Let's Make A Deal!

Today was the mother of all consignment sales, Kids Market in Huntsville. I went one evening last fall, but that was nothing compared to today. Brennan and I arrived at 8:45 for a 9:00 start time. I was amazed when I pulled into a full parking lot at the old Linens and Things and jumped into a line that wrapped part way around the parking lot. There were at least 100 people already there. There were people with empty laundry baskets, empty strollers, empty bags, and empty shopping carts from other stores, all ready to snag a deal. I'm still a newbie to this, so I showed up with a baby in my stroller and a list of what I hoped to find.
I had learned the layout of the sale from the last time I was there, and when the doors opened the race was on. I had decided to hit the big items first and finish up with clothes. First I found an exersaucer for $10, several toys, a Johnny Jumper, a swim float, and clothes. The clothes ranged from practically perfect Polo shirts for a 1/3 the new price, to brand new with tags rompers, to shorts, shirts, and sleepers for $1 or less. I'm pretty picky about what I choose and everything has to look new, but that was no problem here. I have found at other sales that there is tons of little girl stuff, and a fraction of that for boys. While there was still a ton more for girls, the boys were well represented here as well. After five hours, a good part of that spent in the only down side-long lines, I came away feeling like I had found some great deals. I also learned a few things along the way. If you go:
1. Take a bag or basket if you plan to buy clothes. A lot of people had rolling laundry baskets or baskets with a belt attached for pulling.
2. Leave the kids at home if possible. Brennan was great, but it would have gone faster without a stroller and trying to maneuver everything was a challenge. Older kids seemed to have a lot of temptations also with so many fun things around.
3. If you want good deals on big ticket items, get there early. I got the exersaucer I wanted, but was amazed at what other people were finding also. There were high end cribs, strollers, highchairs, etc.
4. Look through other sizes too because things are sometimes stuck back in the wrong place.
5. It would be a great place for teachers to get books. There were bins and bins for $1 and less.
6. If you are expecting a first child it would be a great place to get the things that aren't used for long such as: a bath tub, Boppy, portable swing, bouncer, regular swing, bassinet, and maybe even bedding (there was new Pottery Barn Kids bedding still in the package). I know I wanted to register for a lot of these things, but I could have bought a few of them for very little and then registered for other things instead. It would also be a great way to finish out a registry after the showers if the timing was right, or to buy a 2nd for grandma's house.
7. Take a snack and dress comfy for this one. I thought I would be there a couple of hours at most, but it was so much fun and I was finding such good things that the time flew by.