I snagged some Abercrombie, Mini Boden, Gap, and more at Schoola!
The other day, I got an email about a site called Schoola. I'd never heard of it before, but I discovered it's a website that sells donated gently used clothing to help support schools.
(Members of the school donate clothes, and a portion of the proceeds goes back to that school.)
I'm a pretty large fan of gently used kids' clothes, and despite the fact that I'm a homeschooler, I am always happy for schools to get more funding. So I took a peek around.
(This post is not sponsored by Schoola, just so ya know! They did email to let me know about the site, but I shopped with my own money.)
How's the shopping experience?
Schoola has an incredibly large inventory, and each piece is photographed and listed individually.
So it's kind of like browsing at a yard sale or a thrift store, except that it's all neatly organized.
(Seriously love this dress.)
Since there is so much inventory, I found it to be really helpful to narrow my search results.
(I didn't want to go through 50 pages of girls' shirts!)
You can easily view only boy's clothes or only girl's clothes, and you can also sort by size and/or by the type of apparel (shirts, mittens, shoes, dresses, etc.)
Also, if you know a particular brand works for your kids, you'll be pleased to know that you can narrow your search results to only the brands you prefer.
Something super helpful for me was the "Items We Love" section, which is basically a curated group of the best of the best.
That's how I found that cute gray Abercrombie cardigan for Sonia, actually.
And as you can see in the screen shot above, they also have a section of new with tags items (which was loaded with some pretty lovely holiday stuff when I took a peek this morning!) Of course, the prices of the new stuff are higher, but still lower than retail.
Pricing
The prices on Schoola are generally a little higher than the prices I find at Goodwill. I'd say it's more like shopping the clearance sales at Kohl's or Old Navy, but you have a much larger selection of brands.
Here's what I bought):
That works out to $5.42 per piece, which is pretty darn reasonable, especially considering that a portion of what I paid goes to help schools!
So, Schoola is definitely going to find a spot in my clothe-kids-on-the-cheap toolbox, along with clearance shopping and thrifting.
My total before discounts was $50, which got me free shipping, plus I used a 25% off code.
Speaking of which...
Get $15 Off at Schoola.com
If you're new to Schoola, you can get $15 off your first order through this link! And if your cart total is $50 or over, you will also snag free shipping.
If your kiddos need clothes (there are lots of holiday clothes available), do give Schoola a try. You'll be giving hand-me-downs a new life, reducing demand for new clothing, and providing funding for a school.
And of course, there's the whole saving money thing. 😉
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Awesome. Definitely going to check this out. My trips to the Salvation Army have gotten much more difficult with so many small children to herd. I'm thinking after baby #3 comes in December, most of my shopping will be online. But I like buying second-hand (cheap and socially responsible) and I really like the idea of some of the proceeds going to a school.
So true. Shopping for clothes at a thrift store with many small kids is kind of a headache.
Very cool! I am definitely checking this out.
http://www.thredup.com is another great one.. they have kids/women/juniors stuff, even shoes!
definitely going to check this one out for my little.
LOVE Thredup! They make the process of consigning clothes so simple! You won't get top dollar, but it's significantly more convenient. They also have a great stock and are very choosy about what they buy/sell.
Wow, it's amazing what's out there these days. Our little one is still too small to fit in school clothes, but I'll add it to the list for shopping when the time comes. Truthfully I've only bought one dress and some shoes for her... So far she's been spoiled by the grandparents and got some great second hand clothes from friends.
Hey, free clothes from grandparents and friends trump anything else. It's hard to beat free!
Oh, and Schoola doesn't just have school-age-size clothes! They've got preschool stuff too, so when you run out of free clothes, do go check them out.
Thanks, I'll go check them out!
It's great that part of the money goes to benefit schools. Some of the clothing seems like a reasonable bargain (especially the items from more expensive brands). But the site needs to work on its pricing model before I become a regular - things from Old Navy and Gap are priced higher at Schoola than I could find them for at the stores new and on sale. (Sometimes people forget how cheap Old Navy is - regular prices sometimes start as cheap as Schoola's prices, and sale/clearance items can be a couple of bucks.)
Yes-you'll get the best prices on things that are a little higher dollar. Still, I got the Old Navy denim skirt for $5.98, which is less than I paid for one that I bought at the store...
Thanks for sharing...looks like some great quality clothes at some fantastic prices! I'll have to make sure my wife takes a look at this site out. Our daughter is in Transition Kindergarten so we have birthday parties almost every week. This site may help us save on the total cost of presents. 🙂 AFFJ
Excellent! The boys were sent some money for Halloween and I want to get them a cute shirt each, but preferably without leaving my house :-). I'll scoot on over and see what I can find. I'm hoping this will be a good way to fill in specific gaps when consignment sale season is over and I still need a few more things.
Wow, thanks!
Amazingly the one thing I'm thinking of buying will benefit a kids' program in my neck of the woods. Cool!
I love Schoola- I found a pair of Primigi shoes for $6! Until I can get around more easily my shopping is online. Everything I have purchased from Schoola has been in great shape.
We are in the process of adopting 4 sisters, 2, 3, 3, and almost 4...so I was VERY glad to try out Schoola for winter coats...and even though I forgot to use the discount code, I found 4 cute coats for just over $50...and no one had to lick anything at Goodwill. win-win!! Thanks for sharing. 🙂