Love those cheap kids toys!
and strategies for buying toys for kids at bargain prices

Want to buy kids toys and don't mind if they're not new?

Looking for free or cheap kids toys or just want to get kids toys at bargain prices?

Toys like shape sorters, infant sensory stimulation toys, outdoor toys that promote large motor skill development can all be made or purchased on the cheap.

Strategies for finding free and/or cheap toys for kids

Here are our strategies on how you can get cheap toys for kids or even free kids toys.

• On-line
• Garage sales
• Op shops, Thrift stores, Flea Markets
• Toy library
• Kids TV
• Sale season and Discount stores
• Special offers
• Home made toy
• Swap toys
• Toy Tester
• Give Aways
• Donations

Go on-line and net yourself some cheap kids toys

The first step before you get online and purchase a toy is to know what you're looking for.

There's a lot of information on the web. Narrow down exactly what you are after before you start to search - being focused will save you time and you'll be less tempted to go off on a tangent onto something you don't really need and don't really have the time to use.

There are lots of cheap toys for kids on ebay, and you can save your time and money by limiting your search options through capping some key parameters like price and location - many sellers in your state offer will offer local pickup so you save on postage price.

Second step is making the purchase.

It's ok to buy on line if you stick with reputable businesses. If you're unsure to start with, join up with one of the big guys like Amazon or Ebay. This will give you practice in the buying process and you can transfer your skills to buying from other sites later.

One of our mums found a lot of bargains on ebay - some of these were new toys!
It took her a little while to work through the ebay sign up process and get the hang of the auction and buy-it-now system, but she says it was well worth persisting.

She got some terrific cheap kids toys, not to mention the amazing buy of 5 huge boxes brimming with preloved toys and books for $18. They contained toys for both boys and girls - she kept some of the girls toys (even though she didn't have any girls) for when she had girls visiting.

Since she decided not to keep all the kids toys, she on-sold these on ebay, and made a nice little extra money. Closest you can get to free and cheap kids toys in our book!

Tips for buying cheap kids toys on ebay

• find out the cost to have the item sent to you
• ask the seller about the quality of the item - any pieces missing or broken, surface scratches? You can request close up photos of the item
• ask the seller to pack the item well so it's not damaged in shipping
• find out the actual size of the toy - sometimes toys can appear to be quite large in a photo but are quite small in reality
• remember that a good seller usually lists any issues with the item and welcomes your questions
• shop around and research how much similar items are selling for
• if you plan on buying more than one item from a seller, ask for a discount

Tips for selling used and new children's toys on ebay

• set your starting price as low as you are prepared to part with the items for - they may only sell for 99 cents but a low start price may also attract a lot of bidders
• include the brand under brand categories
• you can find ideas on wording by checking on ebay how others have listed their similar items
• you can find final sale prices on similar items from 'finished listings' which can give you an idea of which price to set your starting price at
• remember if you offer to post, this can be expensive. Be clear on postage costs
• you can list bulk lots or multiple items, but these don't always attract more buyers or higher prices - just depends who is looking at the time
• sometimes a fixed price buy-it-now will get you more dollars. It's a bit of a guess which way to go, with no real formula. The bottom line is, if you can't part with it for less than a certain amount, start bidding off at that amount or offer a buy it now at that price

Benefits of using ebay as a buyer or seller

• with ebay you can list items at your leisure if selling and browse at your leisure if buying - even at midnight or on a Sunday - the shop is always open
• there is no bartering with people over price
• if selling, you don't even need a camera, but it helps to take photos of your items and include these on your listing
• you can find a variety of cheap kids toys and get bargains if you're willing to browse and are careful about limiting your maximum bid price
• your home is a great source of sale material - it's probably hiding some unwanted toys and outgrown kids clothes right now

Not an on-line enthusiast?
Prefer to browse in the shop for cheap kids toys

Garage sales

Garage sales might suit you if you like to browse for an item and check it out first hand.

Some of our mums have found them to be a great source of cheap kids toys and children's books. Look out for sales in your neighbourhood so you don't spend too much time travelling - remember there's no guarantee they'll have toys that interest you, and they might have sold most of their cheap toys by the time you arrive.

However, if you hit the jackpot you'll find your fill of cheap toys for kids and give this strategy the big tick.

One of our mums bought 5 practically new toys at just one garage sale she went to. The lady was moving overseas and she needed to sell all her child's toys. That's where she got a bargain IKEA rocking moose, activity lights and music table, roll / push handle, alphabet mats and more.

Op shops, thrift shops and flea markets

Op shops, thrift shops and flea markets might be up your alley and can be a great source of cheap toys for kids.

These are particularly bountiful when there's a huge weekend sale. And there's usually plenty of toy selection and bargains at an Op shop sale.

If you're an ebay seller, you can even sell items you buy from an Op-shop through ebay and make extra money to spend on a different toy!

Toy library

Borrow a toy from a local toy library. It's a guaranteed source of cheap kids toys beacuse there's usually just a low annual fee and then it's free to borrow.

As a parent, you have probably found that even better than an expensive toy, is variety of toys. And a toy library is set up for children to borrow a 'new' toy every week and all you as a parent need do is pay a once off low joining fee.

Depending on your toy library, for around the cost of $35 per year you can borrow two toys, one cassette and 4 board books per child with the maximum borrowing time of four weeks. The arrangements are dependent on the setup of your local toy library but they're usually fairly simliar.

And they even have large bulky toys that you might not consider buying due to cost - you just need a big enough car to take them home!

More ideas for free kids stuff and cheap kids toys

Kids TV

Kids TV can be a great resource for even more ideas for quality freebie toys for children. A children's show such as Playschool creates terrific and cheap kids toys that are simple to make.

Season sale or discount store

If you'd prefer not to buy a second-hand toy, then buy ahead of time during a sale season or at a discount store. This is always really good strategy for buying Birthday and Christmas presents and some spare presents for children’s parties that your child will be invited to. This way you can buy heavily-discounted and very cheap kids toys.

Special offers

Look out for special offers in the supermarket that have on line redemption. For example Huggies bar codes - save them up for a time will come that you're interested in their offer of cheap kids toys.

One of our mums saved Huggies product bar codes for the Giraffe and Zebra kid's tent offer and she recycles the nappy boxes for toy storage. She covers the boxes with bright contact colors which she says look great and helps her son to ask for the box of toys by color.

Home made

Make your own home made toy - making cheap toys for kids. It doesn't have to be identical to a bought toy, you just want it to achieve the same result - that is for instance that it rolls (trolley) or stands (dolls house) or hangs (mobile) or whatever the intention of the toy is. You can make it look as pretty or plain as you like. Your toddler usually isn't too fussed about the details although an older child may like to be more involved and may be more interested in getting it to look 'right'.

Toy swap

You can't get any more cheap kids toys than those that are free. How so? Swap toys with a friend, either on a short term or permanent basis for each toy.

One of our mums did this with a mother who was from Denmark and was staying in the country for only 9 months. They met through a baby song session at a local library. The mums swapped a rattle for a shaker - it worked well as their babies were about 3 months different in age.

Be an official Toy Tester

A year long source of cheap toys for kids (well they are free toys if you don't factor in your time to review) is yours if you become an official Fisher-Price Toy Tester by signing up at http://www.toy-tester.com.au

We haven't heard from a mum who has done this but if you have, contact us and share your experience. It looks like a great way to test toys - one each month for a year, and you get to keep them! That's over $1,000 worth of toys for free.

Every month they select five people to become official Toy Testers. All you have to do it tell them what you think of the toys. BUT, it also seems that the toys might not always be age appropriate to your child.

Give Aways

Sometimes you'll find great pre loved toys on the side of the road, often at the time of council collections. Just knock on the owner's door and ask if you can take the items you want.

The experience of our mums has been positive - the owners have said take whatever you want, they're just happy to see it going to a home and being recycled. Examples of toys found are trucks, plastic bowling pins and ball set, girls hand bags, matchbox cars, kids table and chairs set, cash register and ride on horse on stick.

Donations

Some businesses will give you items they no longer need. For example, a fabric store may donate fabric off cuts and a photography store may donate film containers. You can use these containers to make great music shakers.