Raising children for less

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This article was published 13/01/2020 (2350 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All parents know that raising a child is an expensive proposition, and it’s wise to save money when possible. That’s where Childcycle, a locally operated children’s consignment business, can help.

“Our motto is ‘From tummy to teens and everything in between’,” said Headingley resident Chelsea Clapham who runs Childcycle with her business partner Kelly Donaires, who lives in Winnipeg’s River Park South.

Clapham said the two met and became friends after their sons were born in 2008.

Clapham credits Donaires with coming up with their business concept after she went to a few Winnipeg consignment stores with some baby items. Donaires felt that the stores weren’t offering sellers a fair percentage of sales.

At that time, pop-up consignment sales of children’s clothing and equipment were taking place in the United States. Donaires volunteered at one held in Duluth, Minn. to get a sense of how they worked.

“We felt this could totally work in Winnipeg,” Clapham said.

The women booked Winnipeg’s Glenwood Community Centre (27 Overton St.), gathered their own items as well as those supplied by family and friends to hold their first pop-up sale in August 2011.

“It was very different than what we have now,” Clapham recalls.

The women have continued to hold an annual sale at Glenwood CC with this year’s set for April 17 and 18. Through experimenting with different Winnipeg locations, they have also found that Gateway Recreation Centre (1717 Gateway Rd.) also works well in September.

Childcycle’s consigned items come in from as far away as Selkirk and Steinbach. Clapham and Donaires make sure that all items are safe for use and in good shape.

At their pop-up sales, a successful seller receives 60 per cent of the item’s sale price.
Clapham said she researched scanning systems to come up with a way to easily match an owner with their consigned items. Childcycle offers information on its website on how to print proper price tickets as well as linking to a tagging service that people can pay to use.

“The scanning system is convenient. We didn’t want to have long lines,” Clapham said. “It’s also a way to track inventory.”

Since their first sale, the women have also acquired display equipment and can now set up their pop-up shop much faster and more efficiently.

To add more helping hands to set up, run the pop-up and tear down, Clapham and Donaires offer volunteers the chance to work a three-hour shift to qualify to participate in pre-sale shopping.

They also give expectant parents and those with a child under 12 months the chance to shop for an hour on the Thursday night before a sale is opened to the public.

“It’s an opportunity for them to come in and get a jump on buying,” Clapham said, adding that they must register online first.

They also have what they call a “heroes program” that gives those working in the military, emergency services, teaching, nursing or who are foster parents, a two-hour window on the pre-sale evening to shop.

Clapham said consigners can choose to let their items be included in a discount dash with prices reduced by 50 per cent towards the end of each weekend sale.

They can also indicate whether or not their unsold items can be donated after the sale.

“We love to be community-oriented.” Clapham said, as unwanted items are donated to local charities that support families, including: Headingley-based Nighty Noodles that collects babies’ sleepwear and donates it to Villa Rosa, a Winnipeg-based non-profit that serves pregnant women and those with babies; the Wolseley Family Place; and Thrive Community Support Circle.

To expand the scope of their business, Clapham and Donaires launched an online sale component last November. Clapham will deliver items to the buyer or they can be shipped.

They are hoping that word of the online service will spread.

“We feel really strongly about giving people an outlet that is safe.”

For items sold online, the consigner receives 50 per cent of the sale price as more work is involved in preparing and posting items, Clapham said.

For more information on Childcycle, see http://childcycleconsignment.com, or see Childcycle Children’s Consignment Sale on Facebook.