Craigslist

Probably at this point, most people are familiar with Craigslist. Last year, we had an awesome success story with using it. I had been wanting to get Little People toys for my two little boys. A building for Little People costs around $40 at Walmart. The people come in a pack and a pack costs about $20. It's the type of toy that's fun to have quite a bit of to play with, but the cost to get enough for my boys to share well with (okay, well that's like 50 million toys . . . but anyway, that's another issue) was too excessive for me to be able to justify.

It occurred to me to check out Craigslist. To my surprise there was a huge listing of different Little People sets all by the same lady! My husband emailed the woman who had listed them and suggested an amount for all of them. She brought up the price a little and said if we took it, it was a deal. (Note: This was back in August some time, so I can't remember the amounts now.) I believe we paid about $40 for the airport, bus, airplane, carnival, carnival rides, a tea time set, and a bunch of people. This is an incredible deal! So this find covered for both our boys' birthdays last year and will do for this year's birthdays too. Hey, and if we're really good at spreading out the presents, maybe we'll make it do for next year too.

Of course, I realize this was a great, lucky find (how likely that there would have been all that great stuff from one lady of just exactly what I wanted?!), but I figure one person's success story can lead to someone else seeking success too . . . and possibly having the good fortune to find it. So my advice is to check out Craigslist when there's something you want.

A few things about Craigslist:

1. It's not necessarily a better price than in stores, but you can often bargain down. A year and a half ago, we compared prices on toddler beds compared to a bed at Walmart and found that what people were posting on there was equivalent to the price at Walmart anyway. We didn't try to bargain, but looking back, we probably should have.

2. You have to take into account the gas money required to get the thing you're purchasing. The woman with the Little People products turned out to work in our city, so I just went to her work and got them from her there. When we were expecting our second baby, we learned about a deal on Craigslist on the double stroller we were interested in. The woman with the stroller lived a distance away. Going to get it might not have been a good deal for us. A friend-- Gordon actually--was regularly commuting past her city on weekends, though, so he met up with her and picked it up for us.

Now, good hunting, and may you have all the Craigslist success that you desire!