What's your take on trading clothes, accessories, toys, etc?

[LadyJane99]

I found a website, http://www.caretotrade.com , that lets you trade items & services (as well as buy & sell), and they have a new section devoted to children's/baby's clothing & accessories. Toys, too. On one hand, it saves a ton of money (!), since I'd be able to trade for bigger clothes as my kids grow out of theirs, but does it seem "dirty?" I'm trying to get past my stigma about giving my child "used goods." Does anybody else do this?

I may go ahead and post some ads there just to see what happens, since its free anyway. If you have anything that you might be interested in trading or selling, please post some ads on that site for me to look at. I might give it a try!

[s7714]

A lot of people on these boards sell and buy used clothing through the BBB Swap, ebay, etc. It seems to be a fairly common practice for people to sell their used children's items so they can get back some of the $ they put into it.

As for it being "dirty" it's obviously up to your personal opinion and there'll always be the chance you won't get something that meets your standards. As most people discover, one person's definition of "like new" or "very good" condition may be a bit (or sometimes drastically) different than someone elses.

I'm not sure if the site you referenced is a local one to you or if it's nation wide. If you're just wanting to test the waters of buying/trading used items, I'd suggest trying a more localized site like craigslist.com so you can trade or sell locally without having to deal with shipping issues. You could also find a local children's consignment store in your area. Often they will give you store credit (or cash) for items you bring in which you can in turn use on items in their store. So it would be kind of like a "trade". ;)

HTH,
Jennifer
Mommy to
Miss Pure Energy 3/03
Miss Antsy-Pants 6/05

Calling fellow BBB SoCal moms...we'd love to meet you!
(100 posts & BBB member for 3 months req'd)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/babybargainssocal/

[mommysammi]

I'm torn too about trading stuff. Who knows what the previous owner did to the stuff? Kids are kids after all and they will dirty things naturally. I do, however, save tons of money. I haven't gotten any used clothes, but I did buy one used playgym mat which I was able to throw into the washer. Oh, I got a Bjorn carrier too for only $20 and I was able to throw that into the washer. I might get a used tricycle but that's because I don't want to spend $200 on one. My husband, however, thinks that "if we can afford it, then it's ok." Whether you decide to trade or not, definitely start local. I, too, use craigslist.org. hth.