How to Get Free and Cheap Kid’s Clothes
Kids are expensive. Period. And on top of that, they grow out of clothing so quickly, paying full price can quickly add up to thousands of dollars unnecessarily. I’ve been there! I know it all too well. These days, I absolutely refuse to pay full price for kids clothing.
Often times, kids will out grow clothing that’s barely worn before they need a bigger size. Even with constantly replacing them, playtime can create some heavy wear and tear (especially if your kiddo likes to drag their feet like my daughter or loves playing in mud like my son). Because of this, you really shouldn’t be paying big money for their clothing. Use these tips below to get cheap or free clothes for kids.
1. Buy Used
This is the first tip on the list because it’s probably the most obvious. Buying clothes secondhand allows you to save huge amounts off of the original retail price. Plus, because kids can outgrow clothing so quickly, they are often in excellent shape. There are a ton of places you can go for gently used second hand clothing for kids.
My favorite place online to buy used clothing is ThredUp. It’s an online consignment store with major brands like Gymboree, Gap, etc. They have strict quality control as to what they will accept, so 99% of the stuff is exceptional quality, if not brand new. I use this site heavily for both my kids, AND for myself. I’ve scored some killer deals on designer brands at up to 90% off retail. I’ve found brands like Lululemon, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and Donna Karen on there!
Another online consignment store to check out is Schoola. What’s cool about Schoola is that 40% of profits are donated to schools. Plus, they have a ton of sales and promotions for additional discounts and free shipping. From my experience, the quality check and selection isn’t as good as Thredup, But, I have scored a lot of cute outfits for my kids here on the cheap.
Springtime and summer are great times to stroll the neighborhood for garage sales; there are lots of people taking advantage of the nice weather and doing a purge of all the clothes their kids can’t wear anymore. Alternatively, there’s always the traditional places like Goodwill, local kids’ consignment stores and Craigslist.
2. Clothing Swaps & Asking Friends
Get together with some mom friends and organize a clothing swap. This is most useful when the moms have kids that are different ages. Bring all the clothes your kiddo can’t wear anymore and swap with a mom (or moms) that have clothes in your kid’s size. Not only are you purging your kid’s closet of everything they can’t wear, but you’re getting a new wardrobe for them completely free!
If you’re unsure of where to find clothing swaps, it’s a good idea to ask your child’s school. My son’s school has a clothing swaps for uniforms everywhere. I swap up sizes to get free uniforms each year, OR buy them for super cheap.
The other tip is to talk to friends with older kids and tell them that you would gladly take any clothing their kids have outgrown. If they already plan to drop it off at Goodwill, they might be grateful that you’re saving them a trip. Oftentimes, people are too embarrassed to offer without you asking.
I know firsthand how much it can pay off to ask others for their used kid’s clothing. When I was pregnant with my firstborn, I had asked my sister in-law. The clothing her son had outgrown was so incredibly helpful with the added cost of a newborn baby. I’ll never forget it.
I always try to save my kids clothing for friends with younger kids, and my husband is always telling me “No! That’s weird!”. I guess it’s socially unacceptable where we live. What do you think? Is it something you do?
3. Shop the Deals
If you are going to buy new, make sure you’re buying when things are on sale, and/or using coupon codes to get a discounted price from regular price. The Children’s Place regularly has hot sales at 50% off plus free shipping every month. Plus, The Gap and Old Navy both run promotions every week. 
Want to know how to find the info on the sales? Well, we post about the latest online and in-store deals every single day here on Free Stuff Finder.com. Check out our homepage for what’s on sale right now. If you’re on Instagram, follow our Baby Deals account for more clothing deals for kids, babies and toddlers.
4. Buy Gender Neutral
Want to be able to reuse clothing from one kid to the next? Then it’s a good idea to buy things gender neutral and reuse them. Obviously, you can’t do that for every single article of clothing. However, big ticket items like winter coats and boots and be purchased in gender neutral colors and styles and reused from child to child. Things like snow boots, snow pants, gloves, are all good ideas that can be shared among siblings.
Also, if you have multiple kids, it’s fine to share basics even among different genders. My daughter still wears her older brother’s army green jacket and a bunch of his PJs. It’s really cute and endearing to see the clothes on her and remember how her big brother used to be teeny like that, also. Very sweet.
5. Plan Ahead
The best time to buy winter clothes is in the beginning of spring. The best time to buy warm weather clothes is at the beginning of fall. Plan ahead and buy sizes a little bigger than what your child is wearing currently. You’ll get crazy cheap clearance prices and won’t have to pay the full price of a larger wardrobe later on.
Everything happens in cycles. There will always be a killer clearance every few month at Target (at the end of every season) where you can get things for 50% to 70% off or more. Once a year, Babies R Us will have a killer clearance event on pink tag clearance apparel (usually in mid to end of January) where clearance items are deeply discounted even more. Plan to hit up these clearance sales and buy for the next year. I recommend that you don’t buy too far ahead or else you will have a storage problem. Since these clearance events come back every year, I’ve found that buying one year out in advance seems to work well for my family. I’ll be posting about these clearance events on the blog as they happen, as well.
What about you? What are some things you do to save money on kids clothing? What are your favorite stores for kids clothes?
