Hugs and Kisses Consignment Sale

Fayetteville just happens to be the home of one of the largest children's consignment sales in the area.  The sale has over 2,000 consignors and takes up the whole of the expo center.  I heard about the sale from our local cloth diaper store a little late and was surprised that there was still slots left in the new mom's preview sale.  New moms got the option of shopping early before the sale was officially opened to the public. Thankfully I got a ticket for this earlier sale (they only gave away 300) as we also had a birth class that night.

Now consignment sales aren't usually my favorite thing.  I appreciate the savings but I'm not a huge fan of the lines and the mad dash to get the bigger ticket items.  But I was willing to risk it for the hope of finding a few last minute big ticket items that we really needed.  Plus I knew the items I found at this sale were going to be higher quality than the typical garage sale.  Every item is checked for rips and stains as well as expired warranties.  You are pretty much guaranteed that everything is going to work.

So on the day of I packed up our stroller (to use as a makeshift cart) and headed down to the expo center an hour early.  Since I had a limited amount of time to shop I wanted to make sure I was one of the first ones into the sale and not wasting that time waiting in line.  When the doors opened I made a beeline to the big ticket items first.  I had high hopes of getting a swing, high chair and bumbo seat.  I knew these items would be there but would go fast.  

I was shocked when there was still so many options to choose from.  I quickly checked off the large items off my list and settled into a more relaxed shopping pace.  I was able to roam from table to table and even look through some of the racks of clothes.  

When my time was up I had a full cart and headed to the check out. For $250 I got a huge amount of stuff for baby girl and crossed off all the big ticket items on our list.  There's another sale coming up this week and I'm happy to say that I don't have to go into this one with such a frenzy.  I should be able to shop and browse at a more normal pace without having to worry about not finding something.  

Here's all I was able to get for my $250:

6 swaddlers

1 Halo sleep sack

4 hats

1 stocking hat

9 hairbows

4 pairs of tights

1 pair of leg warmers

9 bibs

5 long sleeve onesies 

13 short sleeve onesies

6 sleepers

3 outfits

1 shirt

1 jean jacket

6 cloth diapers

1 set of toy blocks

4 hooded towels

1 flannel blanket

1 car seat support

1 washcloth

1 boppy cover

1 shopping cart cover

1 infant swing

1 high chair

1 exersaucer jumper

1 bumbo with tray

All the clothes

Adding to our cloth diaper stash

Boppy cover, toy blocks, shopping car cover and towels

The large ticket items: jumper, bumbo, swing and high chair