Occasional sales for kids' gear

It's a classic case of sellers filling buyers' needs. Just ask any of the young mothers who've bought into the kids consignment concept. Kristal Belisle, who owns Munchkin Markets in St. Paul and Stillwater, says that buyers at spring and fall consignment sales can count on everything being sized, organized into departments, stain-free and in good condition.

"They don't have to hit 10 garage sales to find a needle in a haystack," she said.

What's in it for families consigning their kids' items at the sales? Besides days not spent preparing for a garage sale, they can price items at 25 to 50 percent of what they paid rather than the more typical 10 percent. "Garage sales are a ton more work," said Jordana Pickering of Eagan. That's why she moved her children's castoffs from her garage to the semiannual sales at Spoiled Little Rascals in Eagan.

It's part of a trend from the South where consignors haul their kids' seasonal merchandise -- including clothing, toys, sporting goods, baby and nursery items, cribs, strollers and play equipment -- to a single sale site. Unlike retail consignment shops that offer sellers 30 to 40 percent of the sale price, occasional sale consignors get to set and keep 65 to 80 percent of the selling price. They also choose which of their items go half-price on the last day of the sale and whether unsold items should be donated to charity.

With kids consignment sales, Pickering has no setup and take-down time, no waiting for buyers to come and no advertising. Pickering, who used to own a high-end kids shop, said it's even better than eBay. "I make as much at the twice-a-year sales as I did on eBay, without the eBay fees and shipping time," she said.

For the hard-core garage-saler, prices at the occasional sale might seem a bit high, but they're often less than at year-round consignment shops. At the Spoiled Little Rascals sale in Eagan recently, Bethanie Park of Apple Valley found a nearly new infant bathtub for $4. "It would have been $20 new," she said. Tim and Cindy Fremstad of Minneapolis didn't scare up the kids' Halloween costumes they were searching for, but they liked the overall selection, if not the higher-than-garage-sale prices.

In the Twin Cities some of the sales are part of national franchises, including Just Between Friends, which has nearly 100 sales nationwide. Others are independents such as Go Fish! and Munchkin Markets. Sales are held throughout the metro area, including Brooklyn Park/Maple Grove, Eagan, Edina, Elk River, Lakeville, St. Louis Park, St. Paul, Stillwater and Woodbury. They're usually held in a community center with plenty of parking and aisles wide enough for a triplets stroller.

Consignors price and tag their own items using the online instructions. Price tags are printed at home using a template from the website and pinned or taped to the item. After bringing items to the sale location, they're inspected for quality and proper tagging. Afterward, consignors or volunteers hang the items on racks according to size and gender.

Consignors don't need to stick around during the two- or three-day sales, but they can earn 75 or 80 percent of their sales receipts instead of 70 percent if they volunteer to work at the sale. The sales are almost completely staffed by volunteers, who also get the advantage of shopping before the doors open to the public. Most sales charge $1 or $2 admission on the first day, an irritant to some garage salers, but a couple of sales will waive the admission with a donation of a nonperishable food item to local food shelves.

Anyone looking for strollers, bouncy seats, high chairs, swings and exercise saucers should plan on being in line when the doors open. "Those items sell the fastest," said Henriette Roe, organizer of the From Yours to Mine sale in Lakeville. The best bargain is clothing, especially on the last day of the sale, when almost everything is half price. Consignors can choose not to have any or all of their items go half-price, which is noted on the price tag. Consignors receive a check for sold items within a couple of weeks from the date of sale. Unsold items can be picked up or the organizers will donate them to charity.

Inputting prices, printing out the tags and placing them on each item takes Stacey Dagnault, a co-owner of the Go Fish! sales in Elk River, St. Louis Park and Eden Prairie, about a minute per item. She and her business partner, Kirsten Berglof, take on the price tagging chores at the consignor's request. Their fee is taking 50 percent of the consignor's sales instead of the normal 30 percent.

Three years ago, only a couple of the more than 12 kids occasional sales now in the Twin Cities existed. Business owners say their sales have risen each year. Munchkin Market in St. Paul and Stillwater has seen increases of 40 to 50 percent at each sale. As more consumers adopt "reduce, re-use and recycle," the concept doesn't appear to be a fad. Still, owners say they're not getting rich. Like many owners, Berglof and Dagnault both hold full-time jobs in other fields.