Making Money With Consignment Sales - Tips From the Pros

Seasonal consignment sale pros can make over $1,000 twice a year just selling used kids clothing & toys. How do they do it? Many are pros at picking up clothing & toys in the off-season at HUGE discounts. Then, they sell those items at consignment sales.

Here is a list of our favorite "off-season" tips to help you build your inventory for the next sale's season.

Remember the "Rules!" It's important to keep in mind WHAT SELLS BEST when you make your selections.

* Top sellers: Big Items like riding toys, playground equipment, etc
* 2nd Place: NWT (New with Tags) - especially Larger Sizes and Boys 4T+
* 3rd Place: Boutique and "Name Brand" Clothing

1. Craigslist & Freecycle

People give away a TON of stuff - FOR FREE or CHEAP - on Craigslist & Freecycle.

2. Yard Sales

Yard sales are a GREAT place to buy bigger items and toys. Clothing is hit or miss, but a lot of times you can offer to buy the "whole lot" for cheap and then filter through.

3. Thrift Stores

Thrift stores like Goodwill & the Salvation Army definitely offer the best deals for clothing & toys. Look for steals on name brand clothing, boutique items and toys. Prices are great, but don't get wrapped up in the moment - be choosy and carefully examine clothing for stains, tears or wear.

4. Shop Deep Clearance

Target, Babies R Us, Children's Place, Gymboree and even your favorite boutiques have some great DEEP clearance items. NWT (New with Tags) Items always sell really well at sales, so stock up! Boys are hardest on clothes, so NWT move much faster than "well-loved" play clothes.

NWT items can sell for 50% of the retail of the price. Just make sure to remove your "clearance" or "sale" price from the tag. (Then people will learn your secret!)

5. Ask Your Friends

Don't be overly awkward, of course. But a gentle reminder to your friends that you are a consignment-sale-aholic may make them think twice before they just drop off that next set of clothing to Goodwill.

6. Pimp Your Friends

[I love this one!] If you have friends who "don't have time for consignments sales" or who are consignment sale virgins, offer a split of your own. Tag their items for them, set them up with a separate consignor number and then split the proceeds.

Chrissy Freeman is a consignment sale enthusiast, marketing geek, web designer and mom to 19-month-old Jackson. She started ConsignmentMommies.com in the fall of 2009 after trying to find sales in her area and becoming frustrated with existing sites and services.

ConsignmentMommies.com is the "baby" of mother-daughter team Chrissy Freeman and Shari Kilgariff. And it is growing. Fast. The site currently boasts almost 1,000 sale listings, over 3,000 comments and has already hit 1/4 million page views this year.

Free Gift Cards Codes Are the Real Deal

Have you been looking at the prices of toys, watches, clothing and just about everything, while thinking of Christmas? Where are you going to get the cash to pay for these things? Don't worry, there is a great way to come up with those great gifts, and a way that will either cost you very little or nothing at all. You can find free gift cards codes online that will help you save money while doing your shopping.

These free certificates are given to you by stores like JCpenny, Walmart, The Olive Garden, etc. Yes, they can be for restaurants too! Now, you are either thinking that this is a scam, a money making deal or something illicit. But it is not. You see companies need the consumers opinion and they have gotten tired of hiring temporary workers to stand in the store all day with their clip board waiting for disgruntled shoppers to come in, who don't want to answer any surveys because they are tired, in a hurry, or just don't feel like it.

So they have put those surveys and questionnaires online. You just have to sit, use a few clicks of the mouse, and answer as truthfully as you can, and presto you will have the great free gift cards to stores like Best Buy, or Kmart.

What happens when you get a gift code that you can't use? There is a simple solution to that. Often, you may get a code for something like - baby products - but don't have a baby. In this case you list the coupons you have that you don't want on the exchange forum, and trade with someone else who has what you want. It is a very simple process.

These free codes can be for as much as $500 to $1000 so you know they are well worth the small amount of time you put into filling out the form.

Final Tip: By researching and comparing you will find the best free gift card online offers, however you are welcome to take advantage of the offers already listed in our website, we have done all the hard work for you.

H. Milla runs the Free Gift Cards Online website - where you can get different gift cards for free. Also, you can trade, sell or buy gift card at 40-50% discounted prices. Visit for further information and take advantage of our current promotions of well known brands like WalMart, JCPenney, PlasticJungle and several others.