My Advice for Selling Children’s Clothes on eBay
Finding Used Items to Sell
Your Child’s Closet
As every parent knows, toddlers and babies usually grow out of their clothes before the clothes show signs of wear. The younger the child, the less worn-out clothing looks by the time the child has out grown it. Luckily for eBay sellers, many parents love finding cute, got-to-have outfits for babies and toddlers on eBay.
Purge your child’s closet of all of her out-grown clothing. Look over each item and determine what you would like to sell and what you would like to keep. Does the item have sentimental value? Will a younger sibling wear it later? Consider the overall look of the item. Is it still in style? Is it in decent shape?
Charity and Consignment Shops
There are lots of great deals to be found at your local charity and consignment shops. While you are shopping, think about what might appeal to buyers. Look for clothing that is in good shape and would appeal to a wide variety of tastes. Name brand clothing usually brings in a much higher profit than no-name or discount store labels. Most importantly, buy items that are priced under their value.
Check clothing closely for tears, stains and ripped seams. If you fancy yourself a seamstress, you can grab items with popped seams that are otherwise in good shape and repair them. Items with ripped seams are sold at a discount. Once you repair the article, you can command a higher price on eBay and increase your chances of making a profit.
Finding New Items to Sell
Your Child’s Closet
Again, your first stop should be your child’s closet. There are most likely several items in her closet that she has never worn. Maybe she received the item as a gift and it wasn’t to her taste, or maybe it was purchased on sale but never fit her properly. New items command a higher price if the hanging tags are still attached.
Discount Stores
Keep your eyes open and you are likely to find a gem or two in discount stores. Brand name companies often send their seconds or unsold items to discount stores. Savvy eBayers know when scheduled shipments come in to their local discount stores. Talk to the sales people and see if you too can find out when the shipments come in.
Consignment Shops
Very often, you can find new items for sale in consignment shops at very low prices. Grab them! The key to finding new items in consignment shops is to visit often and early. Most consignment shops are small and do their inventory every morning, so get there at opening time to increase your chances of finding new items.
Retail Outlets
Many name brands like Carters, Polo, and Gap have outlets. If live near an outlet mall, it could be well worth your time to check it out. Often, the outlets are selling merchandise that didn’t sell from the previous year. This can mean that the clothing is out of season, or out of style. However, fashion for young children does not change as quickly as it does for adults, therefore you can still successfully sell last season’s items for babies and toddlers.
Retail Stores
Look for big sales at regular retail stores. You can almost always find great deals at end-of-the-season sales. Remember, since styles change slowly for toddlers and babies, you can hold on to these items and list them next season. The best sales, of course, are “going out of business” sales. You can often get items for 80 or even 90% off when a store has its last sale.
What to Sell and How
Children’s clothing on eBay is mostly sold in 3 different groupings; as a single piece, as an outfit with or without accessories, or as a lot. How can you decide what is the best way to group your items?
By Type/Brand
Some of the most popular brand names for kids on eBay are Gymboree, Baby Gap, Baby Lulu, Tommy Hilfiger, Hannah Anderson and Ralph Lauren. If you have individual pieces from these or any other mid to high range lines, you can sell the item singularly. Especially popular are name brand items that have logos in plain view. For example, if you have a Tommy Hilfiger overall dress with a big Tommy logo on the front, it will sell at a higher price than a jean dress with no logo on it.
Name brands such as Gymboree and Janie and Jack are wildly popular because they sell their clothes in “lines”. That is, they design clothing in groups with themes. They make every item in a line math with each other. So, items from these lines sell best in complete outfits. Moms go crazy over these cute outfits, so if you put them together well, you can expect a large number of bids.
Boutique children’s clothes, especially for girls are hot items on eBay. But, they are very expensive to buy in the first place, so unless you really find a bargain, it might be tough to reclaim your money and make a profit. Of course, if your daughter has tons of grown-out boutique items that are in good condition just hanging in her closet, you might be able to make some good money selling her old clothing. Boutique items are best sold in outfits since the appeal of boutique items is how coordinated an entire boutique outfit is.
“Mart” brands, brands sold specifically at discount department stores such as K-mart and Wal-mart, do not sell as well as designer labels, unless the piece is really cute and currently in style. Some examples “mart” brands are Circo, Route 66, Genuine Kids by Osh Kosh, and Basic Edition. Unless you have a really cute outfit or single item by these name brands, it is best to sell these in a lot. Lots are useful for moms who like to buy play clothes online.
By Condition
NWT (new with tags) items are the best articles to sell individually or as an outfit. If the item or outfit is without tags, make sure the condition is gently-worn or like-new. Items that are in worn condition are better sold in lots. Be sure to always be honest when describing the condition of your items for sale.
By Size
Infant items, sizes are often sold on eBay in large lots. Of course, when selling in lots it is important that all items be for the same sex and are all in the same size. Experienced eBay sellers warn however, that the smaller infant sizes, 0-3 months and 3-6 months sell better in smaller lots. Since babies grow so quickly, moms buy less in advance since they can not predict how long their tot will be wearing those small sizes. Sizes 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18-24 months sizes are big sellers and do well in lots.
The smallest infant cloths, preemie and 0-3 month sizes can be listed not only in the “Infants and Toddlers” section, but in the “clothes and accessories” section for dolls. Doll collectors often buy small-sized infant clothing, but they do not always think to search in the children’s clothing section. Increase your potential customers by double listing.
Infant outfits that are very cute should be sold as an outfit or as the star item in a lot. The most popular infant outfits on eBay are ones that are very “matchy-matchy” or have a good name brand. Regardless of the size, if you have an infant-size outfit or individual piece that is above-average in cuteness, then you are probably better off selling it individually rather than as part of a large lot.
Toddler clothing can be sold in lots as well as outfits and individual pieces. The 2T and 3T sizes are very popular sizes on eBay and sell well in lots, as outfits and as individual pieces. Follow the same guidelines for these sizes as for the infant sizes when deciding on if you should sell items in a lot or individually. However, the larger the size, the less successful they are as lot items. 5Ts and larger should be sold strictly as outfits or individual pieces.
Get Started
First, have a peek around eBay. Learn how to set up an item for auction. It’s quite easy and eBay helps you along step-by-step. See what currently is and isn’t selling in the realm of children’s clothing. Get an idea of how much items are selling for. See if anything you would like to sell is already for sale. Once you think you are ready, put an item or two up for auction and see how it goes. Selling on eBay is a mixture of luck and know-how. You now know the basics to selling children’s clothing on eBay, now all you need is a bit of luck.
