Categories & Sizes (and tips on how to use them!)

Categories and sizes can sometimes be difficult for out sellers to wrap their brains around but it helps to understand why we break it out the way we do:

First, let’s address SIZE. There are really only 2 rules here:

  • 1) Every single article of clothing and pair of shoes needs a NUMERIC size on it. Period. A number. NOT a letter. This means absolutely no S, M, L sizes. for kids clothes. Please read the specific guides for Juniors/Teen Girls/Boys on this! Use the manufacturer’s size charts or your own common sense to “translate” that size into a number. (for example if a shirt for your preschool aged son says “S” on the tag, and most of the rest of the clothes you are selling are about the same size and say “4” on their tags, then enter it as a 4!) Also, do not use blank sizes or “see description” as a size choice here. Size ranges (like 12-18M) for infant clothing are available and ok to use.

  • 2) Nothing that is not an article of clothing or pair of shoes should have ANY size on it. Period. Sizes should be blank for all non-clothing/shoes. Toys don’t need sizes or age ranges. Please don’t use an infant size like 12M on a book or an infant toy.

  • Infant and Toddler Sizes (some with ranges) that are available for use on clothes only go up from Newborn, 0-3M, 3M, 3-6M, 6M, etc. up through 18-24M & 24M and also include 2T 3T, 4T and 5T.

  • Other Number Sizes available for use in Kids, Teen Girls, Teen Boys and Shoes include: 000, 00, 0, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 3,3.5 etc. . . . including all the half sizes up through size 21. (6x is also included here!). Appropriate sizes now “drop down” within each category! Numbered waist sizes are available to use for pants.

  • Numbered Waist Sizes are often the only sizes available for some jeans and Teen Boys pants. In the system, you may choose 24-38 if necessary

Now, on to CATEGORIES!

Lot’s of items have their own category (think strollers) and it helps to scroll through the entire list and familiarize yourself with it before you start. But, the way we break out our clothing, books, shoes and toys into sub-categories is specific and there are 3 reasons for it.

  • 1) So that we can use it for reference to review WHAT sells best. (and share it with you for next time) This is not necessarily an indication of where we will place items on the floor. NOTE: This mean that the CATEGORIES/SIZES we use to HANG your items on the floor are NOT the same as the ones you choose in the system when we tag! (Seems maddening, right? there’s a reason for it!) We hang and separate things on the floor based on data from dozens and dozens of sales about how shoppers like to shop. We ask you to be more specific about the categories when you enter them into the system so that we can filter that info and use it to plan for next time!

  • 2) So that we can use category titles to place things on the sales floor. Ha! Surprise. We do use some of our categories for this (ex. we nearly always pull swimwear and outerwear into their own sections for easier shopping) And finally . . .

  • 3) So that we can avoid confusion in our online events where it may not be easy to tell from a photograph whether an item is a Junior/ Teen Size 2 or an Infant Size 2.

For these reasons, we no longer use the non-specific generic categories like Girls Clothing, Toys, Books, Boys Shoes and instead, we break out to more specific ones!

Boy's Categories Include: :

Boys Accessories, Boys Bottoms, Boys Boutique, Boys Outerwear, Boys Outfit, Boys Pajamas, Boys Swimwear, Boys Tops .

Girls Categories Include: all of the boys categories above and also Girl's Dance and Girl's Dress.

The “Accessories” categories contain all the wearable items that are not “broken out” as their own category like socks, tights, new underwear in the package, belts, handkerchiefs etc. A few accessories DO have their own category: Hairbows, Hats, Glove/Mitten/Scarf . These categories are not gender specific. If it is wearable and you can’t find the category, choose Accessories.

Costumes are NOT gender specific. Use the Costume category and the correct number size.

Infant & Teen clothing, Shoes, Toys & Books are broken out a bit too!

Here’s the summary but you can also check out the individual guides below!

Infant Clothing: NEW!! All infant clothing through the range size .of 18-24M should be entered into one of only two categories; Infant Clothing-Boy or Infant Clothing-Girl Available sizes in these categories include Preemie, Newborn, 0-3, 3M, etc all the way through 18-24m. You are limited to 50 total items within each of these 2 gender categories.

Kids Clothing (not Infants or Teens) is entered in the categories above and all get a number size! 24m, 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T, 6X, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18.

Teen Girls Clothing (formerly Junior Clothing) contains 7 categories that have letter size groupings built in. Use categories Teen Girl Clothing XXS- Teen Girl Clothing XXL Use these categories for every girls Junior/Teen sized item (you’re not using Girls Bottoms or Tops here like you did for kids) Then use a NUMBER size for every piece. (0-21). These sizes will “drop down” within the category. Shoppers look for # sizes so please use them if at all possible (yes , even the 000!) If you placed an item in Teen Girl Clothing-S and it does not have a size listed on the manufacturer’s tag other than “S” you may choose the S from the drop down size if it is available but shoppers will be more likely to buy it and you will sell more if you go the other step of using the manufacturer’s size chart to note that an Old Navy Teen size S is a 4 and add that number in as the size.

Teen Boys Clothing is sized differently than girls by the manufacturers. I don’t know why , but we need to accommodate it. So for Teen Boy sizes (really Men’s sizes) there are FIVE categories. (Yes, these are categories and not sizes) Teen Boy Clothing S, Teen Boy Clothing M, Teen Boy Clothing L, Teen Boy Clothing XL and Teen Boy Clothing XXL. That’s it. 5 categories and . . .wait for it. . . . the SIZE is likely not a number so just “re-choose” the S, M or L from the dropdown for tops, But, you will need to choose a NUMBERED WAIST size for pants!

Shoes: We break shoes out into sub-categories because of the online event. (It’s hard to know if those cute hiking boots are tiny “Lil Kid” size 5 or a Big Kid size 5 from a picture) There are 4 Shoe categories each for boys and girls and they are very self explanatory: GirlsShoes Infant (o-4.5), GirlsShoes LilKid(5-13.5), Girls Shoes Big Kid ( 1-7.5), and Teen Girl Shoes (use this one for size 8 and up). Boys are just the same: Infant, LilKid, BigKid and Teen. In the drop down menu for categories, FYI:those Teen Shoe choices come after Teen Boys Clothing.

Books are broken out into Board, Chapter, Early Readers, Homeschool, and Adult (we use those to help segment the books for easier shopping) and a generic Book which you are welcome to use for ease of tagging as long as you drop-off your books in the appropriate category! The Adult section is meant to be for Adult Fiction and Self Help and is limited to 6 per seller. We no longer have a category Pregnancy/ Parenting as these do not sell well! Please do not leave them for sale with us. Our donations partners do not have need of them.

Toys are broken out into 11 or 12 categories: Infant, Toddler, Building, Doll, Doll Accessories, Educational, Figures, Outdoor, Pretend Play, Riding, and Vehicles. All of these begin with the word “Toy”. A few select items have their own section on the sales floor, and therefore, their own category pullout. There are 6 or more of these: Art Supplies, Bikes, Crafts, Games, Puzzles, Sports Equipment