Kids Gear?

I've found gear in a variety of places. With three kids (8, 6, 2.5) I opt to buy gear at a reasonable price and then sell it after it we have gotten our use from it. With kids gear sometimes that translates into a lot of use and other times its hardly been used.

Stores sell their rental gear - ask around in the spring/summer. REI periodically puts rental gear on sale at absurd prices but you have to be lucky to be around when they do. I believe REI still does their garage sale too but, again, you need to ask around.

Craigslist can be a great source - but caveat emptor - quality and price run the gamut. When I'm looking for something I check it frequently as good stuff disappears fast but I can usually find something within a month or two.

I haven't had luck at garage sales but friends have.

cascadeclimbers.com and tay rarely have kids gear. the cascade climber's kid's section has had some activity but not a lot.

We have not had good luck at ski swaps but there's lots of luck associated with these sales.

The ideal situation is find someone with older kids a year or two older than your youngest and offer to take the stuff off their hands as they grow.

Good luck!

Alpine Hut on 15th south of the Ballard Bridge has used kids gear. Also, REI has been selling used rental gear in the "garage sale" area below the bike shop. They had a ton of kids boots a few weeks ago. And Play It Again Sports near REI has a large selection of used kids boots and skis.

Nothing like shelling out 100 bucks for lift tickets, waiting in line for an hour for rental gear and riding the chair twice before the young 'un has to go to the bathroom! Buying used can ease the pain.

I shop year-round via ebay, craigslist all over the country as well as thrift stores and have amassed a pretty good collection of good quality used gear at very appealing prices. With three sons at 14, 10 and 8 - 2 that race - we need a variety of stuff and if you are on it all the time you can do well. Of course you have to develop O/C shopping habits too. My family thinks I'm nuts, but it sure makes my wallet feel good and how many kids do you know that have their own quivers? They dig that!



There's a pretty good market for selling (not so much for buying) kid's stuff on TGR as there're lots of parents there. I would think you could move it here too? Just don't expect to get much money. I think it's good to pass this stuff along to foster young skiers, and it seems to come back around pretty regularly.

Ski Mart had some good deals on jr Lange race boots ($50 or so) last weekend. I think their used kid's skis are on the pricey side and quality definitely varies, but still a lot less than retail. Quality varies.

The Newport ski swap had some decent kid's stuff, but what a mob scene!


What size boots do you need? I might have a couple of pairs of jr. 3-buckles depending on size. Message me if you're interested in discussing boots.

The Goodwill at 4-corners in Maple Valley in the past has had a good selection of used gear. If your there at the right time you can luck out and find good deals.