torontoShopoholic X MiNitrade

If you have been following this blog for a while you would have heard me mention my kids. I have 2. My oldest is in Junior Kindergarten, my youngest is still at home with me and he is 2.

I am very lucky that my Mom loves to shop for my kids. She is always on the lookout and shops a range of stores from thrift, consignment to retail stores (on sale of course).

I am the one who splurges on something hand made from Etsy (like these dresses) or sale finds from Zara.

So when Minitrade asked if I would like to try out their online children’s consignment shop I jumped at the chance. I do pop into the local consignment boutiques for my kids and have found wonderful things for value prices. But I love the concept of Minitrade.

My son wearing the Lands End Flannel lined jeans found via Minitrade.

I have become so much more of an online shopper as my schedule is dictated by school runs and nap schedules. So many independent boutiques in Toronto don’t open until 11 or 12 pm, which for someone like me means that I won’t be at your store as I am out in the mornings from 9 to 11 and home for lunch and naps. Minitrade makes it so that I don’t have to worry if my stroller fits in the shop or when they are open because they are always open.

I first found out about Minitrade because of my blogger friend Iva from Falling in Style. She has been on some of our local tv stations sharing some of the designer offerings you can find on their site. In fact the clothing I ordered for my children was all from fantasic brand names plus I am pretty sure no child ever wore these clothes. That is one of the biggest perks of consignment shopping; finding clothing that has not or rarely worn and getting them at a deep discount.

Wrap dress and floral tee found via Minitrade.

Much like a bricks and mortar shop you can send your clothes to Minitrade to be sold on the site. Just request a free bag which will be sent to your home within a matter of days. Fill the bag and send it back with the prepaid postage. Those items approved for the site will be listed, anything else will be given to charity. You don’t have to drive to your closest consignment shop anymore, they come to you.

Items turn over fairly quickly. I haven’t really noticed alot of stagnant inventory. Plus I love that I can filter by my childs size so that I am not browsing the baby clothes when I want toddler and above.

One of my biggest pet peeves of traditional consignment shops is you have to bring in season merchandise. So if you are putting away summer clothes at the end of the season and weeding out all the items that are too small, you have to store them until spring. Minitrade will take items out of season! Plus they are never TOO FULL! There are no limits (only quality restrictions) as to how many clothes you can list with them at one time. Basically anything that makes traditionally consignment shops a pain in the you know what to list clothing is eliminated.

Would you try out a service like Minitrade?

***Note I was provided a small incentive to shop Minitrade (my son’s jeans were covered), but ended up finding more great things for my Daughter’s birthday. All opinions are my own.***