Winning the Lottery...2nd hand.

  Alright, don't get too excited, I didn't literally win the lottery, but I did score big today...at the Cloverdale Kids Swap Meet.

   Of course when you go to these Swap Meets it is rather overwhelming because it truly is a hectic jungle where you must dodge strollers moving in every direction to make your way through all the used clothes (some organized and well labeled, some not so much), toys scattered under the tables (some clean and shiny, some well loved...and by that, I mean encrusted with God knows what), germy books and intermittent, completely overpriced business kiosks. I am at a Swap Meet for goodness sakes, what the heck makes you think you are going to sell me a 20$ bib? I don't care if it is waterproof, made of bamboo and custom made with any pattern I choose. I could buy all the second hand bibs in the joint for that price! Anyway...I digress...

  For weeks I have been searching Craigslist (multiple times) daily for a BILINGUAL Leap Frog Activity Table as I refuse to pay ToysRUs 60$ for it.

    I found one that was posted for 20$ without the city specified.  I contacted the seller via e-mail to see if it was bilingual and where she was.  She promptly replied that it was and that she was in Langley.  PERFECT!  So I e-mailed her back (twice) to let her know that I would like to pick it up at her earliest convenience and she NEVER answered.  That's my biggest frustration with Craigslist...flakiness.  Didn't you go through all the trouble of posting your item and taking & uploading a picture because you wanted to sell it?  Then answer your damned e-mails!  And if you've already sold it, how hard is it to to press reply and type two simple words "It's sold." You don't even have to say "Sorry" just let me know to stop holding out on you and move on to sift through the many other adds on Craigslist.  I am sure somebody else out there wants to take my money.  Again...I digress...

 

  So here I am, stealthily dogding strollers and searching only the well posted and organized tables for boy clothes (in search for longer onesies, shorts, brown cotton pants and a summer jacket, of which I got everything but the brown pants) when I literally kicked the treasured table.  First thing I look for is the little switches above the number line to indicate bilingual abilities...CHECK.  Then I push all the buttons and flip the pages to ensure that everything works...CHECK. And then I scan for the price...ten dollars!!!!...HELL YEAH!!!! 

  I leave the building nearly skipping and certainly with a gynormous grin on my face.  And no word of a lie, a cheering "yesssss!" escaped my lips.  This lady, who is backpacking her 16 month old, gives me this knowing smile.  We walk our separate ways but meet again in the parking lot.  She strikes up a conversation about the table and tells me that her son absolutely loved it and that the buttons do different things depending on what page the book is opened to (a bonus feature I knew nothing about...this is getting better by the minute!).  When she found out how much I paid for it she confirmed that it certainly was a steal and I confessed that I felt like I had won the lottery.  I swear to God, I must have looked like a grinning fool driving home.

  I also scored big elsewhere, which would have given me immense satisfaction had it not been for the euphoria of finding my table.  I bought 5 BPA free (yellow tinted) 9 oz Avent bottle for ten dollars!!! For those of you who know, that is less than the price of one!  I was only gonna buy two or three and then the vendor said he'd throw in a bag of storage lids and screw caps for free if I bought all 5.  Ummmm, okay! (Insert Lil' John voice here.)

  Just with those two purchases I saved 140$ and those pesky taxes.  Isn't that nuts?!?!?!? Never mind the savings on the clothes.

  Needless to say, as a mother on mat leave, who also happened to owe the gov't nearly a grand in income tax (WHAT!?!?! again, Insert Lil' John voice here.) these monthly swap meets are really the way to go, particularly for clothes.  Craigslist is also a good bet for bigger items, assuming the buyers aren't flakey and really want to sell their products.  All you gotta to do is research your product so that you know what you want and how much you are willing to pay.  And after a while you become pro, perhaps even snobby.  For example, I refuse to spend 5$ on any item of clothing. And  I am pretty sure I scoffed at a lady who was trying to sell sleepers for 7$.  I don't care that it still has the tags on and has never been worn.  That just means that it will shrink the moment I wash it and be rendered a completely useless waste of money.  Another benefit of buying used...the size it is, is the size it stays.  And believe me, that is very important when you have an unusually tall child (he's already 28.5 inches @ 8 months!).