Friday, March 13, 2020

Your Guide To Buying, Selling And Trading Your Childrens Clothing

I love BST (buy, sell, trade) groups on Facebook. I never really knew these were a thing until two years or so ago. I mean, I did, I've been a part of some (one for Kickee Pants and one for Freshly Picked Moccs) since Campbell was a baby. But I really wasn't interested and I had no desire in selling since I knew I wanted more babies. So I kind of snoozed them and didn't pay much attention to them.
However, shortly after I got pregnant with Wells, I was determined to sell some of my boy clothes. I already knew Wells was a boy and I also knew I would want to buy new clothes for him so I needed to do a major purge to make room! I asked on Facebook what would be the best way to go about selling some of these nicer clothes. I didn't want to donate them because I had a big investment in these pieces and I wanted to be able to get some of my money back from it. A lot of people suggested I make my own group on Facebook, add friends, and sell that way. Which I did (more on that later) but another friend suggest I get on some BST Facebook groups. She added me to several really great ones and after observing for a bit, I decided to give it a try. I was shocked at how much I was able to get for my pieces (50-70% of my money back) and suddenly I was hooked! I was also finding some incredible pieces at amazing prices so not only was I selling, I was buying and trading too!

People get super overwhelmed with how BST groups work and I totally understand--I was the exact same way. I frequently get asked how the best way to go about selling clothes is so today I wanted to do a guide on how to Buy, Sell, and Trade your baby/kids clothes. And also attach some photos of my boys wearing outfits I've purchased off the BST Facebook groups I'm in!
Rules: These groups have very strict rules and you will be removed from the group if you don't follow the rules. I actually really love all of the rules. It makes the groups very professional. Each group has different rules and they're usually pinned at the top of the group for you to read. Common rules are that you must claim an item with your Paypal. If you claim it, it's yours. No changing your mind. If you are sent an invoice via PayPal you must pay it. You cannot ask the buyer if they will take less for an item unless they state up front that they're open to offers. The first person who claims gets the item. Sellers must disclose if the clothes are from a smoke free, pet friendly home or not. Sellers must include shipping into the cost of their item and ship the item ASAP. Any stains, flaws, etc must be disclosed. It's also nice to inform people if you've dried an item.
Abbreviations: There are a lot of abbreviations on BST pages. They're used to explain the condition of the item. Each article of clothing must be marked accordingly. Abbreviations are NWT (New With Tags) NWOT (New, Without Tags) EUC (Excellent Used Condition) VGUC (Very Good Used Condition) GUC (Good Used Condition) PLAY (Play condition aka stains//holes etc). How a seller sees the item is at their disgression. I consider something to be EUC if it looks brand new, even though it's been worn. VGUC for me would be that it still looks really good but you can tell it's been worn. GUC would be that there aren't any stains or holes but it definitely has some wash/wear to it. HTF is something that's hard to find--a treasure in the children's boutique clothing world. Haha!
Buying: I cannot even begin to tell you how many incredible items I've found off of these BST pages. I have found NWT clothes at a 50% discount. I've scored some HTF items that I paid full price for (or more, oops) but it felt like a score since they're hard to find! What would make them hard to find would be that they were a really popular item that the brand sold out of almost immediately. Other items that would be considered HTF would be items from several seasons ago that are a hidden gem and people want! Whenever you are buying, you always claim with your Paypal. Paypal offers buyer and seller protection which is why Paypal is the payment method on BST pages, not Venmo.
Selling: Selling is very easy. You can sell a single item or do a purge. You post a photo of the item you're wanting to sell with the condition of the item and how much you want for it. The first person to claim with their Paypal gets the item. You send them a Paypal invoice or money request, they pay, you ship. If you have a lot of clothes you're wanting to purge you can lay them all out, take a photo then post something like "Lot of Spring Clothes Sizes Newborn-24 Months. Smoke Free, Dog Friendly. Purge Starts at 8:30 PM CST." This gives plenty of time for people to see your purge and they can "follow" the post to be notified when the purge starts. You then post individual photos in the comments of each item and the first person who claims gets the item.
Shipping: Shipping is probably the part that feels the most overwhelming but it's really easy! Shipping through Paypal is without question the cheapest way to ship. Paypal has it set up where you can create shipping labels through them. Once you receive payment from your buyer, you can click on a link that says "create shipping label." A new link opens and you select First Class Mail 2-5 days then Package/Large Envelope. You then have to weigh your package. I use a food scale to do it. You put in how many ounces your package weighs, then hit a button that says "calculate shipping cost." It pulls up the amount, you hit confirm and then print shipping label. A label prints out with the buyers address already on it (because it's connected to their paypal), you tape it to your package and stick it in your mailbox for your mailman to pick up. Easy peasy! You don't have to do it this way but it's the easiest and most cost effective way to ship. I save $2-4 when shipping through paypal vs taking to the post office. If you're purging several items, that really ads up! Before you sell you need to get on Amazon and buy poly mailers. THESE from Amazon are the ones I always use. It's not required but very appreciated if you double bag. A lot of people put the clothes in a ziplock. I always save the plastic bags that clothes come in that I order online. You could also double bag using the poly mailers. Again, not a requirement but definitely appreciated (and probably expected) by your buyer!
BST pages are such a great way to get some of your money back from your nicer, boutique brand clothes. It's also a fantastic way to shop! If you love boutique clothes but they aren't quite in your budget, shop via BST pages! I love nice, classic children's clothing and knowing that I'm able to get 50-70% of my money back (I've often gotten 100% of my money back) when I'm ready to sell them is such a nice thing.

If the BST pages seem entirely too overwhelming for you but you would still like to sell some clothes, create a Facebook group. Post on your regular page that you've created a group and invite your friends and tell your friends to invite friends. I have a Facebook group called Campbell &  Bennett Closet Purge. I typically only sell items twice a year. A spring purge and a fall purge. I usually tell everyone the day before that I'm planning a purge, what sizes I'm purging, and post a photo of some of the items so everyone can get an idea of what I'm selling. Everyone claims the same way as the BST pages and I prefer paypal but cash works just as good too. I have learned that my mall clothes are the best clothes for my page. No one ever seems to be interested in my boutique clothes but I always sell nearly every Gap or Zara piece I have. This works out so perfect for me because I can't sell these clothes on Facebook BST pages (there are groups for gap, etc but I've never had any luck on them). Most of the people I sell to are local and they do a porch pick up. I'm always happy to ship to anyone who isn't local, but I ask them to cover the shipping cost. No one ever cares that they have to pay shipping and depending on how many items there are, I usually just charge a $5 flat rate shipping fee.

Okay so I've given you the lowdown on how to participate in BST groups so which ones should you join? My favorites are:
-Snips and Snails Upscale Boys' Resale
-Properly Purged
-Little English BST (Little English brand clothing only)
-The Beaufort Bonnet Co. Resale B/S/T (TBBC clothing only)
-Boys Rock Smocks
-Mini Boden Boys Resale (and now Hannah too!) (Boden and Hanna Anderson only)
- Kickee Pants B/S/T (Kickee Pants only)
-Freshly Picked B/S/T (Freshly Picked only)
-Jetson Cubbington Samples & BST (Jetson Cubbington clothing only)

These are the groups I've had the most luck with. There are some others that I'm a part of but they aren't very active. These groups are constantly having buyers and sellers.

If you aren't sure how to price your items, simply follow the pages for a bit to see what others are pricing similar items for. Purges can be a lot of work so start slow by selling an item or two then once you get the hang of it, go for a big purge! Big purges seem to get more attention than a single item post.

I hope this was helpful for buying, selling and trading your clothes! I love the BST world and it may seem silly to say but I have had a lot of fun in these groups!

3 comments:

  1. Can you tell me how to join Properly Purged?!

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