Parents always find themselves faced with piles and piles of clothes that our kids grow out of all too quickly. If you’ve been to my house you’ll know I’ve got bags and boxes of old clothes everywhere.
Often it only takes a few months to pass before another wave has been grown out of and the need to replace them arises yet again! And don’t forget our unpredictable weather we’re having. Who’d have thought we’d need wellies in August! The summer wardrobe has hardly been used this month!
I really need to tackle the unwanted stuff we’ve got. I’ve already donated a few black sacks of clothes to Barnardos, but ideally I’d like to sell a few bits on so I can save for the next batch of clothes I’ll need to buy.
Here are some ideas for getting rid of the kids’ clothes mountains, whether you’re looking for more of a minimalist life, or whether you just need room for more!
Kids Clothes Party
Try arranging a clothes party with other parents where you can all exchange clothes. If you can get a nice selection of parents with children of different ages, you might come back with some excellent finds. Plus you’re more likely to get rid of your kids’ clothes to a parent with children younger than yours. You could try this over and over again with your different groups of parents, like school parents, other family members or just arrange one with a local community centre.
Donate To Charity
There are lots of charity options besides just giving to a local charity shop. There are several initiatives around that offer something a little bit different, like thesmallproject.org, who use your donated clothes to give to other families that need them. Lots of charity shops also collect for free but you’ll need to book a collection time online first.
Sell On eBay
It’s so easy to sell things on eBay. And it’s nice to earn a little bit of money whilst getting rid of things you don’t need. If you’ve got something that could be high value (like prams), these could go for a good price. Other things may need to be bundled together to become more desirable for buyers. If you’ve got lots of low value items (various toys and useful newborn items for example), you may wish to offer them all together. This may be a more attractive offering. If you’ll have trouble shifting larger or heavier items, take a look at Shiply to get an idea of delivery costs so you can factor this into your selling price. I sold a lot of old clothes on eBay and earned a couple of hundred pounds over a few months. It all adds up!
Have A Go At Sewing
If you fancy a go at upcycling, you could try turning old clothes into something fresh and new. You could try turning a pair of outgrown jeans into denim shorts. Or if you have lots of small clothes, you could make a patchwork quilt to savour memories of some of their favourites. Take a look on YouTube for some tutorials and have a go. I would definitely do more of this if my sewing machine wasn’t broken! But if you’ve got one gathering dust, could be a nice little hobby for you?
Sell On Social Media
A lot of people these days are utilising social media to sell on unwanted items. I have sold via Facebook and Instagram and a lot of people are quite successful with it. I set up a new Instagram account to sell his unwanted clothes. From this I made enough money to put towards his next wardrobe. I’m still using this account and will be adding lots of Bears old clothes on there, so if you are looking for baby clothes up to 9 months then make sure you’re following @whatlambwore.
What do you do with your kids’ unwanted stuff?
~A~
*collaborative post
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