Every Monday, I will answer reader submitted questions, and ask you to weigh in your two cents.
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or Fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Edie says:
Hi Maria!
I began cloth diapering my daughter when she was 8 months, and started her stash with both pockets and prefolds + covers. Now that I seem to have figured out my laundry routine and resolved stink issues with the microfiber inserts I’ve found that I definitely prefer my perfect fit Fuzzibunz over the prefolds. So now I have a dozen and a half prefolds, a handful of covers, and a couple Snappis just sitting in a closet gathering dust. Do you have any tips and pointers on selling used diapers and specific sites that you prefer to use? Is there any cd selling etiquette that I need to know? I would love to fill out our supply of pocket diapers, but I need to sell some diapers first!
Thanks,
Edie
Great question! I have only sold a few diapers myself, so I’ll give you what information I have, then ask others to weigh in too.
The first place that comes to mind is diaperswappers. There is a Facebook page dedicated to fluff swapping, but of course the name has slipped my mind. (Fluff Swappers! Thanks Tamara!) I have done my selling through a cloth diaper group on Cafemom, and many online cloth diaper groups have FSOT (for sale or trade) sections. Some diaper companies allow sale/trade posts on their Facebook pages, but check with them before posting!
The biggest hurdle to selling cloth diapers is that you’re an unknown seller. Buyers/traders rely heavily on Feedback from other buyers to ensure that the seller will follow through, and items will be as expected.
To get the most for your items, and to make sure the buyer knows what they’re getting, be thorough and honest in your description. Make sure your diapers are clean, then go over them inch by inch, noting any wear or damage. Take as many photos as you can of the front, back, inside and outside of the diapers, the inserts, closures and close-ups of any damage or stains.
Be reasonable in your pricing, and consider pricing the diapers to include shipping costs. It’s a great idea to include delivery confirmation when you ship. You can easily ship first class online at http://www.paypal.com/shipnow and postage is generally under $3.00 per diaper.
Be sure to also package your diapers well. I have received diapers that were mailed in a manila envelope only, and the envelope was torn (luckily the diaper didn’t fall out or get torn/damaged.
So how about you guys? Give me your opinions on selling used diapers, and where to do it. Both buyers and sellers perspectives are helpful!
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
>Seems to me like Ebay sellers get top dollar for cloth diapers. I bought some prefolds off ebay a while ago. 😀
>Thanks so much for all of the advice! Unfortunatley I'm in a very rural area so Craigslist probably won't work for me. I've got to get busy taking photos of the dipes so I can get them listed somewhere and get them out of here!
>Yes! That's it! Thanks Tamara. I had searched "fluff" and couldn't find it. Sheesh. I'm losing it.
>I've not sold any of my diapers, but if you haven't checked out swapmamas, I would DEFINITELY suggest doing so!! I've traded a ton of diapers on there and gotten some awesome stuff in return. It's kind of like diaperswapppers, but mamas list all sorts of things, you comment on what you're interested in and then the two of you work out a deal. It's such and awesome site!!!Oh, and I think the facebook based group you were thinking of is Fluffswappers 🙂
>i sold a lot of diapers on EBAY. i was really surprised at how fast they sold and how much i got for them. as for shipping – you can put them all in a large envelope, as long as you use packing tape to encase the entire envelope before shipping. this is the cheapest way and the packing tape keeps the envelope from tearing. because shipping is so inexpensive for CD's, i offered free shipping. you get a LOT more bids on ebay by offering free economy shipping.
>I totaly forgot about craigslist. Great idea ladies! We've gotten rid of a lot of junk…err…sold a lot of great stuff on craigslist!
>I've sold all of my old diapers on craigs list. I had made all my son's diapers and the first batch I had bought a pattern and followed her directions, which ended up being a horrible idea, I quickly changed my cloth diaper making methods and now I love the new diapers, and never use the old ones, so I put them on craigs list for cheap, because I just wanted them out. When you sell them be realistic on prices, and sometimes if you underprice just a little bit you can get them out a lot faster. Also, make sure you give a really good description, like if something is wrong, let the buyer know exactly what it was, letting them know the flaws makes them know they can trust buying from you.
>I was also going to mention craigslist, especially if you live in or near a larger city. You save on shipping, which may allow you to get more money for your diapers; many moms include the shipping cost in their total they would want to spend on a diaper. i.e. If I would only want to spend $10 total on a pocket diaper, that would only leave you with about $6-$7 after shipping, delivery confirmation and paypal fees. However, that same diaper listed on craigslist for $10 will net you the whole 10 bucks. Prefolds are HEAVY to ship, so be sure to take that into consideration when setting a price. Diaperswappers.com is where I hang out…a lot. 🙂 it can be a great place to sell, but if you are not a member yet, you may have a tougher time being both a new member and new seller. you now have to have a minimum number of posts and get approved to sell items on the site…the approval process is not hard, it's mostly just giving your info and waiting for a moderator to approve you.definitely take lots of pictures and be as detailed as you can.don't be afraid to say no to lower offers. 🙂 I'm a push over and will say yes to an offer that is a buck or two below my price, but then I get a total of $5 and it's not enough to buy the things I want.try selling/offering in lots. doz. prefolds for $X, all prefolds for $X. covers $X each, but then list all covers for a couple bucks less total, cuz you will save a little bit on shipping to send them all, and that looks attractive to some buyers.thats all I got for now.
>My mother-in-law bought a lot of diapers for us on Craigslist. She could go see them before buying, and once they weren't what she expected, so she passed on buying them. No shipping costs.
>I love buying & selling fluff on Kijiji! Though I think this is Canada-only.
>Thank you for featuring my question, and I look forward to feedback from your other readers!