Introduction:

If you conduct a search on ebay for wholesale Gymboree lot, this is what you get: Click Here. As of the writing of this guide, there were 299 results. That is a lot to choose from and hopefully this guide will help you decide whether or not to purchase a wholesale lot and who to purchase it from. I tried purchasing a Gymboree wholesale lot at one time and the results were less than good. However, let me say that the seller was completely honest about what I would receive, described her auction acurately, shipped quickly and did everything a good seller should do. It was me, as an inexpereinced buyer, who made the mistakes.

The Seller:

As with any auction, not just a wholesale auction, you should always check a few basic things regarding the seller.

• Feedback score - both the number of negatives and what the negative comments had to say about the seller
• Feedback comments - were any of the auctions for wholesale lots; were the buyers happy
• Location - is the seller located in the U.S. or internationally
• Payment methods accepted - make sure the seller accepts the form of payment you are most comfortable with

Types of Wholesale Auctions

This is really the nitty gritty of this guide. What type, if any, of wholesale Gymboree lot should you buy. There seem to be 2 prevelant types of Gymboree lots on ebay:

1. In this type of auction, the seller starts the bidding very low and promises the buyer double the (full - not usually said, but implied) retail value of the closing bid. This means if the final bid is $35, you receive $70 worth of clothes (which, you know, in the world of Gymboree, is not much more than an outfit).

2. In this type of auction, the seller states up front the retail value of the auction. The following link shows you auctions where the buyer is guaranteed to get $500 worth of clothing: $500 Wholesale Lots. The starting values of these auctions are generally higher than the previously mentioned auction as the seller is obviously trying to make a profit. This type of auction has the potential for the better deal, because a $500 lot that is sold for less than $250 nets a bigger than 50% discount.

What You Should Know About the Auctions:

What you see is not always what you get: More times than not, the seller states somewhere in the auction that what you are seeing is not necessarily what you are going to be receiving. The picture is usually of a gorgeous layout of Gymboree clothes that is representative of the sellers stock. Keep in mind: if you are bidding on double the final bid and your final bid is $50, then you are going to be receiving $100 worth of clothes. In Gymboree-speak, that may be one full outfit and an extra top or two (maybe not even).

What you may get beside clothing: You will not necessarily receive all clothing with your auction. Gymboree sells hats, accessories, socks, tights hair pieces and shoes. Most sellers (and any seller you buy from) should state whether or not accessories will be included and what percentage they will make up of the auction. They may not specifically tell you about any shoes or hats they will include. This is what I received in the wholesale lot I purchased:

Sizes:  Make sure, before you bid, you know what size clothing you will be receiving. Some sellers state they will not send many clothes under 12 months (as baby clothes tend to not do as well as toddler and big girl sizes), some sell only one size (Look through the auctions and see the 2T offerings), and but start at and only include the toddler sizes (Some Examples). Some sellers take requests and will try to include the sizes you are most interested in.

Lines: If you are even remotely interested in Gymboree clothing, than you should be familiar with the terminology "lines." If not, here's a quick explanation. Gymboree, every several weeks, releases new lines of clothing. Each line of clothing has complementary pieces from hair accessories to shoes, to pants and shirts, skirts and dresses. Some lines are very popular (these onesies are from the Sugar & Spice line and did very well):

 and others are not so popular (this outfit was not at all popular with buyers and was bought from a wholesale lot):

The Retail Value:

This should seem like an obvious detail, but it is one that took new meaning for me when I bid on my only Gymboree wholesale auction: when you are bidding on an auction worth $500, that is the highest retail value. That means sale prices nor discounts are taken into consideration at all.

Shipping Costs:

There is no getting around shipping costs. Clothes are not the lightest weight items and the shipping cost may be quite signifigant.  There are plenty of wholesale gymboree lots to choose from, so be picky with regards to shipping costs. If you are bidding on the first type of auction I talked about, you should be especially careful. If your bid is $40 and you receive $80 worth of clothes, chances are those clothes will be able to fit into an envelope and probably won't weigh more than several pounds. Ebay is starting to crack down on shipping charges (Excessive Shipping Charges Policy), and if, when you receive your items, you feel you were charged too much, you can report the seller to ebay.

Would I buy a Gymboree Wholesale Lot:

That is really the question of the hour, isn't it? Should you bid on a Gymboree Wholesale Lot. Only you, the buyer, knows the answer to that question. Would I bid on a Gymboree Wholesale Lot? No, I wouldn't. Part of me would like to, but first, why wouldn't I?

• I do not have the resources to spend enough money that I would be able to build a reasonable stock of clothes and accessories
• I do not want to be a seller of Gymboree, exclusively
• There is a lot of competition on ebay for Gymboree sellers and I do not have the time or desire to compete
• I do not want to buy what I can't see exactly
• I think lots do better on ebay and I do not want to receive one outfit here and there from a particular line. I have found an outift doesn't do nearly as well as a lot of clothing from the same line.
• Not all lines are popular and I don't want to be stuck with something that I can not sell (these are still hanging around after being listed 2 or 3 times).

Under What Circumstances Would I Buy a Gymboree Wholesale Lot

• Well, the clothes are gorgeous and I would love to outfit my daughter in them; if there were a lot of size 5 clothes (there actually is at the time of writing this), I would be sorely tempted
• If I wanted to open a store on ebay selling Gymboree clothes and didn't have another source to buy them at a discount
• If I were already a powerseller of Gymboree clothes and wanted to pad my stock some
• I would and did buy a small wholesale lot, just to try it out for myself; it didn't go well and I lost money.

Conclusion and Thanks

I hope you found this helpful and thanks for reading this. If you have any suggestions at all, please feel free to email me. There are lots of great sellers out there and if you do your homework and research your purchases, then you can have the potential be very successful on ebay.