I'm relatively new to eBay, compared to a host of other sellers and buyers, and I wanted to share a bad experience with buying socks for my children so that you don't fall into the same pit! Recently, my children were invited to Grammy and Papa's for the weekend and I found myself hastily packing suitcases and getting laundry sorted out for 3 whole days of un-motherhood! Within 5 minutes, I realized that they had no socks--neither one of them.

So, where did I go to shop? eBay of course...

Since I had all weekend to browse, I looked for the best deal and sifted through the auctions until I found a few good values with a BUY-IT-NOW logo next to them. My kids needed socks NOW, so I wanted to buy them NOW!

I have their dimensions all written down from when I shopped online for great deals at the start of the school year, so I referred to them. My son wears a size 4 shoe, and my daughter wears a size 7. That wouldn't be hard. I bought like 300 pairs of socks and selected priority shipping! So Tuesday rolled around and the packages landed on my doorstep.

The socks looked like they would fit our dog--but neither of my kids. What did I do? Well, I bought socks assuming the sizes were the same as shoes! Have any of you ever done that? Well, DON'T! The sizes are not the same. In fact, they are not even the same from brand to brand. Women's and men's socks are easy. I wear a size 8 shoe, and I buy a size 9 sock. My fiance wears a size 9 shoe and he buys a size 10 sock. So 4-6 socks should fit my son who wears a size 4 shoe, right? WRONG!

So I did some research...Here's what I found:

14 websites that say sock size 4-6 should fit a boy's foot about age 3-5 or shoe size 10-13. Well, that's not very intuitive. But it looks like the sock size is closer to the child's age than the shoe size! I even tried measuring the socks. The size 4-6 boys tube socks were 9" long. No way to figure it out that way either!

The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is ASK THE SELLER first! Unfortunately, I bought these socks from a seller who sends those automatic (impersonal) email replies like: "Thanks for your question, we will answer you as soon as we get a chance"!...Translation, expect a reply sometime next week--AFTER the auction is closed.

One website was particularly helpful, absolutesocks.com, though I still can't wrap my mind around the reasoning or the logic for how socks are sized as compared to feet. For my son, according to this site, I should be buying sock size 7-8 1/2. For my daughter (who is 10), they recommend buying ladies sizes. But, here's the catch: These size charts only pertain to the brand of socks sold by this vendor. Go to Nike or Adidas, and start all over! You'd better just ask for specific dimensions and measure your child's socks that fit him/her now. Don't EVER ASSUME like I did...

Well, in summary, if you need some socks to fit a toddler or pre-schooler, I have some great deals at my store this week! Haa haa. And, I'm back in the market for socks that actually fit my kids! My son is 7, so I need a sock size 8 that's about 13" long. My daughter is 10, and I'm shopping for a ladies sock size 9-11. I found that what I wear will fit her too.

What a conundrum! I hope this warning gets to you before you buy a truckload of infant socks by accident like I did and waste a lot of money on shipping! Have fun sock-shopping, and God bless...