Just Between Friends Pop-Up Consignment Sale

Just Between Friends is a national company, and JBF-​Dane County West is one of the (increasingly inaccurately named) local franchises. The other is JBF-​Dane County East, which happens in… Waunakee, i.e. north-​northwest of this sale. But hey, let’s get past the names.
JBF is a pop-​up consignment sale, meaning it only exists for two weekends a year. It takes over a big empty space with baby & kids’ stuff from hundreds of different sellers, then disappears again after the weekend. The sale is open to the public on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (though you’ll pay admission on Friday) and open to volunteers and consigners before that. Everything is half price on Sunday.
Given that it’s a consignment sale, the selection varies A LOT, but you can always count on a wide variety of clothing, toys, and baby gear. Clothing is priced from $ 3 to about $ 10, sometimes more for outerwear, shoes, or dressy stuff. I did hear some people complaining about the «outrageous» prices — they were clearly expecting garage sale prices. Unlike a garage sale, a huge sale like this had significant expenses and sellers are only making 60−70% of the sales price, so don’t hold it against sale or sellers. Also unlike a garage sale, JBF offers a HUGE selection all in one place. I can get more stuff at one good sale than from a whole year’s worth of garage saleing, so I’m happy to pay a little more. It’s still way less than full price.
A few years back I went to the half-​price sale and found it almost empty — a nice surprise, since other sales have been ridiculously crowded with long lines everywhere. However, the selection was similarly sparse. I was shopping for baby girl clothes, and remember gazing on a sea of pink — almost literally unbroken by any other color. Not sure if that was a reflection of the sellers at this particular sale, or just what was left after everybody else snapped up the interesting clothes. Either way, I haven’t been back to a half price sale because it’s just not worth the time.
Also, if you’re interested in selling, you should know that JBF isn’t the only game in town. Half Pint and Li’l Badger are both completely local and both will give you a slightly higher percentage of sales. Normally the three sales are scheduled on three different weekends, so you can hit all of them.