This post may contain affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if you didn’t have to BUY all of those toys for your children? What if someone just gave you toys, let your children abuse them and then took them back when you are done with them?  Okay, while it’s not quite that simple, there is a way to do it that isn’t too far from that wonderful dream.

If you’ve ever followed my wife (Mamacheaps.com), you’d know that we love consignment sale and thrift shopping. You can find such amazing deals at the sales and save a few (sometimes hundreds of) bucks off of retail. We’ve found deals on everything from clothes to shoes and ice skates to toy trucks. We have a few favorite stores and sales including the Care and Share Thrift Shoppes in Souderton and the Just Between Friends consignment sale in Hatfield.

At the last JBF sale we decided to trade up some of the kids’ outgrown toys for toys that suit them a little better. We cleaned up a bunch of the things they no longer used (or fit in for clothes) and dropped them off. A few of the items included a two small bikes that Lily had outgrown, a Step2 water table that was nice but small, and a handful of baby toys that Landon no longer showed any interest in. We tried to make sure that our prices were appropriate and priced to sell. They were used but in great condition and ready to provide another youngster tons of fun. We marked the larger bike at $15, the smaller at $20 (because it was nearly new and retailed for about $60).  The water table was marked at $20 and the small toys all at $1-$2/each. (Remember to mark your items to be sold at half off day. No sense dragging toys home if you don’t have to and if no one wanted them at full price, they may have been marked too high. Just my two cents). All in all, we walked away with about $50 for those items after our consignor fee was taken out of our profit.

We scoured the sales floor looking for items to replace the ones we consigned. We found a larger bike that was a better fit for Lily for $15, a new (much bigger) water table for Landon for $22.50, a small tractor for $5 and sliding board for $5. We paid $47.50 for all of the items, which were in great shape and ready for lots of playtime.

With the exception of our time, we didn’t have to shell out any money to trade up to the latest and greatest.  (Actually?  We MADE $2.50 on the deal!) We had made enough money to cover the cost of the new toys, so essentially we rent our toys, use the hell out of them, and send them back.  Pretty awesome if you ask me!