Pass it On children’s consignment sale returns
Sale attracts thousands to buy gently used kids’ apparel, toys, games, gear
LATHAM — Cathy Wood hosted her first Pass it On Kids Sale in 2003 at a small firehouse in East Greenbush. Fifty or so consignors participated and the event drew a few hundred shoppers who sifted through several racks of gently used kid’s apparel, toys, games and gear.
Now in its 21st year, the biannual consignment sale — which will return this Saturday and Sunday for its spring and summer event — is held in the hulking 70,000square-foot Afrim’s Sports Dome in Latham and lures thousands of thrifty shoppers who will thumb through nearly 100,000 items from about 700 consignors — a record — including clothing sized for infants through teens, toys, books, baby gear, sports equipment and more.
There’s been a lot of buzz leading up to this weekend’s event, says Wood, who anticipates it being the busiest resale to date.
“I sort of know what to expect but it still blows my mind, every sale,” says Wood.
Wood got the idea for the sale decades ago after visiting and volunteering at one of the nation’s largest children’s consignment sales in Nashville, Tenn. called Encores and More. She had a vision and spent the next few years collaborating with organizers and learning everything she could about consignment sales, in hopes of starting her own in New York someday.
“I always knew it could get there, but it just took a little while to get there and now it’s there,” says Wood, who will put in about 15 hours of work each day during the event. “Now every time we finish we look at each other after and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, how did we do it?’ Every single time.”
A mom herself, Wood learned the benefits of buying secondhand early on. Kids grow too fast, she says, and updating a little one’s wardrobe each season can be costly. All consignors are parents and caregivers, and are asked to register weeks in advance of the event.
“I think everything now is just so darn expensive and people are looking for a way to make money and also save,” says Wood.
Shopping consignment sales in also an easy way to keep pre-loved toys and clothes out of landfills. More than 11 million tons of textile waste, or the equivalent of 85 percent of all textiles, are sent to U.S. landfills each year, according to Earth.org. That’s akin to tossing out approximately 81.5 pounds per person per year and around 2,150 pieces per second countrywide.
For Wood, organizing the largest children’s consignment sale in the Capital Region is no easy feat. A full-time teacher, Wood and her team of helpers have a long list of tasks to tackle twice a year, from securing a facility large enough to host the event and purchasing liability insurance to handling the marketing, equipment set-up and consignor coordination.
On drop-off day, held event. There’s also a Thursday, her horde of paid early-bird option, helpers inspect everything something that started consignors intend during COVID and to sell. Nothing stained, stuck, for shoppers who torn or tattered is accepted, are eager to dash to some and all toys and furniture of the most popular must be in great condition, items, like baby gear, outdoor fully assembled. toys and LEGOS before Clothes must be tagged the public sale. Cash properly and hung on approved and credit cards are accepted. wire hangers.
First-time parents, Most of what doesn’t consignors and helpers sell is offered for halfprice
nd get first crack at the resale on Sunday. From goods during a presale there, if there are still
items left, and there always are, says Wood, they are either returned to the seller if they so stipulate or donated to local charities and refugee families.
“It’s so communitydriven and there are so
many people who rely on it for different reasons,” says Wood. “Consignors doing the work, people shopping and then at the end we get to give a lot away to local charities, for us that’s the most fun thing in the world.”