What a find! I Divine Consigned!!

Well, this week was Divine Consign.  For those of you unfamiliar with it (or for the unlucky ones who live outside the DFW metroplex), Divine Consign is a bi-annual (that’s twice a year, not once every two years!!) consignment sale held in Plano and Grapevine.  I have  been a consignor and buyer at other consignment shops and sales, but this one is BY FAR the ABSOLUTE BEST!!  They are so organized, and have such a good response.  I always do well with them, both buying and consigning. 

So it began on Wednesday with drop-off.  Their website stated that they would have over 700 consignors for this sale, and I think every single one of them was there to drop off at 8:00 on Wednesday evening!!  I have NEVER seen such a line for check-in, for clothing racks, for inspection!!  It was AMAZING.  It took me a lot longer than usual to drop off my items because I decided not to wait for a clothing rack.  I made about 4-5 trips, but it was hard!  I got my exercise for sure!!  I only had 124 items this time – mostly clothes – which is not very much for me.  Usually I consign over 200 items.  While I was there, I managed to get some sneak peeks at some of the items for sale.  I made mental notes for myself so I could shop strategically during the presale!

On to Thursday.  I had two items which were initially “red-tagged” (crossed out with a red pen so the tag becomes unusable), so I brought them plus Trey’s bike which didn’t fit in the car the first time.  It was still busy, but not nearly so bad as Wednesday night.  However, I got to see just HOW MUCH stuff there was.  Stuff was in the hallways, because there was not enough space in the main room.  What got me most excited was that I went through the Halloween costumes and found that there were a couple of Belle ones in Crisana’s size, and a BUZZ LIGHTYEAR costume in Trey’s size!!  He had wanted one so badly last year, but had to settle for Superman because I couldn’t find any in his size.  I was so happy!!  Angie and I had scheduled to volunteer together for a priority shift so we were able to attend the early early presale.  We got to go at 6:00 before ANY of the other volunteers, consignors, first-time/foster moms, or guests!  When we got there to shop, there were probably less than 100 people shopping – and the stuff filled the main room, 2 hallways, and another room FULL!  I really needed about 2 hours to see everything.  As it was, I only got to focus on clothes, and didn’t even check out the toys, books, videos, CD’s, computer games, puzzles, games, or anything else!  I ended up getting a lot of great fall/winter clothes for both kids for about $200.  One consignor had a bunch of pants & jeans in Trey’s size that were all selling for $3 EACH!!  I scooped those up mighty quick!!  That same consignor also had tons of shirts which she had grouped together in sets of 2 or 3 that she was selling for $3!  So I feel like I did really well for Trey.

Because I was a “priority volunteer”, I was eligible to go to the half-price presale, which is only open to priority volunteers.  But since I had pretty much spent my budget, I decided to forego that sale and spend time with my family.  On Saturday, it was the half-price sale and my turn to volunteer.  This sale, I had signed up for a 5-hour shift instead of my usual 4-hour shift, so I had to be there at 8:00.  That was mighty early, but when I got there, there was a line all the way down the hall, around the corner, and nearly to the door of shoppers waiting to be let in!!  I knew it would be busy!!  Angie and I set up shop at detagging, which I really enjoy because I get to visit with the other moms, and ooh and aah over all the cute things they’re getting and the great deals they’re enjoying.  At first, it was sluggish as people shopped, but once the line formed, it was GET TO WORK!!  And it didn’t stop for the next 4 hours.  It was about 12:30 before I took my first break!!  I met one mom whose story really touched me.  She had quite a lot of items and I commented on how many children she must have and she said she had 4 boys – well, really 3 but one more on the way.  She went on to share how her third child had been born with all kinds of medical problems, one of which is blindness, and she had had her tubes tied at that point because she felt like she wouldn’t want another child with all the attention this one would need.  Well, lo and behold she became pregnant.  To make matters worse, her sister has been struggling with infertility.  So now here she is pregnant AGAIN after having her tubes tied, and her sister CAN’T get pregnant.  Then, her sister finds out she IS pregnant and decides to come join her at the sale today.  The night before the sale, her sister calls her and tells her she’s bleeding and cramping and can’t go.  Then, while I am detagging her items, her sister calls her up and tells her she’s on her way to the doctor.  I can see the heartbreak and worry in this woman’s eyes.  A few minutes pass, and she gets another call.  I can tell immediately it’s her sister.  The woman smiles and gives me a big “thumbs up” sign that everything is OK.  What do you know, I find tears welling up in my eyes for this perfect stranger I don’t even know!!  THAT is the fun part of being involved with Divine Consign.  I even recognized some people I had helped from past sales!  It was pretty cool!

Well, by the time my shift was over at 1:00 I was ready to call it quits.  What a day.  When I got there this morning, everything had been consolidated into one room.  By the time I left, you could have consolidated everything into a half of that room.  We were busy!!  But it was  worth it.  We saw husbands shopping for maternity and baby clothes and accessories with pregnant wives, moms shopping for their own children as well as friends’ children (one family bought tons of stuff to send down to their family in Mexico), teens getting to purchase brand name clothes – with their own money!!  It was exciting.

And so I resign this Divine Consign rhyme for another time!