Finding free clothes for kids can be hard. It’s not easy to find a quality, free clothes for kids. Check out these top ways to get free clothing for your kids.
Kids outgrow clothes fast.
Your own kids will probably grow half an inch before you finish reading this article. You can probably hear that pant seam ripping or see that toe poking through a frilly pink sock.
Thus getting free kids’ clothes is ideal!
For the most part, kids’ clothing is much less expensive than adult clothing. You can find loads of cheap, mix-and-match separates for kids at Target, Walmart, and dozens of fast fashion retailers.
But free items and children’s clothing are more than the cheap cotton basics.
Kids need snow pants and jackets and swimwear and shoes. And the occasional “nice” piece for school pictures and holiday events. Not to mention the cost of blazers and uniforms for parents with kids in private schools.
All these one-off purchases can add up quickly. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get free kids’ clothes.
Here are great ways to get children and baby clothes for your kids.
Results you see for thrift groups on Facebook will be location specific to your area.
Facebook is more than a swap meet for Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. There are a number of groups where you can get kids’ clothes for free.
Members will sell items here that are typically sold in garage sales. It’s for people who don’t have enough items for a full-fledged garage sale or don’t want to go to the trouble of holding one. Many people will list items for free, including kids’ clothing.
You can also post that you’re looking for free baby clothes or children’s clothes in a certain size, and you will get replies. This is an especially great way to find dressier outfits and school clothes.
Buy Sell Trade (BST) Groups
While BST groups for kid’s clothes tend to have a lot of name-brand or designer items for sale, you can also get free stuff. In many purge-style sales, where sellers sell dozens or hundreds of items within one post, freebies are commonly listed too.
“Free with purchase” items, or “Freebies” with no strings attached. These items may be in a dated style or have small (or big) flaws but are still perfectly wearable.
You can also find group members looking to swap or trade.
Got a dinosaur sweater you loved, but it fits a bit tight? Post it in the group and say you’re looking to trade for the next size up – or just something equally adorable.
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Like BST and thrift groups, buy nothing groups are location specific to your neighborhood.
Like garage sale groups and BST groups, Buy Nothing groups are also on Facebook. Here, thrifty and/or eco-minded members are committed to buying nothing new. Or used. Instead, they’ll list free goods they have to offer up. You can skim the posts for goodies or create a post saying what you’re looking for.
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You can sell your kids’ used clothes at thrift stores. Once Upon the Child stores will buy gently used kids’ clothing from preemie to big kid sizes. You’ll get 15% of what they list the items for, and you can leave with cash on the spot or get a store credit.
There are online consignment stores and too like ThredUp. ThredUp is like an online thrift store but even more convenient.
They will send you a prepaid bag to send in your clothes. They’ll do all the hard work for you.
They’ll list your items, find the buyers, collect the money, and ship them. You sit back and get paid. You can get cash or credit. ThredUp sells adult clothing and accessories too.
Any items that don’t sell you can have shipped back for a fee, or they’ll donate on your behalf.
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Ask friends and family if they have any free kids’ clothes. Social media is a great place to broadcast your search for free children’s clothing.
Because really, there are two kinds of connections you have on social media: people with kids and people without. And people with kids always have extra “junk” they’re trying to get rid of. Everyone does. Friends and family who aren’t rolling in extra money are still rolling in extra clutter.
Create a post asking if anyone has extra children’s clothing in size X they’re trying to get rid of. Let them know that you’ll go and pick it up yourself.
They will be appreciative that you’re decluttering their house.
Or, if you notice that someone in your neighborhood is hosting a yard sale, stop by on the last day and ask if they will donate any of the clothing to you for free.
It’s a hard thing to do, but it needs to be done more often as most times, people will donate them or throw them away. If they know you are a neighbor or someone on a tight budget, they’d gladly help you out.
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On sites like Swagbucks or InboxDollars, you can earn PayPal cash and free gift cards for completing online activities like scanning receipts or answering surveys.
On Swagbucks, for example, I can typically earn a few hundred dollars a year in my downtime.
There are a dozen different earning activities, but the ones I like are taking online surveys, printing grocery coupons, scanning supermarket receipts, and getting cash-back rebates for online shopping.
My favorite cash-back stores are Old Navy, Kohl’s, and Hanna Andersson.
You can cash out your earnings for PayPal, an actual check in the mail, or free gift cards to Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, and hundreds of other popular stores.
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So this is a fun one that I’ve recently discovered. If you’re comfortable posting pictures of your kids on social media and tagging fashion brands in the pics, retailers will take notice.
In recent Instagram posts, I’ve tagged the brands my kids were wearing. Brands like Art Class (Target), Alice + Ames, Old Navy, Mikoleon, Mini Boden, Jamie Kay, H&M, and SHEIN.
Several brands on Instagram (smaller ones) replied to these pics or DM’d me, asking about a collaboration.
Some of these brands wanted me to purchase their product at a discount, so my kid could be a “model.” (No thanks.)
Others offered to send me free products to try legitimately and requested that I tag them in a social post.
And these opportunities aren’t just for baby models. My kids are cute, but they’re not model-cute. Many brands want the exposure of everyday kiddos wearing their garments and exposing their brand.
I’ve taken up one smaller brand on their offer of free gear, and as a safety precaution, I gave them a different mailing address than my home address. (Strangers don’t need to know where I live or where my kids do.)
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Mommy bloggers and social media influencers have a lot of “products” food, toys, kids’ gear, and clothing. So. Much. Clothing.
Many bloggers and influencers will have contests, drawings, or giveaways to build their audience.
Even if an official giveaway is not being announced, it costs you nothing to ask. Look for posts where clothing is being reviewed, like this review of SHEIN kids’ clothing, or where the Influencer talks about free products.
Shoot them a comment or DM, and ask if they’re giving away the product. Offer to pay postage.
You may be pleasantly surprised. If you asked 10 blogs, vlogs, or social media handles that you follow, I’d be shocked if at least one didn’t say yes.
If you like giveaways or like trying products, use US Product Testing to get clothing sent to you to try.
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Getting free clothes for your kids is a great way to save a lot of money. One way you can do this is by going to consignment stores and getting second-hand clothing. You can also ask friends for help in dressing their children without spending any money.
Another way that people get clothes for free is through upcycling. Freecycle can be useful, as well as joining as many groups as possible that focus on reusing clothes.
Find friends who have young children and join them for their parties. Organize everyone’s wardrobe and label the boxes with cardboard tags.
You can swap each other’s clothing for kids, like winter clothes, school clothes, old clothes, and hand-me-downs. This is a great way to mix and match needs from other families you know and trust.
Who knows, you may make it into more of a social gathering and meetup. This is a great way to save money on a tight budget while also avoiding going to a thrift store.
There are plenty of ways to get free clothing for your kids. From used children’s clothes to brand-new duds, plenty of places and people have extra clothing to unload. Join some BST groups and buy nothing groups on Facebook. Ask friends and family – and bloggers and influencers.
And be open to unexpected or unique ways you can earn extra cash on the side for free. Use rewards apps and sites like Swagbucks, InboxDollars, or Tada to turn your spare time into free clothes for your kids.
These are some options for free kids’ clothes:
Collection drives where teachers, parents, or other community members donate clothing.
-Used clothing stores can be picked over to find great items for your price point.
-Many places host yard sales to clear out unused items. Items are usually priced quite low priced by sellers who want to get rid of old things clogging their basement or storage space.
-Be sure to haggle because the lowest price the seller offers is never the final price you’ll pay them!
-One resale store that offers gold membership costs $39 per year and allows up to -20 free transactions per month, which feature one sale each day with designer clothes included – these are typically high-quality brands.
-Another way to get kids’ clothes free is by selling your old maternity clothing. If you have a kid, you may have specific women’s clothing during pregnancy. Let someone else use these clothes by selling them used, and then use the funds you received to buy high-quality clothing for your children.
Thrift stores are a great place to find free clothes for boys or cheap quality clothes for children. Thrift stores can be a gold mine for people looking for quality savings on kids’ clothes. Prospective shoppers will have to play around with the layout, so it doesn’t look so bad, but once they get in, they can spend hours on end at their leisure.
Kids will always need new clothes, too, so it’s an affordable way to restock their wardrobe weekly or biweekly, depending given on budgets and the needs of growing children.
A reputable thrift store will also accept donations of gently used clothing–another good way of ensuring that your unwanted items don’t go directly into landfill or require you to donate them without knowing what happens next.
Author Bio: Stacy G is a Minnesota-based SEO writer, blogger, and underdressed mom of two very well-dressed kids. Through a mixture of Swagbucking, scavenging, consigning, and buy-sell trading, most of her kids’ clothes are free.
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Last updated: July 10, 2024
