Stuff Parents Need

Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

How I Get Kids Clothes Cheap (Free, Actually)

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I have been getting kids clothes cheap (and by cheap I really mean FREE) for a few months now thanks to an amazing referral program that I’d like to share with you so that you can get some kids clothes cheap, too!

kids clothes cheap

Ok, so I’ve been using Schoola.com to find my major bargains. Schoola is a website I reviewed a while back (you can see my first haul video as part of the post). They sell gently used clothing that people donate, and 40% of every sale goes back to the school that the donor indicates. So while it’s not a great site for sellers who would benefit more from cash or from a tax deduction, it’s a GREAT place for shoppers, and of course, a great place for schools, too!

The other thing I love about Schoola, and the reason for this blog post, is that, at least for now, they have a very generous referral policy. If you refer someone to Schoola, when they make their first purchase, YOU as the person who referred them get $15 in credit. The new person benefits by getting $15 in credit and free shipping for their first purchase.

So you see, this is a MAJOR win/win. You introduce someone to a great used clothing site and they get $15 and free shipping (so they could definitely get kids clothes cheap!) and you get credit for your next purchase.

Schoola also often runs great specials (free shipping no minimum seems to be fairly frequent, and they recently did a HUGE 50% off sale!). So I spend my credits any time they are running a special so that I can maximize those credits. I have placed at least 4 orders now, all with anywhere from 1-13 items in them, and I have spent $0 of my own money…it was all credit from referrals!

So now that I have introduced you to this gem of a find and helped you out, please help me keep my growing kids attired by going through my referral link. Once you are signed up and have spent your free $15 (woo hoo!) grab your own referral link and spread the word far and wide. Your friends will thank you, and you’ll earn more credit for more free or at least cheap clothes! 🙂

And just to show that I’m fully transparent, here’s my latest haul video, which includes a few of my complaints about the Schoola experience, and some tips for how to maximize your chances for success when shopping on the site. They have some improving to do, but as long as they are giving away credit to newbies and running great sales, I’ll continue to try them and just offer my feedback!

Funding the Schools You Love While Outfitting the Kids You Love: Schoola

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Special thanks to Schoola for partnering with me on today’s post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. 

News flash: keeping your kids smartly outfitted is EXPENSIVE. They keep wearing out and ruining their clothes with all their arts, crafts and backyard ninja shenanigans. and even if they manage to keep an outfit from being ruined, they’ve outgrown it before wearing it very much. Either way, you find yourself right back at the store (or in my case, online) to buy more.

And you know what else is expensive? SCHOOL! My kids are in Montessori school, so that’s a tuition check we have to write every month. But even if your kids are in public school, you likely are experiencing near constant fundraisers and requests for help to provide money to the schools that really need some extra financial support in order to provide children with quality programming, especially in the arts and in physical education (two areas that seem to get cut first when the budgets get too tight).

Schoola is an online shop that has brought these two pain points, paying for clothes and paying for a quality education, together in a way that helps parents make progress on both fronts. At Schoola you will find gently used children’s clothes for sale, and 40% of each and every sale goes to fund school programs. And the schools that benefit are all over the country! In fact, the person who donates the clothing gets to choose exactly which school will benefit from the donation.

schoola spring haul

One of the things I really loved about shopping at Schoola was that I, as the shopper, got to see exactly which school was going to get a donation thanks to my purchase, and exactly how much money that school was going to receive. I was invited to see what I could snag for $50 on the site, and I got quite a haul! Additionally, my purchases helped eleven different schools! Also? The prices were totally reasonable!

schoola review

Want to hear the rundown on the entire haul I got? Of course you do! Shopping with others is SO fun! So here ya go! I’d love to hear what you think about my purchases!

Here’s more information (via a heartstrings-tugging video) on how Schoola works and why it is so badly needed:

How Schools Get Clothing to Schoola

 Schoola makes it EASY to donate clothing. Unlike consignment sales you don’t have to do any tagging yourself (that’s a HUGE timesaver!). And unlike donating to a thrift store, you don’t have to itemize everything. You don’t even have to travel to the post office or pay the shipping charge! All you have to do is collect the clothes you want to send, put them in a bag with a pre-paid shipping label and let Schoola handle the sorting, the pricing, the listing, and the shipping to the people who buy the clothes. It couldn’t be easier!

Schoola Flyer 2 ReducedIndividual parents can request bags and send in their items, but one of the best ways to get a large amount of inventory on the Schoola site that will benefit your school is to hold a clothing drive. You can advertise the opportunity through your PTA and have select drop off dates. Bringing everyone together at once to gather donations will increase the amount of merchandise on the website that benefits your school, and that will increase the chances that your school will get a check in the near future from Schoola!

 How Schools Get Money from Schoola

Schoola issues checks once a quarter to schools who have met the minimum payout threshold, which is just $20! If a school has earned money but it is less than the minimum payout amount, that money simply rolls over to the following quarter.  I absolutely LOVE that the payout is very reasonable. I’m sure we have all experienced how far savvy teachers and administrators can stretch money. Even $20 can get more paintbrushes, or be put toward securing new sports equipment or musical instruments. Additionally, all registered participants who have a particular school registered as the school they want their proceeds to go to will get a notification when a check is on the way to that school. Parents and other friends of the school can get the good news directly from Schoola that their donations made a difference!

Extra Credit Week! 

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It’s Extra Credit Week at Schoola, and that means GREAT things for the school you’d like to support! Even if you haven’t yet donated clothing to help out your school, this week you can start helping your school earn money just by shopping. For every purchase, the donor’s school receive 40% of the proceeds, just like always, but during Extra Credit Week, an additional 10% will go to the shopper’s school, too! That makes this the perfect week to stock up on the clothes your kids might need for spring and summer. If you have space to store out of season clothes, you might as well even look for some fall and winter pieces, too! Everyone wins when you shop at Schoola…especially during Extra Credit Week! Hop to it, friends! If your school isn’t yet registered, be sure to get them registered before you go on your shopping spree so that they can earn that extra credit!