go to the most affluent neighborhoods, don't buy anything you can't clean thoroughly, and don't buy anything you think you can get for free from someone else. Just by mentioning to friends, coworkers, etc. that you are going to yard sales, some will offer to give you their baby stuff or may know someone who is trying to get rid of baby stuff. Some friends thought we were going to yard sales out of desperation (not just fun and money saving) so they kept trying to find us good deals on things in stores!
One thing I was surprised about: 0-3 months does not mean that it will fit your child during the size range! With a baby born in August, I would have thought to need winter clothes only in 3-6 and 6-9 month ranges. But he's 8 months old, wearing 12 months, and still needing winter clothes!
I also would have thought "No problem, just layer the summer" -- but that doesn't do anything to cover arms, etc.
I have not yet figured out how to avoid not having the right season of clothes when needed. Shop ahead at yard sales, sure. But be prepared to fill out closer to when the child will actually wear the clothes -- once you find how fast they are growing into sizes, what types of clothes fit them better, etc.
Car seats:
"But if you get it from a reliable friend/family member then thats fine!" -- Depends.
Check the DOM of the car seat. As mentioned, most car seats expire 6 years after the Date of Manufacture (NOT the date of purchase). Do they still have the car seat manual? (So you can check how the car seat is properly installed and used/can check for recalls. Are all the necessary pieces still extant? Some things are only usable RFing or FFing and easily lost once off.) Are you comfortable trusting this family/friends with the life of your child, and are you comfortable with their knowledge of how to properly use the car seat so that they are not unknowingly giving you a car seat. Is it (the car seat they are giving you) a car seat THEY bought new (otherwise they may not know the history of the car seat)
Something else to know about car seats: Don't wash the harnesses in your washer. A harness that has once been washed needs to be thrown out and NEVER used to secure a child in a car again. It weakens the webbing.
Personally? I decided not to take the free seat offered by a relative (who I discovered turned her son forward-facing at 10 months old!) because I did not trust her assurance that the car seat was fine. I do not think she would hurt my child. But I do not think she takes car safety seriously enough that I can trust her judgement in that area for my child.
See something you like but it's early and the seller won't budge on the price just yet??? Leave a card with your name, phone number, and the price you want to pay and if they change their mind and it's still not sold ask them to give you a call. It's worked for me!
FYI, the SIDS Alliance states that there is no credence to the theory that toxic gases from used mattresses contribute to SIDS (see this report: http://www.sidsalliance.org/FC-PDF4/Research_Position%20Statements/toxic%20gas%20theor%E2%80%A6es%20and%20sid.pdf)
They do say that mattresses that are too soft or are worn enough to have exposed padding can be unsafe.
My yard sale advice for pregnant women: don't buy baby clothes yet! This is for several reasons.
1. Once you have the baby every aunt, uncle, and cousin will show up with a cute outfit for the baby.
2. It is hard to know what size you will need. Sure, the size may say "newborn", but if you have a larger baby he be too big for them from the start, and if you have a smaller baby he may not fit in them for a couple months (at which point you will be in a different season).
3. If this is your first baby, you may not know yet what you need or how many of them. I thought I needed to purchase "outfits", but once I had my child, I realized that at first all he does is sleep and lie around, so onesies and pajamas are probably more comfortable and definitely easier to get on and off.
So get just couple of basics in advance, then stock up on baby clothes after the birth.
Thanks for the link, Lori! I'm glad the outgassing issue with used crib mattresses has been resolved. That just leaves the issue of infection:
http://tinyurl.com/5ycny6
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