Consignment Money: What's YOUR plans?

I often have people ask me what I do with the money I make from consignment sales. I thought this would be a great topic for discussion and I could throw in a little contest too! I mean, seriously, who doesn't love to win something right?

I started consigning in 2000 when I discovered Baby Lulu. We had one child who was 1 1/2 at the time and I instantly fell in love with this clothing line. I was also becoming obsessed with Gymboree at the time. Back in those days, a Gymboree hat from a hard to find line would easily sell for $30 on ebay, so I quickly figured out that by scouring consignment sales, I could pick up some hard to find pieces AND save lots of money. At the time, I was selling my daughter's outgrown clothing on ebay, but I was quickly getting fed up with all the fees AND the people that didn't pay AND the people who complained once they got it AND (well, you get the point). I decided to give consigning a try. Honestly, I didn't have a lot of faith that I would sell very much. Even though I was selling higher end brands and everything I had was in good condition, who was really going to pay ebay prices for my stuff? Yeah, I was wrong. Even though it was a lot of work to get my items hung, priced, dropped off, picked up, etc., once I got that check from the first sale (actually it was cash in a baggie with all my cards, remember those days?) I was HOOKED. Suddenly, all that time I spent at the post office in line to ship stuff, all the money I had spent on packaging materials, and all the hassles of ebay buyers were a thing of the past....I was hooked on consigning and I've never looked back. Sure, I've tried different outlets over the years (yard sales, craigslist, etc) but by far, I have found that consigning is the easiest way to go. You are typically able to get top dollar for your item simply because if you pick the right sale, you are hitting a MASSIVE target audience.

Four years ago, I hired a VIP tagger and man, did my life change! No longer did I have to spend hours and hours finding hangers, pins, baggies, etc. They literally came to my house, picked it up and I was done. Yes, I was paying 20% more and a supply fee, but I was also finding that they were pricing it higher than I would have in the first place; therefore, I really didn't notice the lower percentage. Pair that with the fact that I found out I was cleaning out even more items than usual simply because I knew I wasn't the one having to price it all and man, oh man, I was in love.

So, that leads to the question...what do I do with my consignment earnings? Well, fast forward to 2011 and we now have 5 kids 12 and under. I typically set aside $1000 of my earnings to buy all 5 of them their next season wardrobe. I am a big fan of buying ahead and putting stuff back in the closet (that's why I love restock, always finding next season items!), so typically I can stretch my $1000 pretty far. This year, on top of that, I am setting a goal for our family. I would LOVE to take a Disney cruise in 2012 so all of my earnings above and beyond what I need for the clothing budget will be dumped into a vacation fund for this cruise.

So, you ready for the contest? Well, here it is :) If you want to be the first consignor to be able to shop at either Encores North or Encores Murfreesboro presale, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post about what you plan to do with your consignor check! In your comment, let us know what sale you plan to shop (or if you plan to shop both, say that too!) On Wednesday, August 24th at 10pm CST, we will pick two winners (one from North, one from the Boro) from the comments left and the winner will get to come in 30 minutes before the consignor presale starts! I can't wait to read your comments and who knows? You comment may inspire someone else to consign, or better yet? Give them a great idea to save for!