Thursday, August 25, 2011

Just Between Friends Sale

I have been intending to go to the JBF sale for two years now.  For those who haven't heard of JBF, it's a huge semi-annual consignment sale of all things baby and children related.  They have any and everything you can think of for babies and kids: tons of clothing, shoes, toys, baby gear, furniture, etc. etc.  Anyway, I had never been and had heard such good things about it I was determined to go this year and see if I could find some winter clothes for Avery.

First let me say two things: 1) I'm cheap and 2) I'm picky.

Yes, I'm picky.  This may shock some of you. *cough*  Only probably not.  No, Avery doesn't have a wardrobe full of designer clothes (or any designer clothes, really) but I do like her to look cute (cute to me, and I realize cute is relative).  However, as previously stated I am cheap and typically only buy clothing on sale.  Chances are, anytime you see Avery, nothing she's wearing cost more than $8 (unless it is a holiday or other special occasion or was a gift).  So I shop frequently, wait for stuff to go on sale, use coupons, etc.  I normally don't do consignment shopping and I never do garage sales or thrift stores.  If I can be frank (and I can, it's my blog), I would rather chew on broken glass than go garage-saleing.

That being said, here's my take on the JBF clothing.  Please take into consideration I went towards the end of the sale (it ends Saturday).  Many items are 25% off today and tomorrow and 50% off Saturday.

Meh.

First of all, there was a TON of clothing, even this late in the sale, and it was organized well.  But a lot of it looked really worn, was simply not cute, was very dated, or was too expensive (in my opinion).  There was a fair amount of clothing new with tags, but that stuff was on the more expensive side.

For example, a new with tags 2-piece Carters fleece sleep set for $10?  Eh.  I can find then on clearance at Target for cheaper than that.

Despite that, I DID find a few things I liked and felt were a good deal.

Carter's cotton hoodie
$3
Pretty good condition and she'll definitely wear it this fall
New black hair flower
$1.25
New with tags Dora winter pjs
It's true, she loves Dora
$7.50

Carter's footed Santa pjs
These look like they were hardly worn
$3.75

Baby Gap fleece dress
I was on the fence about this one but w/leggings, she can get a lot of wear out of it this winter.
$6.75
Carter's ballet wrap sweater
Looks barely worn
$3
9 books
Most with her favorite characters: Clifford, Blue, Barney, and Sesame Street
$8
Dora potty seat
$3.75

Grand total with tax: $40

Not bad!

I would say if you are looking for baby gear and want to shop consignment, this is a great sale.  Baby gear is so expensive (and some of it you don't even end up using that much), but you could definitely find a new or used stroller, bouncer, swing, toys, etc. for a great deal.  And I didn't even glance, but I bet the newborn-12 month clothes are in much better shape since babies don't really wear out their clothes.  The only thing you have to worry about with baby clothes is stains, and all their clothes go through a review process and stained clothing are not accepted.

One thing I did not understand was the bins of used pacifiers (in ziplocs).  Disgusting!! I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be disposed of after a few months anyway.  They also had used (and new, but USED) sippy cups and bottles.  Really, this just seems like a bad idea.  You could probably get what you need at Target for a similar price.  Yuck.

So that's my take on the JBF sale.  I would definitely pop in again next year, but I won't bank on finding the next season's wardrobe.

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