What's Fair

Updated on April 03, 2008
L.S. asks from Coweta, OK
17 answers

I have three boys and one girl. My boys have always shared clothes and had hand me downs from the one before him. However, my daughter is the youngest and I have a ton of clothes for her. i usually give them to moms who need them but I now have over 100 outfits and 10 or so pairs of shoes she has outgrown and A friend wants to buy them. She said price them to what I think is fair. What is fair? Most are sets that have bottom,top, jacket and hat or bow. Most are name brand(gap,old navy etc.. alot are boutique) The are in great condition, some never even worn. How do you price clothes for resale and still be fair? I don't know if what I would pay is what she would pay. I need a little advice as to what would be appropriate.

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So What Happened?

Thanks. I see 1/2 the original seems to be the consensus. I was pricing way to cheap I think. I am going to reevaluate my prices. I was only charging like 2 to 3 dollars for the sets and .50 to 1.00 for the singles. I know nothing was less than 15 or so when zi bought them.

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A.G.

answers from St. Louis on

If they are new and never worn, 50% of retail vaue is fair. if they are used and in good condition, 25% of retail value is typically going rate.

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J.

answers from Kansas City on

I agree with the $1 and $2 suggestions as that's what I've sold items for at my garage sales. The only thing I would add is you could go $3-4 if it still has the tag on, or $5 for nice winter coats.

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C.H.

answers from Kansas City on

I agree with most of these women. I would sell them as if I were having a garage sale. You did mention that you used to give them away. and this is friend of yours. Being fair with friends can be hard. You don't want to insult them nor do you want to over charge them. Talk about how you feel with your friend be honest. I believe that always helps. Good luck and God Bless.

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C.S.

answers from Kansas City on

I would say it depends on what you are going for. Garage sale prices for nice clothes is usually $.50 to $1 for singles and $2-4 for sets and $3-5 for fancy dresses and $1-3 for shoes. Starting at the low end for Walmart/Target type brands and high end of the price spectrem for name brand. That is if you just want to price them to move like you'd pay at a garage sale for NICE stuff without stains or holes. If you are wanting to make a little profit...which is perfectly fine especially if you are needing to buy your little one the next size clothes with what you sell the outgrown stuff for I would use consignment store prices. $1-3 for individual pieces $4-6 for outfits and $8-12 for fancy dresses. Shoes anywhere from $2-6 depending on brand and condition. I hope this helps...I am stay-at-home mom too who sells all her kids clothes online or at garage sales just to be able to afford to get them stuff that fits all the time so I understand the dilemma.

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J.W.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Hi L.!

Based on my experiences, I would suggest looking on Ebay at the childrens' clothing to get an idea of what similar items sell for. Ebay seems to have pretty accurate and fair pricing on used children's clothing.

Once I tried to take my daughters' (I have two girls) clothing to a popular resale/consignment shop, and they offered me a RIDICULOUSLY LOW amount for some very nice pieces--I think it averaged out to be 50 cents per piece which I declined. At the few garage sales I have had, I've sold children's clothes for $1.00 per piece or $2.00 per set.

I think it's great that you have a friend who wants to buy your daughter's old clothes! Price them right and you may always have a place for your hand-me-downs! As long as your friend is getting a bargain, and you're getting a return on your daughter's used clothing, I'd say it's a win-win situation.

Hope that helps!
J.

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B.S.

answers from Kansas City on

do an Ebay search on the same brands and sizes you'd be selling and you'll get the right idea of what the items go for. I sell tons of children's clothes on Ebay and 1/3 to 1/2 seems to be the average. But keep in mind that sometimes they go for much less (lots of wash wear, stains, fading, etc..) or even more if it's something rare or unique (like sold-out Gymboree lines). But if you see what prices are going right now on Ebay that should help you determine what other people would pay for similar items. Hope this helps!

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A.K.

answers from Tulsa on

this is a good question and one in which i have been faced with myself...i think 1/2 or 1/2 of the orginial price is fair...

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L.M.

answers from Fort Myers on

Look on Ebay or window shop at a used clothing store (like Once Upon A Child). People are selling clothing all the time in places like that and sell it for what they would sell it for.

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N.W.

answers from Kansas City on

I had a friend do the same thing to me. I made her name her own price. I told her that since I was ready to give them to her if she'd feel better paying for them then she needed to be the one to put a price tag on them. It worked out well for both of us.

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C.D.

answers from Topeka on

I have a friend that has tons of clothes that her kids never even wore, we sold them at a garage sale for $1 for each item that still had a tag on it and 50cents for everything else. it worked great and she made a ton of money.

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A.B.

answers from St. Louis on

I have a friend who used to call me before she had a garage sale to go through her son's clothes. Most of what her kids wore was Ralph Lauren, Tommy, Gymboree, Gap, etc...all name brands that I don't usually buy. She would price an entire outfit for $7-10, depending on the condition. I probably wouldn't pay more than 10-15 for anything because I can buy a lesser brand outfit for new for that price. Shoes were $5 or so because they usually saw more wear. If she had something new with tags, she would ask 1/2 the price.
Hope this helps.

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J.S.

answers from Springfield on

Think of what you would pay for them if you saw them as they are at a garage sale to figure the low end of what is acceptable. Personally, I wouldn't ask for more than 1/2 of the original price. If you are wanting equal value of what you paid for items that haven't been worn, let her know that and see if she is still interested. If she isn't, you can almost always get the amount you want by selling them on eBay.

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R.S.

answers from Kansas City on

I do lots of garage sales and I find that if I price things at about 1/4 of what I paid, people seem to think that's a fair price.

Keep in mind that if you were to take them to a resale shop they would give you about 1/4 of what you paid for them, so you might as well sell to a friend instead of a resale shop that will give you $10 for an outfit and then turn around and sell it for $20.

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S.L.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I heard this at a great confrence once and just have to share due to the openine of your request:

"WHAT IS FAIR IS NOT GETTING EVERYONE THE SAME THING OR AMOUNT OF THINGS, BUT GETTING EACH PERSON WHAT THEY NEED."

I know you have already responded back I have been ill and out so I hope you can read this anyway, I apply this to my whole family since we are all unique and we all have diffrent needs!!!! We may all want the same thing like a trip to Disney world, or for my son who is severly developmentally delayed is very diffreny daughter who just recieved an invitation to attend Baylor University on a full ride scholarship book,room and board for all 4 years, my son is only reading on a kindergarten level and then my 10th grade daughter gets the scholarship it would hardly be fair for my son to be expected to go to a 4 year school when can not even handle special education with a 1-1 teacher and he still has problems.

So fair is truely what you need not just what you want so you are like the other kids.

I know your topic is about clothing but I really had to get that off my chest. I do hope more people read this.

S.

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D.H.

answers from Kansas City on

Maybe take a few outfits up to a childrens consignment shop and have them price them to what they would pay you for them (Like Childrens Orchard or something) and get an idea... and then just take a bit off since it is your friend...

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Z.K.

answers from Tulsa on

The $2 to $3 for sets that you mentioned are what i would call "garage sale prices". for years and years my mom has told me that you should mark things 10% of what you paid for them to sell them at a garage sale. So a $30 set would be $3 at a garage sale. I love to garage sale and I can say that i would find it very hard to pay even $5 for a set, unless i absolutely fell in love with it and it was in great shape. Many of the Gap outfits I have purchased at garage sales were $2 for the set or $1 a piece if i break it down by each piece. The most i have paid for a 3 piece (pants, shirt, jacket) was $3. I know some people probably think 10% of purchase price is rather cheap, but maybe things have changed over the years and i haven't heard the going rate for garage sales. I have also noticed that people who have their children's clothes over priced at garage sales end up packing it all back up and putting back in the attic. Some people still know how to price their goods to sell. Just depends on how bad you want to get rid of your daughters clothes as to what to price them at. Good luck. At least you can part with your daughter's clothes....i am still too attached to my daughter's clothes so they are all packed away until i can "cut the cord". ha ha.

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R.L.

answers from Kansas City on

Let her really go through the clothes with you. See what she really wants. Then disucss a price. Remember though they are named brand but they aren't brand new anymore. And also we can buy alot of things at clearence prices now adays. I like to let my friends have our clothes and say $10 for a whole bag. Then they pass it on to the next little girl. Yours won't be wearing them again so you don't need them. If you can't get a fair price put them on ebay.

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