I’ve attended the Take 2 Children’s Consignment Sale multiple times now. I really enjoy it and thought a review would be helpful for my local followers. It’s a well-organized event, and I find great quality, name-brand items every time I go.
They have pretty much anything you could possibly want for your children. This sale occurs twice a year at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in the Knapp Animal Learning Building; they host it once in the spring, and once in the fall (Spring 2021 dates are coming up quick, learn more here).
For all of my local friends who appreciate good bargains on quality kids’ stuff – I’m talking all the things – this post is for you. If you aren’t local, you may still be able to find a Take 2 Sale in your area (search the website), or a large pop-up consignment sale similar in set-up to Take 2’s events.
Note: My Top 5 Tips for shopping the sale are a bit further down if you’d like to skip the next few paragraphs.
How The Take 2 Consignment Sale Works
You can either shop or consign, or both. You can even be a volunteer and get in early to shop before the public! I’ve looked into the consigning option a bit on their website. It seems like a pretty legit way to off-load your crap stuff relatively quickly with a little elbow grease, while still making a decent amount of money.
One downside is that you have to organize it all according to their specifications and haul it all there. The upside is that they are handling all of the heavy lifting, as far as marketing and advertising and execution, to get your items in front of the masses in a short amount of time. It’s really quite brilliant from a marketing perspective.
What I shop for at the Sale
I go mostly for clothing. But I do keep my eyes peeled for any other cool items that I might come across and “need”. They literally have everything. You’ll find shoes, baby toys, activity mats, clothing (even teen and maternity!), nursery decor, outdoor gear, indoor gear, books, potty training necessities, educational tools, puzzles, highchairs, kiddie pools… seriously, everything.
My initial grabs… had to narrow it down from here by a lot to get closer to budget. 
Nike Rain Jacket 
Cute, 2-piece outfit in great condition 
Excellent sleeper: Finn + Emma Organics
Here are My Top 5 Tips for Shopping at the Take 2 Children’s Consignment Sale:
1. Give Yourself enough time
Make sure you have plenty of time. Conservatively plan for around 2 hours (or more if you are shopping for an entire year or have lots of kids to buy for, etc.). Per usual, I always think I’ll be able to get in and get out. But I get so consumed (which is easy to do) and overwhelmed by everything that I end up taking way longer than I initially anticipated.
2. Your Work isn’t done upon leaving…
Be prepared to do a little work when you get home with your goodies. Everything comes home as-is, on hangers, with lots of safety pins (this is part of their consignment requirements). It’s a bit of a tedious task getting everything undone. And then you’ve got a load of laundry to do to get everything freshened up and put to good use.
The safety pins attach the tag and clothing to hanger, often in multiple places. 
Lots of safety pins and hangers!
3. Go with a Budget… a flexible budget.
As I mentioned, it’s easy to get very overwhelmed upon entering. This is why you need to give yourself time to get acquainted with the whole set-up. Give yourself a budget prior to going. I’d even make a list if there are specific things you’re hoping to grab. But, you should keep your budget flexible because you will absolutely find things that are great additions to what you thought you needed.
For instance, two things I bought that I wasn’t expecting to find were:
- A really good life jacket for Myles ($12). It’s a 30-50lb, good quality life jacket that isn’t incredibly bulky, so it’ll last us a few years.
- Tissue paper and fun ribbon. I know, I know… You’re thinking, “Seriously? What? Why?” But, you try to tell me that tissue paper isn’t always needed for a quick gift or craft? Tell me. Come on, I can’t hear you. The kicker is, a pack of tissue paper (40 sheets) was $1, and had multiple color combos to choose from. I went with black, white and a black and white pattern. The ribbon was a pack of 30, 1-yard pieces for $1. Again, there were a couple of different options for colors available. So, $2 for some easy crafting or gifting in the future. No Brainer.
Life Jacket and Water Shoes for Both Kids! 
Tissue Paper and Ribbon – $2 Total
4. Shop Early or Wait for half-off Day
When I go to the sale, I like to go on the early-access day. This occurs the evening before the sale opens to the public. You can keep an eye out for this information by following them on Facebook. This is a great time to go for a couple of reasons.
First, it is in the evening in the middle of the week. It’s pretty quiet and easy to get around without a crowd. Secondly, you’ll have a better selection to choose from since it hasn’t yet opened to the public.
If you don’t really care about either of those two things, you can probably find some really good deals on the final day/s where they do 1/2 off the entire day. You’ll likely save a lot of money. However, it will likely be very crowded and pretty well picked through by then.
5. Find a Good Consigner
If you really pay attention as you are shopping the sale, you’ll begin to notice that certain types and styles of clothing come from the same consigner. I figured this out the second time I went. If you take a look at the hangers, you’ll see that there are “markers” from each consigner (not all of them do this).
You’ll notice in the below photo that some hangers have tape or string on them. I began to realize that I kept gravitating to the same “markers” over and over again (the tie-dye tape). I was impressed with the quality and current fashion from this consigner! As you are picking through the masses of clothes, be sure to keep an eye on this. It just may help you find the good stuff, and it’ll make sifting through the hanging clothes much quicker!
Happy Shopping!
That’ll do it. Hopefully this post is helpful in preparing you for shopping at the Take 2 Children’s Consignment Sale! If you’ve been before, drop a comment with what you like best. Or share another tip you have for us from your experiences of going! And who knows, maybe I’ll see you at the next sale. 🙂
To the Chaos!
-mg
Other posts you may like:
- Manage the Never-Ending Baby Clothing Storage Cycle Like a Pro
- 8 Excellent Reasons Why Monthly Shopping Trips Work (even during a pandemic)
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