To store or not to store

twinkltoes

Sun, Dec 02 2007, 4:52 am

I have two girls - DD11 and DD3. And we are TTC for #3. My question is this. I have SOOO many GORGEOUS clothes, both casual play clothes and nicer Shabbat dresses/skirts/tops left from DD11 that I have been saving for DD3. But it seems that DD11 grows out of stuff LONG before DD3 grows into same. I am running out of storage space. I go through everything about twice a year and weed out stuff that shows storage staining or that I just don't like any more all of a sudden or whatever. I go over everything VERY carefully every time and only save the best of the best and have weeded out a lot this way. But I'm still left with a lot of STUNNING things and it breaks my heart to sell or give it away to someone who could use it but............again the storage problem. Another consideration is that DHs daughter from his previous marriage just got married so there will, G-d willing, be a grandchild of his to pass things on to but then who knows if it would be a girl so I really don't know if I'm right to keep things to pass on to her.

If I decided to clear out most of the stuff, does it pay to sell it on eBay? Has anyone here done that? What are the pros/cons? Is it more trouble than it's worth? I'm in Israel.

Help!

shalhevet

Sun, Dec 02 2007, 9:44 am

Different people will give you different advice. I think it depends on how well off you are - can you afford to buy all those clothes again if you need them? I always store all the children's clothes and have them stored from age 13 down to baby things, both boys and girls. I have finally decided that the clothes that are too small for dd3 from now on I will give away, because even if I have another girl one day there will be at least 9 years between them - I have boys after her.

I know the storing takes up space, but the alternative is buying everything again. Confused

Certainly I keep clothes from one child to another I already have of the same gender.

Maya

Sun, Dec 02 2007, 9:51 am

I have sold things on eBay. If the clothes are a brand name, chances are you might sell them. People mostly look for designers, especially if the clothes have been worn. (I'm in New York, maybe Israel is different.) Start with a good price, and don't raise the shipping costs to much more than it will cost you.

I suggest you try selling two or three things, see how it goes. But make sure that the clothes are in perfect condition, and show nice pictures of them.

louche

Mon, Dec 03 2007, 2:03 pm

fabric ages, closet stains pop out, things go out of tyle, and storage costs money, too. Unless you are rattling around in a mansion anyway, it's just not worth it. kids don't realy need THAT much clothing. If you can make a few cents off ebay, good, otherwise do a mitzvah and give the stuff away to a gmach. While this stuff is moldering away in your boxes for 8 or 12 years, doing no one any good at all, someon who really needs it could be getting good use out of it--BEFORE the clost stains pop out and while the stuff is still in style. even baby clothes go out of style. I know b/c my sib's kids are a lot older than mine, and when I looked at some of the baby things she saved for me, I had to laugh.

why does it "break your heart" to give things away to someone who can use it?

grin

Mon, Dec 03 2007, 2:21 pm

basically I agree with Louche - it doens't pay to save too many clothes for too long, unless theyre esp. good quality or your kids are pretty close together (I guess 4-5 years apart would be about the limit). I also make exceptions for clothes with special memories, sort of like a memory scrapbook in the boidem.