I'm beginning to think that I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with nearly new sales. There’s just something about them that draws me to them. I'll be honest, I love a good bargain but I wouldn’t be seen dead in a jumble sale, and these baby nearly new sales are pretty much just the same but for some reason buying baby bargains is acceptable in my head. It could be because baby things are so expensive and before you know it they've grown out of them or don’t fit into them.
My first experience with nearly new sales was this time last year when I was about 20 weeks pregnant. I thought I'd go and see if I could get a Bumbo at a bargain price as they're about £45 new and I'd heard on the mummy grapevine that a Bumbo was a must. I'd arranged to meet another pregnant friend at the Nether Kellet nearly new at 9.45am as the doors opened at 10am and it finished at 11:30am. There was a queue to get in already and I could see that people had various 'Bags for Life' stuffed under their arms, in their pockets and in the hands of their spogs they'd brought with them – damn those experienced nearly new shoppers! I scowled at them thinking “Hmmm...must note this for my next nearly new – prompt arrival and plenty of carrier bags”. I bet they will get all the good things before I get in. I tried to figure out who would be likely to be my competitors Bumbos, who would I have to wrestle for one?? There were one or two that I'd probably let have the Bumbo to be fair!
The doors opened and the queue made it's way inside and it was like a bun fight. This was a whole new experience for me! I could see one pregnant woman giving mini lists out to her friends and sending them off to look for their designated items whilst she browsed the clothes. Having not thought about the fact that this wasn’t like your local supermarket with baskets at the front door, and not having any bags with me, I had to brave with the prospect of balancing items on me whilst I browsed. Sadly there were no Bumbos, or at least by the time I found the area where they'd be there were none however I did pick up an Avent Electric Steriliser for £15 and an Avent Breast Pump for £5 – not bad I thought.
I didn’t feel to disheartened by my lack of purchases because there were 2 other nearly new sales that day too. We headed off to Burton in Kendal for the sale there where my friend got a giant bag of baby boy clothes bundle 0 – 3 months for some ridiculously cheap price of about £10. Her theory was that even if half of it was rubbish it was still a bargain. Turns out there were lots of nice things in there too so it really was a bargain. Me and Ste didn’t know what Louie was so I couldn’t really buy anything but neutral things but I picked up some baby sleeping bags and a set of stripy 'Trumpet' socks for £2 – these retail for about £15. I managed to pop my head in to the St Thomas Church nearly new sales in Lancaster on my way home but as it was quite late there wasn’t much there.
That was it – I was hooked, nearly new sales were my new drug and I needed to know when I'd get my next fix! Well, not quite as dramatic as that, but needless to say I was looking forward to my next one :) Since then I've been to a great sale at Brookhouse, Warton Pre School sale, a few at Bolton Le Sands (these are fab!), another Burton one and one at Lancaster and Morecambe College.
I have to say, the one at Lancaster and Morecambe Collage was no where near as good as the others. At this one people rent a table and sell their items purely for profit which means you having to make your way round each and every store looking at their items unlike you're average nearly new which is usually a case of all the items are labelled with a seller code and when you go to pay they mark off who's items have been sold and a percentage goes towards a cause, like money for the Pre School, and the rest goes to the seller. I prefer these kinds because they're more logically organised. All the clothes are together, toys and books are together, baby equipment and nursery stuff are together and prams and car seats are together – perfect if you have a particular item you're after, you can easily make you way over to the right area when you get there. I shouldn’t moan too much about the College sale as this was the place I managed to get our Bumbo with a tray from for £20....even though Louie didn’t actually like it and spent all the time he was in it thrusting to get out of it which was amusing to watch if nothing else.
My latest lot of bargains came from the Nether KelletBritax Duo Plus Isofix seat in great condition for mum's car for £40 (brand new about £150) and a Hauck stroller for £8 – WHAT A BARGAIN!! Brand new these are about £80 - £100 and even on ebay these are up for a Buy It Now of £40. Along with these I got a spinning musical drum for £1, a Fisher Price singing Cookie Jar for £2 and some Next Dungarees both £2 each.
All you nearly new virgins, you REALLY are missing out. You need to track down your next one and get your bags for life ready and take on the world of nearly new sales to grab yourself a bargain!
For you lot local to Lancaster reading my blog there is a great site called Baby Maze which along with general advice and baby group sessions being listed on there, they advertise nearly new sales: http://www.babymaze.co.uk/. Another good place to find out what’s going on is a Facebook group dedicated to local nearly new sales: https://www.facebook.com/groups/260758687326835/
Enjoy!!! xxx
