Categories and How to Use Them

Info about how & why we do it the way we do:

Plus the breakouts on where things go!

Honestly, we’d love to run the whole event with only 6 or 7 big categories—Clothes, Shoes, Books, Toys, Kid Gear, Infant Stuff and Home Goods, and while those are sort of the “areas of the store” where we place things, for reporting and space planning, we’ve designated 6 or 8 categories and sub categories in each of those areas that really help us (and you) when tagging.

Many items have their own specific category (think strollers) and others are more broad (like Girls Clothing). It definitely helps to scroll through the ENTIRE CATEGORY LIST and familiarize yourself with it before you start entering.

It might also help you to know why we do it the way we do it (and we’re certain that you’ll be thrilled to know that we’ve collapsed the categories for clothing and books! No more breakouts there) We use the categories the way we do:

  • 1) So that we can run reports and review WHAT sells best. (and share it with you for next time) This is not necessarily an indication of where we will place items on the floor.

  • 2) So that we can limit specific items on the sales floor by seller and overall And finally . . .

  • 3) So that we can avoid confusion in our online events where it may not be easy to tell from a photograph whether an item is a Teen Size 2 or an Infant Size 2

What goes where:

  • Every clothing item goes into one of just 3 categories per gender:

    Infant Clothing, Clothing or Teen Clothing. It’s that simple!

    Infant Clothing-Boy and Infant Clothing-Girl contain sizes Preemie, Newborn, 0-3M, 3M, 3-6M, 6M, etc. etc. up to the range size of 18-24M. These categories are limited to 50 per gender per seller.

    For “kid clothing” beginning with size 24M and continuing through size 18 kids, you will use the basic categories of Boy’s Clothing and Girl’s Clothing.

    Teen Boy Clothing (Men’s sizing, S-XXL) and Teen Girl Clothing (Junior/Missy /Women’s sizing XXS-XL) use letter (S/M/L) sizing. The Teen Girl Clothing category is limited to 20 items total per seller.

    Note: Dance wear, gymnastics leotards, swimwear, baseball pants & outerwear all get tagged here! Where we hang them in the store is another story.

    Special Note: There is still a Boutique Category (and a list) for both genders that you can choose to use. We don’t always pull boutique items out to a separate area though!

    There is a 200 tag/item limit per seller for hanging clothing. Costumes are not included in that number. Swimwear, dancewear & outerwear do count in the overall limit of 200 but don’t count in the Infant and Teen Girl limits.

    Bundling like items and outfits is encouraged.

  • Costume is a unisex category with all sizes available from Newborn- Kid 18 and Teen sizes S-XL as well. Halloween costumes are only accepted at our Fall/ Back-to -School events, but children’s dress-up outfits for pretend play may use the Costume category in spring.

    Boy’s Accessories and Girl’s Accessories are the categories to use for: Gloves, Mittens, Scarves, Hats, Umbrellas, Hairbows, Hairbands, Tights, Socks, Kid Purses, Undergarments (must be new in package) Sunglasses etc. Basically, anything a child would wear that is not hanging clothing or shoes.

    Note: Backpacks and Lunchboxes have their own categories and are not considered accessories.

  • There are 4 shoe categories: Shoes-Infant, Shoes-Lil’ Kid, Shoes Big Kid, and Teen Shoes. These are separated by gender of course.

    Boy (or Girl) Shoes Infant- (0-4.5), Sizes in this category include the infant/crib shoes sizes of 0-3 as well a size 4 and 4.5. Crib Shoes are limited to six pair per seller total.

    The category for little kid shoes is Girl (or Boy) Shoes-Lil’ Kid (5-13.5).

    Bigger kids’ sizes go from 1-7.5 in categories either Boy or Girl-Shoes Big Kid (1-7.5).

    And finally, Teen Boy Shoes has available sizes 8-13.5 and Teen Girl Shoes has available sizes 8-11.

    NOTE: Tag your cleats and dance shoes under shoes and describe them as “Dance” or “Cleat”. We generally leave them where YOU drop them off but depending on space they may be in the shoe section or with Sporting Goods.

  • There are sooo many baby & toddler items! Y’all sell the coolest stuff and we have to try and make sense of it. These categories include everything you would need to care for an infant or toddler (and a few things for Mom too)

    Maternity (clothing, nursing bras , nursing covers etc. in sizes S-XL). Each seller may bring your best 12 pieces.

    Strollers, Car Seats, Cribs, Pack and Plays, Gates and High Chairs all have their own category because we limit how many of these we accept.

    For other “large-ish” infant gear like swings, bouncers, exersaucers, activity mats, play yards, walkers etc. choose either Infant-Large Item or Infant Equipment. You might use the Furniture category for a nursery rocker or glider or a changing table or bassinet but it would be just fine to put any or all of those in Infant -Large Item as well.

    There is a toy category, Toy-Infant for all the lovies, rattles and soft toys. Toddler push toys can just go under the generic Toy.

    The remaining categories are: Blanket, Infant Carrier, Diaper Bag, Feeding /Utensils (bottles, sippy cups, bibs, toddler plates, breast pump accessories etc.-not the breast pumps though, we can’t take those.) and Diapering (diapers, potties, diaper genies training pants, absorbent pads etc.)

    Everything else goes in Infant-Misc. This is the place for crib sheets, Boppy pillows, Bumbo seats, new in the package pacifiers, shopping cart carriers, bathing items, baby monitors and all the other cool little infant care items that didn’t even exist when I had my kids! Use you best judgement.

    In the store you will place it with like items.

  • Games, Books, Puzzles, Video Games, DVDs and Arts & Crafts are each single categories that are available to you.

    Bikes and Sporting Goods are also pulled out separately.

    The generic “Toy” category will hold 90% of all the toys in the store! You could put them all in here!

    But, for tracking and planning purposes we ask that you use Toy-Infants for soft crib toys, Toy-Large for doll houses, kitchens, tool benches, easels and similar sized items that will be placed on the floor and not on tables and Toy-Outdoor for playhouses, slides, wagons, Cozy Coupes and other large plastic pieces.

    These sub categories assist in floor space planning. Thank You.

  • Bike is a separate category.

    All the other sports equipment should be tagged as Sporting Goods and hung together in one large section. This category holds, baseball gloves, sleeping bags, bike helmets, golf clubs, balance beams, swing set parts, and nearly anything else you can think of. If it’s sports related, put it here.

    Note: Musical instruments that aren’t toys can go in here too. Drumming is a sport, right?

  • If it has to do with a kid’s room, use the category: Decor-Children. Remember, we do not accept crib bedding sets.

    If it has nothing to do with kids then it will go in the Mommy’s Mart/Decor & More area. Use the categories: Kitchenware, Luggage, Pet Supplies, Women’s Handbag, Decor-General, Decor-Seasonal or Home-General for all your Mommy’s Mart items including tools, office supplies & party supplies.

  • Never, never, never bring glitter to the sale and never use this category! Ha! (I need a laughing emoji here!)

    If you see this category in your list and you are tempted to use it, please resist. (Seriously, it’s a special test category for staff use only!)

    However, if you’ve read this far I will reward you for that! Email me at sailagainlkn@gmail.com and I’ll send you a $5 off $40 coupon.