Cloth Diapering: A Year in Review

My baby girl is now 18 months old and we've been cloth diapering since day 1. We've come a long way since that fateful day in July 2011. I love my diapers, I've learned to love diaper laundry. I love how cute my daughter's butt is compared to other baby's plain disposables. When we started I was committed to playing the field, not buying into one style 100%.

That worked great for us. Every baby has a different shape and grows at different rates. I found that at those awkward growth stages, we stuck to prefolds and covers. When she filled out in the thighs we had great success with one size pockets. Now that she's about 22 lbs I find we lean towards fitted AIOs.

eBay, Craigslist, and Consignment

Buying on Ebay, at diaper consignment sales, and off Craigslist offered us the best prices. Locally, my favorite diaper store Top To Bottom Baby have a bi-annual diaper consignment sale called Fluff Again, they've even expanded into Kansas City. Not only could I cycle through the dud diapers and make some of my money back, but I got the chance to find fully prepped diapers I knew I liked. As long as you're willing to take the gamble, Ebay is awesome (and addictive).  I know there's a lot of debate about the cheap Chinese pockets you can get on Ebay. They are knock-offs and hurt the American market. yackety shmakety- I bought about 10 of them and we STILL use about 5 of them regularly. They didn't fit right way, and they aren't the kind of diaper I'd use if we were going to be out. But they are great at home, day time diapers.  On several of the other more 'respectable' brand name diapers I've purchased on Ebay, I've more than made my money back in resale.
         The key is responsible shipping. DON'T GUESS! Weigh your diapers and price accordingly.

Craigslist has also been a cornucopia of goodness. I got 10 Kissaluvs size 2 and 9 Kissaluvs doublers for $50. Most of them had never even been used, not even prepped.

Personal Favorites!

hands down, I love my Swaddlebees Simplex 2.0 fitted diapers. I've had 4 and currently have 2. They're a bit pricey for my budget, but totally worth it. Side Snap diapers are the bees knees, seriously. They are trimmer, and you can size the waist and thighs differently.  Some pants don't fit exactly right with the fluffy butts, but side snap diapers tend to fit in there a bit better.

Cloth Diaper Resale

Recently I decided to get serious about paring down my diaper stash. I have just too much to justify holding on to the diapers I like less than others. I’ve been at the cloth diapering game for almost a year now, which puts me in the latter half of the stash cycle anyway.

I like to use eBay. It’s where I bought a lot of my diapers, so it’s only right to sell them there as well.  What I discovered was that my diapers held up well in the resale market.

I sold a Coolababy, Velcro Pocket OS diaper with insert for $5 + $2 shipping. I paid $8.99 for two originally + like $3 shipping.

So $5.99 originally and sold for $7 used. Not bad at all. 

I sold a BumGenius Elemental Organic All in One Aplix for $9.50 + $2.77 shipping.  Originally I spent $6.50 + $2.77 shipping. So again, I made more on the diapers than I spent.

I participate in a local diaper consignment sale, which I didn’t sell as much or for as much profit. Maybe it’s a Midwestern thing, but we don’t like to go out and spend money. I had a couple of Kissaluvs Size 2 in that sale and only managed to sell them (unused, just prepped) for $5 each. 

Obviously, not all sales are going to yield a profit. But, if you take good care of your stash and present it well, there’s no reason why you can’t make almost all of your money back on the diapers you don’t like as much as the others.