This post is sponsored by Just Between Friends- Western Mainline.

Organizing for consignment sales can be a snap with a few key tips. You’ve been hearing me crow about the Just Between Friends sale for the last few weeks, as I helped clients get ready for the sale in Oaks last weekend.

I usually shop the sales. In fact, I don’t shop anywhere else. I can’t remember the last time I shopped for my kids in a retail store. This time I spent $180 and got 6 bathing suits and 2 complete ballet outfits. I’m pretty sure the retail price on just these items would be close to $180.

PLUS over a dozen other outfits and dresses.

PLUS all these crafts, games, books, and even birthday party presents for their little friends. The Melissa and Doug stuff is brand new and 25% off at this JBF sale. Score! And did you see all the good organizing solutions I scouted while I was there?

So a big THANK YOU you everyone who got their act together and cleared out their kids clothes, toys and books so I could grab these deals. One of my clients made over $987. The average seller makes over $400 at JBF.

If you want in on this action, along with another post on getting ready for consignment sales, here are some things you can be doing now to get ready for the next sale.

How to Get Ready for Kids Consignment Sales

Organize kids closets twice a year. Kids always have 3 wardrobes. Make room for them. Have a fall and a spring box for the sales. And yes, you are actually doing your kids a favor, helping kids manage overwhelm, when you clear out their closets.

Put clothes on hangers the last time you wash them. Eliminates the problem of needing to search for hangers.

Install a double rod in the closet or a clothes rack in a storage area. A large laundry room closet can store clothes to sell. I totally forgot that my attic has a bar already installed by the previous owners! Isn’t this easy DIY rack, just 2×4’s hanging from the basement rafters, a lovely way to keep clothes ready for the next sale?

Zip tie shoes together when you store them, so you don’t have to pair them again later.

Save bedding packaging for toy groupings. Those zippered plastic pouches that curtains, sheets, pillow cases, and comforters come in are great for packaging up Barbies, doll clothes, and sets of cars or baby toys.

Keep a “Too small” bin in the closet for clothes you’ll pass down to the next child, and keep these clothes separate from the consignment clothes.

Keep a bin or drawer for memory clothes, like hand-knit baby clothes or favorite team t-shirts. You can either pass these down to family members or re-make them into things like memory quilts. But keep them separate from your clothes that you are passing down to the next kid, or clothes you might sell on consignment

Have a “Time Out” area for toys. If toys aren’t getting picked up, or your kids fight over toys, send them to the Time Out shelf. Kids can earn them back for good behavior. If toys are still in time out when it’s time for the sale, they are money makers.

The JBF tag system is open all year long, so you can price and prep batches of clothes whenever it’s a good time for you. Get the kids to help you on days off from school, and make it a family affair. They can do things like sort by size or clean and shine shoes, well before you are ready to put them up for sale.

In fact, let the older kids in on the fun, encouraging them to pick toys to consign. One teen earned a couple of hundred dollars this sale, which she’s using to buy high-end shoes.

Find out what supplies your local consignment sale uses. Start saving safety pins, hangers, and zipper bags throughout the year, so you’ll have supplies on hand when you need them, Buy zip ties and packing tape on sale before you need it.

I am well aware that some people think consignment sales are “icky”, but the truth is, our kids are blessed to be healthy enough to outgrow their clothes and stuff well before it’s useful life is done. I hope I’ve convinced you to give consignment sales a try, both on the buying and selling side.

What’s your best deal that you’ve ever gotten at a consignment sale?