It's consignment time again!

While on vacation last week, I realized that Maggie is quickly outgrowing many of her summer clothes. Well, to be fair, she's outgrowing last summer's clothes ... I only thought I'd get a second year of wear from them!  It's a good thing consignment time is right around the corner.

Chattanooga is fortunate to have several local consignment sales (wish I'd known about them when I was pregnant!!), and one of the best is Just Between Friends. It's the only one I've ever sold with, mainly because of the ease of online tagging - you type the info into their tagging website, and the tags - with barcodes! - print out for you. When you're selling hundreds of items, this is so much better than hand-writing the tags! At last fall's sale, when we finally decided to get rid of more than clothes (read: much of our old baby equipment), I earned more than $500! Not bad for just a few hours of work.

The first time I sold any of Maggie's things, I felt nostalgic and a little sad. Now I think of myself as an old pro, and I'm excited that I get to be one of JBF's new mommy bloggers! Once the sale starts, I'll share some of my great deals. For now, here are some tips for getting ready for the sale:

Prior to sale:

• Sign up to consign! You must do this ahead of time - don't just show up at dropoff! The link is here.
• Start working on your online tagging. The link is http://www.myjbftags.com/ and you can click here for a list of helpful hits, acceptable items, and pricing guidelines.
• Dropoff begins July 28 at 1 p.m. Get there early! I've been there 30 minutes after the doors opened, and 30 minutes before. Before was defnitely better. (They let us in early.) Find more information about dropoff here.
• The sale dates are Aug. 1 through Aug. 7. The presale for consignors, volunteers and first-time moms is July 31, and on the last day, many items will be marked down to half price.
• Volunteers earn more! Volunteers get to shop first and receive 70% on their consigned items (non-volunteers earn 65%. You can qualify as a volunteer by working setup, sale dates, or breakdown, but you can also earn volunteer status by preparing a meal for on-site volunteers, buying drinks, providing stamps, etc. Visit the volunteer information page here.

If you're a seasoned consignor and have more tips, please share them in the comments section! I look forward to sharing more about the upcoming sale with you!