Comments on: Saving money at Once Upon a Child

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:33:00 +0000

Don’t get too excited. It’s often over priced and they are CHEAP and picky about what they’ll buy. Same with Plato’s closet. Look at End of the Season sales–you can usually do just as well. My niece, a new Mom of a boy in June, did say they cloth diapers and accessories were a decent enough price due to shipping from online places. A few bargains can certainly be found at OUAC–like dress clothess, but check Goodwill on Dollar day for dress shoes! You’d be shocked at what you can get! I also second the Dollar Tree idea–I’ve bought little clothes in there for my kids’ stuffed animals. They have been spilled on, cat peed, taken outside and washed and come out fine. Garage sales are ok if you don’t waste a mint on gas getting there!! Baby showers really help–hint, hint!!

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:00:12 +0000

I didn’t know that Once upon a child was still around. I first used that chain store about 15 years ago when trading in my daughter’s baby outfits for toddler stuff. I really liked it when I took down her stroller and traded it for a large outdoor doll house.

As to buying onesies there, I would stick to buying them at the local dollar store. Our dollar store has a wide variety of children’s’ cloths for a buck.

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:00:55 +0000

Personally I don’t like consignment shops. I have 4 children 2,5,8,and 10 and believe me I’ve tried the consignment shops. I find that I can buy NEW clothes for the SAME PRICE at Walmart as what the consignement shops charge for used clothes.

While, baby clothes don’t get worn out quickly because baby’s grow so fast, there is no way I can find used clothes for a 10 year old boy that looks half way decent.

Give Walmart a look. They have outfits for $5, sleepers for $5-6 and if you look now they have $3 clearance items.

One good thing to look at in the consignment shops is girls church dresses. They are SO expensive in the stores and the girls don’t wear them out very fast. Boys on the other hand are ROUGH on clothes ;-P

By: Christina@Northern Cheapskate

Christina@Northern Cheapskate — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:15:46 +0000

The key to getting the best deals is to shop the end-of-season sales.Target, JcPenney, Lands End, Sears, Old Navy and Kohls have awesome clearance deals. (I'm talking $1 for some items!) If my kiddos are too big/small for the clothes when the time comes to use them, I give them away as gifts or sell them (sometimes for a profit!)I also like to do the garage sale thing, but it is time consuming. You have to love the thrill of the hunt!Christina@Northern Cheapskate's last blog post..Get Free Samples of Nature Made Vitamins

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02:27 +0000

Congrats on finding out it’s a boy–how fun to now assign a pronoun to him :)

We are huge on hand-me-downs–it works great if you’ve got friends/cousins who have had kids already. If you are “first” in your group, then it’s a little trickier.

To be honest, we have bought very little for both our kids–I pick stuff up on clearance, but they still get clothing as gifts from a lot of people.

Have fun getting ready for the little one!

Here’s a trick I learned early on–tape the receipt (or gift receipt) directly to whatever it is you’ve purchased/gotten as a gift until you start to use it. With both kids, I’ve ended up needing to return things (they grow SO fast), and it’s always great to have the receipt right there.

Michelle’s last blog post..And Now, She is Three

By: Ginkgo100

Ginkgo100 — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:46:58 +0000

I shop at charity thrift stores (Salvation Army has great baby clothes, Goodwill Select lacks selection), cheap big-box stores, and Babies ‘R’ Us, mainly in the clearance and layette (for onesies and PJs) sections. Carter is my favorite brand and I love finding them gently used. I also must say I have a lot of hand-me-downs from relatives.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:24:41 +0000

I love Once-Upon-A-Child. The best is definitely when they have their blow out sales. They have the $10 bag sale, like said above. But, they also have a sale a couple times a year where all clearance items are a dollar. Last time, I got gap jeans and old navy and children’s place shirts and dresses for $1!! It was awesome.

By: paidtwice

paidtwice — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:56:23 +0000

Let me be the lone voice of dissent and state I hate Once Upon A Child.

They pay very very little for what they accept. And they hardly accept anything. So selling to them doesn’t work for me. It isn’t even the condition – they just only accept certain things. It is not worth it for me to drive there for what they pay for items. I can Craigslist them easier.

They charge too much. They charge 3x what you can get things for at a garage sale. Sometimes more.

Not everyone has the patience for garage sales (although here it seems every garage sale has baby clothes) but keep your eye out for the big church consignment sales. You can usually get a LOT more for a LOT less. Or watch your local Craigslist.

Congratulations on your little boy!

paidtwice’s last blog post..Sunday Link Love: July Review Edition

By: Milehimama

Milehimama — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:45:19 +0000

Once Upon a Child also runs Grab Bag specials a couple times a year (my store’s doing it this Sat!)

You get a bag, and can fill it up with as many clearance items as will fit, and it costs $10.

FYI- Carters brand baby clothes run one size big. So the 3-6 month sleepers are more likely to fit a 6-9 month baby. Good to know for seasonal preplanning!

By: A.Lin

A.Lin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:38:33 +0000

One word: hand-me-downs (or is that three words?)

I have three boys and I just rotate the clothes in when they have grown into them. Also, a woman at my church gives me some clothes from her son who is a few years older than my oldest. At 5, 3, and 3 months, the boys actually think is cool to wear hand-me-downs. I’m sure that will change.

Grandmothers are the other source I have for clothes. I let them buy the special outfits for pictures and such.