A How-to for Rummage and Consignment Sales for Children's Items

I admit it, I love rummage sales. Although my lifestyle leans towards minimalism, I just can't resist a good deal on the children's items that I need to buy anyway. At one recent sale, I bought new Crocs for $8, a Baby Bjorn potty for $5, and a car seat for $5.

Shopping Tips

If it's your first time at a sale, or if you're just looking for some ways to make the experience easier, here are some tips. 

1. Arrange a babysitter. It's logistically, physically, and emotionally difficult to shop these sales with toddlers and young children. The selection of toys is just too tempting for them! (A sale would make a mint by offering a babysitting room for ten dollars a kid!)

2. Make a list of exactly what you are looking for. Include items and sizes. If possible, prioritize your list by need to help decide where to go first.

3. Bring a bag. A large shopping bag will work. The big IKEA bags are great. I've even seen people carrying laundry baskets, plastic bins, or rolling suitcases!

4. Start with the hardest items. When you arrive, head for the items that usually sell quickly. Begin with equipment and large toys, both because they sell quickly and because often you can store them in a holding area and then continue shopping. Then go to shoes, which are always in demand, especially older kids' sizes and boys'.

5. Grab everything, sort later. This is a technique I learned from my cousin (thanks!).  Rummage sales are first-come, first-serve events. If you're looking for size 2T pants, grab all of the pants you can and then find a place to look through them later. Since clothes are sorted on racks or tables by size, you can easily put items back without making a mess. Also, it gives you time to compare prices and tally your total.

5. Be prepared to wait in line. I've waited up to 45 minutes in line before. Bring cash to make check-out faster. Remember that cashiers are mostly volunteers, so be patient.

Get Involved

Rummage sales make money by charging sellers/consigners and by taking a percentage of their sales. Each organization charges differently, but they often charge a $5 to $10 fee for consigning plus 25% to 33% of the items sold. Each organization has different policies for tagging, pick-up, and payment as well.

When consigning, the items that sell best are equipment (furniture, strollers, potties, highchairs, etc.), large toys (bikes, play kitchens, etc.), shoes (especially boy's sizes 8 and up), and coats.

Items that don't sell quickly--mostly because of the large supply--are infant clothes, toys, and blankets. Also, many sales do not sell recalled cribs (ones with drop down sides, etc.) and car seats in bad condition.

Some sales offer volunteers access to the sale early as a reward for their volunteer time. If you can spare a few hours, volunteering is a good way to get the best items.

Upcoming Sales

Here are times of year that Delaware County, PA, rummage sales are usually scheduled:

• Elam Church, Glen Mills, PA - First Weekend in March
• Faith Community Church, Brookhaven, PA - Second Weekend in March 
• St. Timothy's Church, Aston, PA - Third Weekend in March 
• Just Between Friends, Glen Mills, PA - Fourth Weekend in March

Date may change, so check with the organization in January or February.  There are also sales at St. John's Church in Glen Mills and at Don Guanella in Springfield, PA. Fall dates may also be scheduled.

Try It

I hope you've found this list helpful, and not too intimidating! Rummage sales are really a fantastic way to get deals on baby supplies and birthday gifts. Attend one soon!

Organizing with Kids: Hat Racks

Hanging 3M Command hooks is a great organizing project to do with toddlers. It doesn't involve any hardware, and they can help place the stickers. Also, if they get excited and pull them off, it is easy to replace hooks with no damage to your walls.

My son was excited to help me hang hooks in his room to hang up his hats. I can add more hooks to the wall, and then remove them with no wall damage when he gets older.

3M hooks are sold many places, including hardware stores like Home Depot and discount department stores like Target. When purchasing 3M hooks, I have found it is good to estimate the hanging item's weight and purchase hooks that hold twice that weight. For example, buy 5-pound hooks to hold 2 and a half pounds.

 

Organizing with Kids: Tupperware

If you have toddlers, you may think, "how in the world can I do any organizing with them!" I'm beginning a new series of articles about organizing with kids.

One good project is kitchen organizing. If you want to clear clutter in your cabinets, get your kids to help. Here is a photo of my son helping me see which tupperware-type plastic containers have lids. He thought of it as a game, like blocks.

Organized…for Life

As I write my last column for the News of Delaware County, I am reminded of the main challenge that many of my clients face as they approach organizing their space: maintaining their organization systems throughout the years. By the time I meet them, many clients have already tried several systems and have been frustrated with the results. Many clients had childhoods full of bad habits and had been labeled “messy” since as far as they could remember. If these clients truly wish to break the pattern—to take control of their time and their space for the rest of their lives—I often give them these suggestions.

Have a goal. This one may look familiar. I have used this tip in many of my organizing columns. If you have a clear goal for how to improve your life, you can visualize how you want your life to be, feel, look. Then you can take small steps to achieve your vision. Write down your goal and post it, paint it, embroider it, write it in lipstick on your mirror—whatever reminds you that you are taking control of your life from this point on.

Find systems that work for you. My columns have included many different ways to make your life easier. You don’t have to do all of them. I repeat: you don’t have to do all of them. Discover a balance between challenging yourself to improve your life and creating routines that work for you. Depending on your life—your job, your health, your family, your house—it may be impossible to do everything “right.” You are going to have to let some things go. Remind yourself of your goal, choose the most important tasks or rooms or meetings, and change your systems if they don’t work. My March 2011 column (“Just For You: How to Create Your Custom Organizing System”) can walk you through this process. 

“Get back on the horse.” Every one of us has had points in our lives where we fell out of habits. Whether it was due to an emergency or simply malaise, we neglected the steps we committed to doing to make ourselves legitimately happy. When this happens—for a week, a day, even a year—it is important to remember the overall goal of a better life. Then brush yourself off, get up, and get going again.

Get help. Read. Attend workshops. Call a friend. Call a professional. If you don’t know where to begin, there are a lot of people out there who can help you start. My July 2009 column entitled “Summer Reading” gives you some fantastic organizing resources.

Overall, I encourage each of you to enjoy the journey to know yourself and to set your priorities. We each have only 24 hours a day—make your time your own. Assisting clients with these adventures, and seeing their transformations first hand, are why I love being a Professional Organizer.

To Collect or Not to Collect

As a Professional Organizer, I am often asked how I feel about collections. Is collecting antiques or memorabilia a harmless hobby or is it a sign of “hoarding?” The answer is, as usual, “it depends.” Here are some ways to determine if your collecting tendencies are becoming problematic.

1. Do you love your collection?
When you look at your collection, does it make you smile? When you think of buying an addition to your collection, does it fill you with excitement or with stress? Does it represent something special in your life or has it become a selection of gifts that you feel guilty about letting go of or to telling people to stop buying you? Are you addicted to the search more than the item itself?

2. Do you take care of your collection?
Is it clean? Is it stored so that the items stay in good condition?

3. Is it affecting you financially?
Can you afford to maintain, build, and/or insure your collection? Are you in debt and still buying additional items? Are you trying to keep up with someone else or keep up appearances? If you think that selling these items will earn you a lot of money for the future, have you done the research?

4. Is it affecting your safety?
Is your collection so large or stored in a way that it impedes moving about your home? Could you get out of your home or could people get inside in case of an emergency? 

5. Is it affecting your relationships?
Do you spend more time collecting, researching, and cleaning your items than you do with family and friends? Are the people you value in your life bitter or sarcastic about your collections? Has anyone confronted you about your collecting habits affecting other concerns on this list?