By JENNIFER FICKLEY-BAKER
Ledger CorrespondentIs your closet filled to the brim with clothes? Is your garage bursting at the seams with barely used sports equipment? Well, all that clutter could actually be worth a pretty penny, because today there are more businesses than ever willing to buy back used items.
Consignment shops are one option for reselling used adult and children's clothing. Consignment stores work by taking items from an individual and putting them up for sale in their store. Once the item sells, the seller is paid and the shop takes a commission.
One such store is Twice as Nice Consignment (1839 E. Edgewood Drive), which specializes in buying and selling upscale clothing for women and children.
"I look for brands like Anne Taylor, Chico's and Talbots, that are free of rips, stains, broken zippers, missing buttons - nothing dated," says owner Pamela Gill, who explains that shops like hers are a great way for parents to save money on buying clothes for growing children.
"They can reinvest their money and buy (again)," Gill said. "I have several parents that consign clothes on a regular basis, or I buy them out and they turn around and use the money to buy playclothes. It's just cheaper (than buying at a department store), and everything in here is like new."
Plato's Closet (4525 S. Florida Ave.) works slightly differently than a consignment shop, as it buys back "gently used" brand-name clothing geared toward teens and tweens outright. Teens literally can walk into the shop with a bag of their used clothes and walk out with cash in hand. Popular brands bought back from the store include Abercrombie & Fitch, Express, American Eagle, Gap, Hollister and more. Accessories also may be bought and sold here.
To earn money from used baby clothes, furniture and toys, stop into Kid Krazy (619-7000) in Winter Haven. Owners Lisa Birket and Michele Norris say they regularly buy back a variety of kiddie items, including cribs, blankets and non-recalled toys. Here, sellers can expect a check for their goods, or store credit with an added bonus.
"We buy everything - clothing, toys, furniture, cribs, dressers, changing tables, bunk beds, twin beds," Birket said. "We have (customers) drop it off and we call them after we go through it. Then we give a check or store credit for that amount plus an extra 10 percent. We don't take things with missing parts or pieces - we try our best to have everything complete."
Online Web sites also are a great way to unload items for larger than garage sale prices, especially some toys, recent books and designer purses.
Depending on the age of a toy and its condition, individuals can earn a gold mine selling toys on eBay.com. No-longer-produced toys from the 1950s and earlier are high collector's items. Popular children's action figures also are hot sells online. In 2007, a total of 442,342 Transformers and 344,825 Harry Potter action figures were sold on the site. Metal lunch boxes that bear images of favorite childhood cartoon characters, such as Disney characters and G.I. Joe, also go for big bucks when they're in good condition.
According to the Web site's statistics, bestselling books are also good moneymakers on eBay.com.
Higher-end purses and wallets can bring big bucks on eBay.com, especially items by Coach, Louis Vuitton, Dooney and Burke, and Chanel. It usually costs less than $1 to post an item for sale on eBay (depending on your sale price) and you're allowed to post the item for any price you wish. You can always go back in and lower the price if you haven't gotten any bids. One warning: eBay prohibits the sale of imitation handbags, so all designer purses must be authentic.
Unused sports or athletic equipment is another category of clutter than often takes up space in closets or garages. If your son never quite used that lacrosse stick he begged you for or your daughter outgrew her new water skis after only one summer, Play it Again Sports (2211 S. Florida Ave.) is a great place to resell equipment or trade it in for something they'll actually use or fit into. Play it Again Sports buys, sells and trades slightly used sports equipment and exercise machines. Before lugging that giant unused treadmill into the store, call ahead and see if they're interested. Labels: authentic chanel tote, authentic chloe handbags, authentic designer handbags, luxuryvintage
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