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Original poster

NCT Sale tomorrow - What to expect?

33 replies

Liskey · 02/10/2009 19:09

NCT Sale is on tomorrow and I was wondering what sort of things are normally for sale there?

I'm 25 weeks pregnant with first baby and so far I've got a sling and thats it so was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about what I should look out for there?

Cheers

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ChilloHippi · 02/10/2009 19:23

In my exparience, NCT sales are a bit of nightmare.
Get there early so you are in the queue. It's a bit of a rampage inside and I have found that things can be quite expensive there. I prefer charity shops to be honest, or try MN's for sale boards, or your local NetMums nearly new boards.

Dumbledoresgirl · 02/10/2009 19:27

My initial response to the question in the title is "a bun fight".

But answering seriously, you can expect to get anything there: clothes, toys, books, equipment such as buggies, cots, baths, slings, bedding, breast pumps, you name it, they might have it.

I clothed and equipped 4 children on NCT sales and sold an awful lot of stuff on afterwards.

rolledhedgehog · 02/10/2009 19:28

Ours is not expensive. It is also tomorrow but not the same part of the country. I would look out for cute baby clothes (neutral if you don't know sex), grobags (usually about £5), play mat, bouncy chair, mobile, moses basket.

Also at ours can get lovely prams/pushchairs for bargain prices.

spicemonster · 02/10/2009 19:32

It is cheap! I sold an 8 piece set of babygros for £2

But get there before it starts and queue to get the best stuff

Original poster

Liskey · 02/10/2009 19:33

Cheers for that.

LOL at the bun fight though I think it might be like that too.

I'll start making one of my infamous lists now - DH always winces when I start doing that

PS what are grobags?

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Dumbledoresgirl · 02/10/2009 19:35

Grobags are little baby sleeping bags - sort of. Good if you have a baby who kicks off its bedding and then wakes up crying because it is too cold.

morethemerrier · 02/10/2009 19:38

Hi we have one too, and from previous experience here are my top tips!

Get there early for when it opens, they are usually very popular and ours always has a big que!
Take someone with you, so you can split up and grab the bargains( the scene from friends with monicas Wedding dress springs to mind!)
Have a hit list of items you need, these are great places to get hold of things like baby gates, monitors, baths etc!
If you are undecided about something grab first think later, you can always put it back if you decide you don't need it!

Sounds scary, but they are popular because usually the items are excellent quality for bargain prices! I also look out for christmas presents, elc, mothercare, toys that are boxed and in as new condition and put them away! There's always tons of clothes, but I would check out the equipment first as in my opinion that's where the biggest bargains are! There was a travel system at our last one which I know was worth around £300, for £60! Hope you enjoy it and gets lots of bargains!

Dee2009 · 02/10/2009 19:40

I went to my first nct sale weekend and it as great. Most of the items were very cheap and they had pretty much everything there!! I spent £30 and got loads of stuff!!
I would recommened gettin there early and queing tho as is well worth it was advertised as 1-3pm but i think all would of been gone bout 1hour later!!
Have fun!

Original poster

Liskey · 02/10/2009 19:42

Ah that makes sense - cheers.

Seeing as "it" is due in January I'll keep an eye out for some of those then - and some neutral clothes as we've not found out what it is! And everything else I can think of.....

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Meglet · 02/10/2009 19:47

Stock up on neutral clothes in bigger sizes for next winter. I tend to buy a season ahead at NCT so it's there when we need it.

They can be a tad busy too.

And if they have branded Gro-bags buy them! Don't worry if they are pink / blue / bright green with purple spots, they are about £25 new and worth their weight in gold. If they help your baby sleep you won't care about the colour. My DD is in her big brothers old blue gro-bags, no way was I spending £££ on pink ones!

Good luck!

Original poster

Liskey · 02/10/2009 20:06

Another useful tip - cheers for that

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isittooearlyforgin · 02/10/2009 20:11

sheer unadulterated middleclass hell!! If you want to see bourgourseis degeneration on a grand scale - its the place to go

SpangleMaker · 02/10/2009 20:21

Gro-bags definitely, branded or not! NCT sales are good for toys too, though you won't really need those for a while so perhaps not such a priority.

Grab a Bumbo if you see one. You may or may not use it much but you can always re-sell afterwards.

The absolute best piece of advice is, if you can, to take a friend who already has a baby with you as she will be immediately be able to see and grab as much useful stuff as possible. I saw a couple of people doing this at the last NCT sale I went to and wish I'd done the same thing.

Original poster

Liskey · 02/10/2009 20:47

Ok I'll show my ignorance again - what is a bumbo? DH now thinks your making these names up to confuse him

OP posts:

SpangleMaker · 02/10/2009 21:01

bumbo

It's a baby seat you can use as soon as they have good head control. My DS loves his, and we're now using it with a tray for weaning. They're about £30 new plus more for the tray, but about £10 at an NCT sale. It's not a necessity, but one of those things that you can save a lot on 2nd hand.

Good luck with bargain hunting

mafog · 02/10/2009 21:34

Don't forget your cheque book and card if you are intending on buying big stuff (or enough money).

Try and prioritise what you really need and visit those sections/tables first. Like MTM has said I would go to equipment first and then clothes last, simply because there tends to be loads of clothes (esp for under 1 years) so there's always more choice.

Try and keep hands free to rummage, so carry cash etc in pockets or small rucksack. A lot of sales give an ikea style bag to collect but maybe take your own big bag just in case.

When is the next sale in your area- you may not need to get a highchair for example at this one if there is going to be another in a few months.

You may also find stuff for you- maternity clothes, sleep pillow etc.

Good luck- they are mad and busy but worth it. I work on the tills at our sale and it's so nice when parents get kitted out pretty much with most things they need for about £60.

BexJ78 · 02/10/2009 21:39

It must be NNS day tomorrow because there is one in the area where I live and the area where i work, both tomorrow afternoon Am hoping to grab a few bargains, never been before!

Original poster

Liskey · 02/10/2009 21:51

Theirs a sale tomorrow in Wakefield - about 6 miles from us and 1 in Barnsley were we live the weekend afterwards! It must be the time of year for them. Just checked the website and there's another sale in March so hopefully we'll be a bit more clued up as well then!

I'll keep an eye out for the maternity clothes as I really need some tops for work -I'm still in my normally stuff at the mo. and a sleep pillow might be a good idea as well thanks for that.

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ChilloHippi · 02/10/2009 22:36

Yes they are twice a year, autumn and spring.

bethylou · 02/10/2009 22:48

Make the most of the one tomorrow though as they really aren't a good place to take a small baby in my opinion - you need your hands free, get a little jostled and we stand in the queue for an hour beforehand which could be cold in Spring.

Having said all that, I sent my husband last week and he came back with as new jigsaws that I'd asked for for 70p (instead of £6) and 4 huge tubs of duplo lego for the bargain price of £7, amongst other things. He said he had butterflies on the way down there!!

For future reference, it might be useful to ask if they have a pre-sale for people who help at the sale or setting up. At ours (Warks) this is when the best bargains tend to go. I reckon we spent as little time setting up the night before as we would have done waiting in the queues etc.. and definitely wouldn't have been any lego left if we'd waited for the actual sale. Now I sound really sad...

Mama2b5 · 02/10/2009 23:39

These sound great dont have any in my area i dont think or aint heard of yet!!!!

piprabbit · 02/10/2009 23:49

Mama2b5 - try the NCT home page, you can select the Nearly New Sales button, put in your postcode and you should get a list of local sales.

elkiedee · 03/10/2009 00:27

Good luck with the NNS, come back and tell us what you manage to get.

Original poster

Liskey · 03/10/2009 13:34

Groan.....Dh has gone back to bed as he's tired and so am I after that. It was a scrum - think 6am of the January sales.

It was defintely worth getting there 30 mins early as we got one of the last car spaces and the queue doubled while we were waiting!
We did manage to get quite a lot of stuff - a bumbo, moses basket from M&P and stand, a bath, nappy bin, 3 maternity tops for me, and 2 snow suits all for about £50 so well worth the trip. I didn't see any grobags though but we went for the big items first - just as well as they'd sold all the moses baskets by the time we left!

We've a fairly new NCT up here (Barnsley) so it might be worth me finding out about helping out - I'll look into that - especially as I joined in Aug and am booked on their course for Nov/Dec.

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elkiedee · 03/10/2009 22:59

Well done. Most NCT branches old or new could do with new volunteers.

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