[Half-Pint Resale is]  

[400+ consignors],
[25,000+ items],
in one big consignment sale, on one weekend, every spring and fall
with items (clothes, toys, gear, nursery furniture and more)
for pregnant mommas and kiddos ages 0-12
run by 2 local moms and 200+ volunteers

Area families love shopping at Half-Pint because they find amazing deals on high-quality fun items and consignors love it because they get big checks for items they no longer need!

Half-Pint Resale is the area’s largest and only 100% local area Consignment Sale.
EVERY sale ends with a half-price sale, where nearly everything can be purchased at an amazing deal.
Now in our FOURTH venue, the SPRING 2012 SALE is our 9th sale and will be the biggest and best yet! 

frequently asked questions [answered] 

[Who runs the sale?]

The sale is organized by Ellen and Lisa, two local moms who put the sale together in response to the needs of their family and friends. We’re proud that we can partner with other local agencies and businesses and that we are a local alternative to big box, chain-store shopping. The majority of the money that we make from the sale goes to pay for needed expenses, such as our location fees, insurance, racking systems, supplies, UHaul and Table costs, and other incidentals. The money that is spent at the sale stays in the community, whether it’s paying back the consignors (70%!) or paying other local businesses for their services. We’re proud that all of the money that exchanges hands before, during, and after the sale stays local!

[How much does admission cost to the sale]

Since day one – we are an Absolutely free to enter Sale, even the first day, so you can come and get the first deals and save all of your cash for your super finds.

[Do you have a store]

Nope! Just twice a year -easy for families to consign, easy for us to organize. Because it’s only over a weekend, we can keep our consignor returns very high (70% for ALL consignors!)

[So the sale is just a few days long]

Yep! Consignors drop off their items in the middle of the week. Volunteers and consignors shop first, and then the sale opens to the public, and stays open into the evening so people can shop post work. On the final day, we have a quick-come-and-get-em half price sale.  By Sunday evening we’ve sorted everything that is left, given back items to consignors (if they choose) and donated the rest to local charities. It’s a whirlwind!

[Do you have an early sale for first time parents]

No, but we don’t need to! First time parents are the ones looking for baby gear and small teensy clothing (second time parents have most of what they need for gear!) so you’ll be able to find what you need whenever you come without worrying about competition!

[Shopping the Sale]

[What can you find]

Maternity wear, nursing items, and children’s clothing up to age 12. If a pregnant woman or a young family could use it, we have it! Our exceptions are limited. We also have items that focus on the upcoming season, so that you don’t need to sort through fleecy winter stuff in spring when all you really want to look for is shorts and beach hats! But no worries – come fall, fleecy stuff is everywhere, and the beach hats are being saved for spring.

[So you don't have car seats? What about Cribs?]

We feel that the liability in offering car seats for consignment is too great. If a car seat has been through an accident, it is no longer considered safe. Safety for children is an utmost concern and priority and since we can’t prove what has happened to a seat since it was first purchased, we don’t offer them for sale.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently created a new set of safety standards regarding cribs. The new standards state that any crib manufactured before July 23rd, 2010, CAN NOT BE SOLD OR DONATED. Enforcement of this standard takes effect on July 28th of this year. Due to the short period of time between the July 23, 2010 and the upcoming sale, Half-Pint has decided to suspend the sale of cribs indefinitely. We apologize, as we know this effects both our consignors and shoppers, but we simply can not afford to risk potentially selling a crib that is not in compliance with the new CPSC standard. Please note that the suspension of sales ONLY APPLIES TO TRADITIONAL CRIBS. It does not effect gear such as Pack N’ Plays, co-sleepers, and bassinets or any type of mattress. We still sell these items and they are often highly sought after by our pregnant mama’s. If you have a question about a specific piece of gear, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

[Where is the maternity clothing]

For our first four sales, we offered maternity clothing. After much thought and analysis, we have decided that it was in the best interest of our consignors and our shoppers to stop selling maternity clothing. We found that people did not have the time to focus on both maternity clothing and baby items, and that we could use that much needed space to offer more selection in baby items. There were so many fabulous maternity clothing finds, however, that we did not want to let these good finds disappear for the community in an area where it is hard to find good prices.

Happy Bambino, on the east side of Madison, offers amazing new baby, kiddo and maternity items, and is a one stop shop for everything one needs, including classes, resources, and community. Happy Bambino purchases items from interested sellers outright, giving instore credit (40% for non-members, 50% for members), which is fabulous for folks needing gifts and fun items for their own kids. They sometimes have a short waiting list for their eco-maternity, so contact them to find out when you can bring them in.

[Is everything on the sales floor at the beginning of the sale]

Everything is out, so every treasure can be found! The only exception to this is that we have had a consignor or two in the past who have an overwhelming amount of items. With these specific people, instead of imposing limits on what they can bring, we work with them to determine a fair-share amount to hold back right at the beginning because we want all consignors to have equal access to space on the floor. In these few and extremely far between cases, the rest of the items are out very early in the sale as soon as there is space on the floor.

[Are children allowed when the sale is open to the public]

Yes, children are welcome at the public sale but we ask that you please use good judgment when bringing them. It is very busy and little ones underfoot may get into places they should not. We ask that if you do decide to bring children, that when possible they come with you in a baby carrier. For safety reasons, we are unable to accommodate children at the consignor pre-sale or at the beginning of the public sale unless they are in infant carriers or slings.

[What types of payment do you accept]

Cash and check! We don’t offer credit cards at this time because the fees are large, and we want to keep the sale free for all shoppers and give the most to consignors that we possibly can. As I’m sure you’ve heard from other small businesses, credit cards can be very expensive. We’re just a couple of local moms who designed this sale, so we want to keep the money out in the community, not being paid to the Credit Card Companies and big banks!

[Consignment]

[I need more information about consigning]

Most everything you need to know can be found on this website! We try and make it as easy and convenient as possible. Take a look around, and write us if you have questions!

[Is the tagging process a lot of work]

We do everything we can to make the tagging process as simple and easy as we can, because as local moms, we know that time is very limited! (It’s one of the reasons that we organized the sale!) Find out more information on our tagging page!

[Why is there a fee to consign]

We’ve done everything that we possibly can to keep consignment as low in cost as possible. We allow consignors to use most any-type of hanger, allow for the use of safety pins (instead of tagging guns), and allow folks to print on copy paper (instead of cover-stock). However, because of the increase in our space rental costs, to make the sale even possible for us to continue, and to keep the sale FREE for people to shop (which we believe increases the number of people who attend), we have to charge a small consignment fee to cover some of these increased costs. The fee is still small – only $5 – which will hardly make a dent in consignment checks, but will help us dramatically in keeping the sale feasible.

[What's up with the Other Fees]

[AKA:  Why do we have to bring an SASE (or be assessed a $1 fee)? And why do you assess a fee for not picking up your items post sale?]

If you’ve read through the FAQs above, you’ll know by now that our costs aren’t small. We do everything we can to keep costs as low as possible so we can keep consignment fees low, too. Stamps and envelopes add up!

Anyone who has volunteered for the final volunteer take-down shift can attest to why we charge a fee for not picking up the items! It takes many volunteers several hours to sort all of the non-donated items into hundreds of bins. The donated items, however, take moments to collect and bag! If we take the time to sort your items (which we are happy to do!), it’s important that you pick them up.

Don’t want to worry about the fee? Donate all of the items that don’t sell! If you’ve consigned in the past, you know that in most cases you don’t get back enough items to make pick-up worth it. Plus, our charities LOVE your donations. They make the world of difference for them.