You should call ahead and check the buying hours and exactly
what she is buying. I'm pretty sure she's not taking baby
clothes right now (not sure what ages that means) because she is
pretty overloaded.
Also, What about Solano Kids (Albany)? Or CrackerJacks
(Piedmont)? I don't know as much about them.
-cheapie momma
More Reviews
October 2001
I am a mom of a 5.5 year old boy and 7 year old girl and I live in
Lafayette. Having moved from Berkeley with an array of used and
new clothing and toy stores for kids, I went searching. Alas, I
found "They Grow So Fast", located at 3413 Mt. Diablo Blvd. (the
main drag of Lafayette). Their phone is (925) 283-8976. They also
have a nice selection of Maternity wear. They have special hours
for taking of consignment, so call ahead to get the "rules".
I have personally dealt wish them on many occasions and find them
friendly, helpful and reasonable. I highly recommend the store.
Jocelyn
What is the best (East Bay) second-hand type store for selling used toys,
books & equipment to? I mean where you don't need an appointment, they'll
take most of what you bring in & give a fair price. I've sold clothes
before, but not toys etc.
Hi -- looking for recommendations for good resale shops. (I really need to
sell/trade in baby clothes!) I am familiar w/ Crackerjacks, off Piedmont,
and Lauren's Closet (College Ave. & Alameda) -- any others? Good or bad
experiences with these/others?
I am glad you found Lauren's Closet, I just did so myself and was quite
pleased with their service and the money I received for my used clothes. I
used to go to Darla's on San Pablo in El Cerrito but was so fed up with the
lack of customer service, which was downright rude most of the time
(especially by the owner Darla) that I swore I would rather give it away
than sell it to her. Sometimes I would come in with a ton of freshly washed
and ironed clothes, which took mw quite a while I might add, only to be told
to take it back home again, without even looking. I have been in the retail
industry for years but never experienced such rudeness, especially when I
would go out of my way to be nice to here because I sincerely believe that
if should treat people to way you want to be treated. JEmerson
Try Darla Baby's Boutique on San Pablo (near Stockton) in El Cerrito.
Lin
Now, why would anyone want to sell a sweet little baby?
(Sorry, but I've always want to say that.) Lillian's (formerly O'Toole's)
on College, half-block south of Rockridge BART, and Tiddlywinks, 1302
Gilman (near Santa Fe, I think, and several blocks east of San Pablo), in
Berkeley are both good. Lillian's selection is great and both are staffed
by knowledgeable, friendly people. Melanie
Try Darla's Baby Boutique on San Pablo in El Cerrito - it's especially
good for furniture, but I've also bought and sold some clothes there.
You might also try Silver Moon on Grand Ave. in Oakland.
Selling at Lauren's Closet tends to be a bit difficult:
the family often has their kids working the cash register and even
making decisions about whether to resell clothes, which I don't like.
They also don't tend to buy a whole lot back - even if you bought the
clothes there in the first place!
Lauren
I've used them all, they are all good. On Fruitvale in the Dimond District
of Oakland, there is Making Ends Meet. A few blocks away on Macarthur near
Coolidge is Boomerang Babies. In Alameda on Webster street is Fashion After
Passion, one of my favorites 'cause the owner is such a kick in the head.
On the other end of the island on Park Street is Lauren's Closet, and One,
Two, Just Like New. Berkeley Baby on Shattuck near Ashby.
Just remember, in resale, there is the hunt, the kill, and the wait. It may
take a while for what you want/need to come into inventory.
Ryan
Tiddlywinks on Gilman street in Berkeley is a really good resale shop.
Toy Go Round on Solano avenue will take equipment and some clothing. Both
shops have been around a while
JKamerling
I just want to put in my two cents about Lauren's Closet. I took a bag of
approximately twenty five items there recently, about twenty-two of which
they actually wanted to buy. The problem was that they told me they could
sell the whole pile of clothes for $40, and offered me $26 in trade. That
seemed far too low to me, especially considering that almost nothing in the
store sells for less than $6. I told the man at the counter that, and his
response was that they didn't have time to individually price each item, so
they were giving me a "lump sum" type of deal.
That is not the way these type of stores generally do business. Ethical
resalers will determine a price and then pay the sellers a percentage of that
amount. I refused to sell him the clothes, and instead took them to Hannah's
on Solano. Hannah herself is there on Wednesday mornings, or if you want you
can leave your bag there with your phone number and she will call you when
she has gone through it (she's totally honest & cool). She bought all the
same clothes and offered me $59 in credit--more than double what Lauren's
closet had offered me. I would never recommend selling clothes to Lauren's
Closet, or buying there, for that matter; the person who sold the clothes you
buy there was probably ripped off.
Eabremner
I'm afraid I have to second the negative opinion of Lauren's Closet. I was
at the one in Alameda last fall, and I purchased half a dozen items or so.
As was mentioned in the previous post, none of them were exactly cheap.
Imagine my dismay, then, when I got home, and found that 2 of the 6 items
were mismarked in size--both too small! One was so small as to be unusable.
I called the store to talk to someone there, thinking that they would be
interested to hear that one of the employees was being so cavalier with
the size markings. Apparently, however, the woman I talked to was the
manager, and SHE DOES ALL THE SIZING HERSELF!
Her response was that she couldn't be bothered to take the time to check
the sizes more carefully. I was welcome to come back to the store to exchange
the items, if I wanted. But that seemed rather a lot of my time for about $8
of merchandise, especially since I was given no assurance that the sizing would
be any more accurate the second time around. I've never been back, and don't
anticipate shopping there again.
Places to try instead: On the Alameda island, I recommend checking out Fashion
After Passion (great name!). I second the recommendation for Hannah's on Solano
in Berkeley. Two other places to try are in San Leandro: Thrift Town on
East 14th
(the largest selection and most well organized I have ever seen); and the Davis
Street Community Center (on Davis near the Arco), which is small and takes time
to sort through, but I've always been given fantastic deals there.
Happy Hunting!
Regarding Lauren's Closet: I recently took
clothing in there to sell and got a lecture from one of the daughters about
the quality of the clothing I brought in. It's one thing to simply say that
they couldn't use the items I had brought in, and quite another to lecture a
customer. I have decided never to buy or sell anything to them again. As a
complete contrast, both Tiddly Winks on Gilman and Hannah's on Solano are
terrific places to buy and sell things. They are nice, have great things,
and you don't feel as if you might be getting ripped off.
A request for Lauren's Closet in Berkeley shoppers. I sent a letter to
them on March 14 explaining a bad experience with customer service that
left me and another customer quite upset. In my letter, which they never
answered, I asked them to consider two improvements to the store to make
it safer and easier to shop when you have kids along: 1) install a
childproof gate to keep children from running out (they had refused to
close the front door when the other mother asked, worried about her
toddler, due to "air circulation" needs), and 2) provide a toy box to help
keep young children engaged while their parents are shopping.
The women's clothing store across the street provides more toys for
children than Lauren's Closet does. I suggested that parents are likely
to shop longer and buy more items in the store if our children are
entertained for a few minutes. Lauren's Closet has two beads-on-a-wire
toys, which I have never seen kids play with for very long. They don't
interest my two-year old.
My request to other parents, should you still like to shop at Lauren's
Closet, is to please ask them to provide more toys and a child safety gate
at the front door. Try to give the message to somebody other than the
kids who work there, as I don't trust they would pass it on. Thanks,
Penny
A good resale store in the Rockridge area is
Lillian's. Lillian used to be manager for O'Toole's,
and then re-opened the store under her own management.
She really loves kids and toys. She prices fairly in
my experience, and buys high quality stuff.
Ronnie
I really like the resale shop Making Ends Meet on Fruitvale, just
above MacArthur (across from the Dimond Library). The woman has
a good mix of inexpensive and more expensive stuff, relatively
well organized. I found she bought items very fairly as well.. She
will purchase things like a Graco stroller (not just a MacLaren or
Peg Perego). She has catalogs and looks up their list price and
prices from there.
I'd like to put in a good word for the Lauren's Closet in the Elmwood on
College. The three Lauren's Closets are each owned separately so one does
not reflect on the others. I have never had better customer service than I
did at the College LC-the owner took me on my word about a defective item
I got home with and just sent me a check for it instead of making me come
in to do the transaction (I live in El Cerrito). I have had fair treatment
over the maternity clothes I've sold there and their selection of kid's
clothing is excellent-a great one-stop-shop. I didn't want them to lose
business over some bad business at another Lauren's Closet.
Sarah
I have been very successful in finding used tap shoes for my daughter at
Thrift Town on the Dam Road in El Sobrante. I don't recall seeing any for
boys, but I wasn't looking. Good Luck! Laura
You're in luck here as there are lots of places to find these things.
The best, to start off with, is Lillian's on College, near the Rockridge
BART station. They have clothing, toys, and some furniture. I purchased
both a used car seat, a frontal baby carrier, a back baby carrier, and
numerous other items here and I was always well satisfied. They make
sure everything they sell is in good shape.
There is another place on College close-by this, Baby World , which has
toys and so forth, but generally not in such good condition, and even
a wee bit overpriced, in my opinion.
Then there are a number of places on Solano Ave., Tiddlywinks on Gilman
(another very good, reliable place), New Kids in Town on University,
Crackerjacks in Oakland just off Piedmont, etc., etc. And don't forget
Goodwill (on University Ave. in Berkeley and elsewhere), and the
Salvation Army on Solano.
In short, if you want to buy used children's furniture and clothing,
you're coming to the right place!
Dianna
re: Lauren's Closet in Lafayette. She is a goldmine. Since fall of
'95, I have not bought my 5-year old anything new except socks and
underthings. We take our clothes in and trade for hers. It's the
best!!! Located near the corner of First Street and Mt. Diablo Blvd.
next to Gymboree and Peppers Restaurant. They take items at all hours
also, which is convenient. Go there!
Mari
That wonderful shop for children's used clothing, equipment, etc.,
mentioned in the last digest, is still there, but it's called
Lillian's now (formerly O'Toole's). Lillian bought it, and I
think it's even better than it used to be, not only for buying stuff
but also for selling -- for either cash or store credit. Happy
shopping!
Nancy
Also, another place for used and (new) baby items is: Darla's Baby
Boutique on San Pablo Avenue, one block south of Stockton in El Cerrito.
I'm new to this, but their prices seemed really reasonable to me and the
clothes were in excellent condition and cheap.
Debbe
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