So What Sort of Kid Stuff Really Sells on Craigslist?

Image via CrunchBase

We have a LOT of kids stuff.  I’m almost embarrassed to say – probably 90% of what we sell on Craigslist is kid stuff. We’re lucky that Craigslist is such a good marketplace for kids stuff and has worked pretty well for us over all.  We tried looking into doing one of those consignment events and found the amount of work, not to mention the cut they get – not to be worth our time and effort.  Yes, you could probably sell your kitchen sink on Craigslist, it is just that no one might buy it.  Same thing goes for certain type of kid’s stuff.  I’m not saying its impossible, but after trying to sell numerous items through the years, I’ve come to a number of semi-conclusions and unofficially coined the phrase “Declutter for Ca$h!”

1. Clothing is touch and go… depending on how you market it – a no-photo rough ad about ‘2T clothes for sale’ will not get you anywhere.  Individually selling clothing is not quite worth your time either (IMHO) what has worked for me is taking group photos of the bunch for sale and selling it all for one price – list brands, sizes, and be honest about any wear and tear.  On the positive side, if successful – you probably will get more money selling clothing this way rather than selling them either at a consignment shop or at a ‘Just Between Friends’  type of event.  Shoes are another thing that I think some people are leery of paying a good price to get second-hand – ALTHOUGH an exception might be girl’s tap shoes.
2. Maternity Clothes – yep, you can try to sell this as a package deal.  Worked for one of our friends and she unloaded all her maternity clothes in good condition for a flat $125!
3. Infant ‘Essentials’ i.e. high chair, stroller, pack n’ play, etc.–  if a decent brand
   

   Our old Play Area/Gate-- useful, cute, and sturdy makes for a quick sell 🙂

   (Graco, Britax etc.) will usually sell well.  PLEASE take a good photo and try to clean the item beforehand. If it doesn’t sell immediately – patience – wait a couple of weeks and re-post. Having moved to Tulsa we found that ‘trendier’ items may not sell as well here compared to a major city – things like a Stokke chair, or a Learning Tower might sell pretty fast in Chicago, but not as quickly in a smaller city.

4. Toys – is another touch and go category — ‘classics’ such as train tables and train sets, climbers, ride-ons, usually do well depending on wear and tear.  Smaller pieces or toys with lots of pieces (ie. fisher price doll houses, etc.) maybe not as much.  We found that ‘large’ toys do pretty well (climbers, slides etc.).  We are on the fence when it
   

   I posted this art table twice before I got a sale. I love Step 2 or Little Tikes stuff- they always clean up real well and look brand new in a jif!

   comes to bundling vs. individual selling of toys – just like much of Craigslist it really depends on luck and the decision would fall more on you to decide whether you want to bother selling your toys piece meal or in one go.

Hopefully this helps you look at your ‘stuff’ differently – we certainly do.  I know there are certain items I’m itching to sell but my wife is still adamant about keeping (indoor trampoline anyone? kid’s bookshelf?).  At the end of the day Craigslist satisfies a lot of our needs, the need to declutter, the need to have a little extra cash, and the need to recycle – win win all around in my opinion. Happy Selling!

Itching to sell this train table someday 🙂 We actually got this off of Craigslist for quite a steal.

Related articles

• The 25 Best Things to Buy on Craigslist (wisebread.com)
• 5 Tips For Selling Stuff On Online Classified Ad Sites (Like Kijiji, Craigslist, & Backpage) (levynewsnetwork.wordpress.com)