Comments on: Benefits of Shopping Ahead and Having a Gift Closet

By: Target 70% off Toy Clearance Coming Soon!!

Target 70% off Toy Clearance Coming Soon!! — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:52:48 +0000

[…] ready to stock their gift closet with toys for birthdays and Christmas, all at 70% off? Not me, mine is already full, but I am […]

By: Kristina

Kristina — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:48:29 +0000

I’ve found in the last few years that I can only give gifts from my gift closet to my own kids (unless I donate. I do a lot of that with them too). Around my area it’s become very taboo to give gifts without a gift receipt. People actually talk very badly about the ones who give gifts without gift receipts. I’ve given up and just buy the gifts now when the kids have to go to a party and save the bargains for my kids.

By: Kimberly N

Kimberly N — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:35:17 +0000

I keep a stash of gifts in my bedroom closet. I am running low, and was hoping to re-stock soon. I’m glad you emphasized making sure the item is worth the money. It’s key not to get swept up in the excitement of a sale and get stuff you wouldn’t otherwise give a second glance. I didn’t know about the Target sale until this year, and have checked out the toys several times recently. What I discovered was that I’ve rarely bought toys at Target before, and even at 75% off there’s just not much there that interests me. I think I wrote down 6-8 possibilities, and after reading about them on Amazon, my list was down to 2. I don’t think I’ve been to Target twice in one week since before my son was born. I was definitely catching the clearance fever but I’m on the mend now 🙂

By: Kristoffer

Kristoffer — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 20:19:17 +0000

Excellent advise, especially on the two points of ‘not buying more’ and ‘clearance doesn’t mean its a great deal’. Many times I have bought something at a great price, got online and looked a reviews and realized even at a cheap price it wasn’t worth it.

At Christmas I would go out and buy more presents for people if I was gifting from my gift closet. For some reason I would feel guilty only spending 4.98 on someone even though it was a $20.00 item. I have slowly gotten out of that guilty feeling for the most part. I was also bad about buying duplicates just because of the savings. Why only buy one Yankee candle for 4 bucks when I can buy 15! I seriously have a closet full of clearance candles, Scent plug ins, etc

Luckily I like to consider myself a slightly reformed clearance junkie now that times are tougher and money is tighter than normal… so I am not quite as bad as I used to be but I still have a thing for my candles!

By: melissa

melissa — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:40:25 +0000

To each his own…. Personally I clearance shop whenever possible for future gifts, my home, donations etc. I’ve gotten better about not going overboard with multiples unless I have a specific purpose (ie: clothes for the shelter).

Someone commented that gifts bought so far ahead cannot be returned leaving the receiver in a bind. My thought, be grateful for the gift – if they can’t use it or don’t want it maybe they’ll regift it to someone else. This happens more than you know 🙂

By: Lyne Blodgett

Lyne Blodgett — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:20:47 +0000

Have to admit that I’m with Dorothy – I don’t buy in advance even classic things because not all parents allow their children to have certain themed things either…even if I find that theme harmless. I also have limited storage space to accumulate things I may someday need.

By: Amy W.

Amy W. — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:10:21 +0000

@Dorothy- When ever my kids get something they don’t like/can’t return I let them swap it out for something in the gift closet. Then if it’s still there in Dec it’ll get donated to the children’s hospital (Toys 4 Tots, etc) I know they’ll find a child who would love it even if mine doesn’t.

By: Amy W.

Amy W. — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:06:16 +0000

We have a gift closet, mom taught me that one early, and like you I donate to the local children’s hospital every Christmas things that don’t have a set purpose. (After all it’ll be refilled in Jan when all the toys go on sale.) I also do this with school supplies. Back to school sales are on now, so stock up… but after school starts things like back packs & lunch boxes, and other school supplies, will go on these steep 75%-90% discount so I’ll buy a few then let the munchkins pick the next fall and donate the rest. I hate having to pay $3 for a composition notebook in March when I could have grabbed an extra for $.25 in Sept.

By: shelley

shelley — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:52:08 +0000

OH I meant to add you have also helped ME out on a few times out with bday gifts 🙂

By: shelley

shelley — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:50:58 +0000

Once again you amaze me, I hope to learn from you soon when we go shopping 🙂

By: Christy

Christy — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:46:39 +0000

@Laura I love that idea, you are a genius!

By: Christy

Christy — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:44:34 +0000

@Dorothy Thanks for sharing some valid points. That is one of the reason why I buy “classic” toys that never go out of style. If my son gets invited to a birthday party, my gift of choice would be a Lego or Playmobil set anyway. Both of these brands are favorites in our house and they are well received by others. I would much rather buy a $20 Lego set and pay only $5 for it, than buy his friend a $5 Lego set when his actual birthday comes around.

Also, if I don’t have a gift in the closet that will work for a certain child I will go out and buy something. It’s just nice having some items on hand that I know will work no matter who they are for.

By: Laura

Laura — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:34:27 +0000

The other thing tip that I would add (something that I JUST came up with for ourselves) is to take a photo of each gift as it enters the house and keep a “catalog” on your computer. Our gifts tub is located in the basement of our apartment building (which can be a pain to try to get to when you’re the only adult home and the kid is napping for instance) so at least this way I can see what I have and decide if any of the gifts in my stash will work for the recipient without leaving the apt. Also a great idea for cold winter days when bundling up to make an additional trip to the garage is less than appealing. Once I give an item I just delete the photo!

By: LaVonne

LaVonne — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:30:06 +0000

We love the Target Toy Clearance, I also love Amazon sales too. We have a few bins in our garage for gifts. I love it! Thanks for your tips. Enjoy the rest of your week! LaVonne @ Long Wait For Isabella

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:22:07 +0000

While I do think saving money is a great thing, I’ll be the lone dissenter in the idea that you should buy toys on clearance and then give them to kids for birthdays and such. I’m all for buying stuff on clearance and donating to Toys for Tots or the like but how on earth do I know what a child in my son’s class NEXT YEAR will like from the Target clearance in january? Plus–if you’re shopping now for a party you’ve not been invited to in November & you give a gift from your stash, that person cannot return it if they have duplicates or don’t like it or whatever. I know this opinion isn’t shared by many but I really think it’s kind of tacky to give someone a gift when you didn’t shop for that person specifically.

That said, if I KNOW FOR SURE that a certain clearance item would be liked by my nephew or my son, then yes, I will purchase it. But I never just buy random clearance toys just to put in a stash for “someday”.