When it comes to children’s clothes, I’m often hesitant to spend too much money, as they’re likely to either wear them out or outgrow them before you truly get your money’s worth out of it. So I’d say that 98% of The Girls’ clothes come from consignment at Once Upon a Child. I can generally get pants that run from $3 to $8, and winter shirts from about $4 to $10 each (and less for shorts and summer shirts), plus they have frequent sales (today was 30% off everything in the store…I got four pair of pants and a shirt for $13 today) that make it worth checking in periodically.
I think the key to success when shopping consignment is to have a general idea of what you’d like to find, but be open and not too set on something very specific. You might run across a shirt you fall in love with, but it’s slightly small for your child. Now, at a regular store, you just look on the same rack and see if they have the next size up, but it’s not guaranteed that they’ll have the next size up at the consignment store (or, if they do, it’s almost certainly not going to be easy to find). Consignment shopping is not for everyone, but I find it’s worthwhile to end up with more clothes (many of which are good brand names that retail for much more) for the same amount of money you’d spend elsewhere.
And Baby B Makes Three! 