What Do You Do with Clothes Your Kids Have Outgrown?

Hello,

My name is A., I donate my cloths to Viet Nam Vet organization, Lupus organizaiton or a homeleness shelter that have familes. there are many organizations that could use the cloths.

freecycle, donate, give to friends, consign, craigslist... I am all about having someone get good use out of baby clothes as opposed to them sitting in a closet!

I give friends with smaller children first choice. Then I have a yard sale along with all the toys, books, games, etc. that they have outgrown. Then whatever is left goes to a local charity thrift store. I have friends that Ebay their clothes especially if they are formal (i.e. expensive) clothes and/or special sizes (slims & husky).

Kids Nearly New Sale at Howard County Fairgrounds!! This is an awsome sale that happens twice a year (next one is Sept 11, 2010; another will be held around April). If what you have is good quality and in good condition, you can make a fair amount of money since people coming to this sale are looking for childrens' items. I have done it once and made over $800. That said, it is a bit of work and there is a fee to participate, but for me it was well worth it, plus I was able to shop for bigger size clothing and more advanced toys for my son. Check it out!

I kept a few of the really cute baby clothes. Some of those items a few of the teddy bears are wearing right now and it's easier to wash the clothes than it is to wash some of the bears. Mostly I donate to Salvation Army or other similar charity where I can get a receipt to write it off my taxes.

Currently, most of ours are kept not knowing if we're going to have another child or not.

But, there are some we know we won't use, so it's a combination of giving to people we know, giving to charity.

I've never been to a garage sale and never hosted one, but the effort most people say needs to go into a successful is too time consuming for me right now. So, I'll likely donate all of mine and get a tax deduction at the end of the year.

I sort them into three categories:
1. keep for sentimental value - those I store in a plastic bin to keep until I am ready to either donate them for for my daughter to play with or put on her own kids. I got the idea from a friend, that got a whole bunch of her own baby clothes that her mom kept and She and I though it was really sweet.
2. Sell or give to friends - I will give them away before selling them. If I have no takers though I will consign them. It's super easy and we use our store credit to either buy "new" clothes or toys.
3. Donate if it doesn't sell the store will automatically donate the rest for me.

Good luck!

Definitely Freecycle.org for your area. I live in Vienna, VA and we have a very active and generous group. I've given a lot of great stuff and received things as well. It makes me feel better to know who I'm helping out, and if I need something that my community is actually there to try to help!

Good luck!

Google freecycle. Greatest thing since sliced bread!!!! You need to have a yahoo account because it's run through a yahoo group. You send out an email to the group listing the things you want to give away. People reply and ask for your items and then you set up a time for them to come and get them. 90% of the time, you set your items on your porch or somewhere outside and you don't even have face to face contact with the person unless you choose to. Only people in your area are allowed in the group. For instance, only people that live in the Annapolis area are allowed in the Annapolis group. There are 48 different groups listed in MD so there's bound to be one near you. You have to give them your nearest cross streets and they determine if you will be accepted into the group. The point of freecycle is to save things that you are done with, from going to the landfill. Even if it's an old bicycle that noone would ever pay for, you can offer it for free, because you never know who might want it! I love it!!! I get most of my kids items through it and you get to know the people in your community. Please check it out, it will be worth it I promise!!!

I give some away, donate some but the really good top-end stuff I list on eBay. Kids clothes (especially top brands) go like hotcakes on eBay.

I give them to Goodwill - super fast and easy - they have a drop off and also have trucks parked in various locations. Just drive up and drop off. They will also give you a receipt for tax purposes.

If you want to bless those that are less fortunate you can give them away on freecycle.org. You can join a group in your local area and post the sizes you have available and someone will be glad to take them off of your hands. Or you can look up a local foundation and donate them there. If you want to make a little extra spending money you could sell them at wee-cyclemart.com, eBay, Craigslist just to name a few.

Have a great day and be blessed!

Deseret Industries, Good Will, Salvation Army. You get a tax deductuion for charitable contributions, but it won't be much.

Hold a garage sale. You get something, and you help the bargain hunters out. Your kids clothes will help many families.

Thank you for thinking of others and not just yourself. The world needs more kind hearted people.

I buy most of my daughter's clothes from a consignment sale in my area that they have twice a year. I also sell the things she has outgrown.

There are also a couple Yahoo groups that I might try to sell / give away on. Ours are called Huntsville Trader and Huntsville Recycle (I live in Huntsville, AL). Your area may have something similar. The Recycle group was formerly a "Freecycle" group. So you may look under that name as well.

If all that fails, you can always give to a charity or thrift store. We have a local thrift store here that is associated with a church. All the money they make from selling the donated items goes to help families in need.

We really don't have anyone to pass our old clothes onto so I just donate them to our local abused women's shelter here. I've tried doing the consignment deal but the only way that you can really get a good deal on the transaction is to take store credit. The problem is that I usually can't find enough clothes or toys at the shop to use up all of the store credit. You could probably make some money using ebay or doing a yard sale but, to me, it always seemed like too much of a hassle. I'd rather just donate the clothes to families that are in a crisis and really need the help an be done with it.

You could try www.thredup.com or www.swapbabygoods.com. Good luck!

I've always sold all my old children's clothes on Ebay. Each March/April and September/October I sell that seasons clothes. It takes a little time but I usually get a good amount of money and it clears out the closet. Good Luck!

Garage sales don't work on my street- we made as little as 10 cents one time. The best quality clothes I consign. OK quality I donate. Well-worn clothes I freecycle. Then, finally with the shirts that had holes or stains we cut them up and made a quilt.

Not sure if you're looking to sell them or not. If not, speak with the counselors at your childs school. There are plenty of students who could use some clothes. They can arrange to have them donated to the students with need. You can also contact churches who can do the same. You could also give your clothes to them as well.

Just my experience, but yardsales tend not to be worth it in the end. The last one we had (lots of furniture, dishware, small appliances, etc) brought-in less than $200. We ended up donating the rest to the Salvation Army and taking the tax write-off which resulted in a nice return!

I would suggesting calling the local Salvation Army or Good Will and making arrangements to donate them for a tax receipt.

I give some to friends, and donate the rest to the homeless and battered woman's shelters. I usually try to put together a donation for both the woman and child homeless shelter and the domestic violence shelter a couple times of year, asking around if anyone would like to add anything to the donation. Not only do those places need cloths, but also old coats, shoes, diapers, and one of there biggest needs is usually fresh milk.

Go to jbfsale.com and locate a kids consignment sale near you.

We sell ours every year at our neighborhood garage sale. I sell everything for 50c each, putting them in bins sorted & marked clearly by size. We sell almost all of them each year; one woman bought everything we had left as we were packing up (she had four kids already and was unexpectedly expecting boy/girl twins). Price the clothes to sell and they will go. Anything that isn't in super for-sale shape, either toss out (esp if stained) or donate.

I have a few friends that can use some of the things - they give them back when they're done. My community has an annual garage sale once a year so I sell everything I can and then donate the rest. The community pays for the newspaper ad and also posts maps etc. on Craig's List.
Most consignment stores are really picky about clothes an have a waiting list - big pain in the butt if you ask me.
Halloween costumes, shoes and clothes that are in season do the best. I wash everything including the shoes so they look fresh. I also put out a box of toys my son has outgrown and sell them for 50 cents each and give my son the money to buy something new. It's really cute to see the neighborhood kids come with their piggy banks and choose a new toy. Boys love action figures and vehicles. My son made $11 last year!
I have always enjoyed having garages sales - you meet lots of neighbors and get to people watch. I love how people roll up at 8am in a Mercedes and then want to barter your price down.

I don't know where you live but in the Richmond, VA area I sell a fair amount of things to Kid 2 Kid and Once Upon a Child. I think they are national chains???

I take mine to the thrift store for store credit and exchange for a bigger size. small children grow out of clothes so fast that they look new still for the most part and it is a great money saver! If I were more well off money wise I would donate them to a shelter but I personally can not afford new clothes all the time.

i keep some cute clothes and everything with sentimental value in a box
the others i donate,pass to friends or family or igive it in freecycle.com

I donate them to a local women/children center.

I buy and sell all of my kids clothes through the Northern Virginia Clothing Exchange (www.nvce.com). Maybe there is something similar near you. I have also in the past sold clothes on craigslist and given them away on freecycle (www.freecycle.org).

I am one of those mom's who has trouble letting go of things , lol.. so I just packed up all of my sons clothes that don't fit into bins and put them in his closet. If you're looking to make money.. i would vote a yardsale or ebay! If not, check out "freecycle" It's kind of like an online goodwill ( but for free!) I know a lot of friends who get a lot of their baby stuff from that site. Or just take them to your local thrift store! :)