I think I’ve spoken in passing about Baby & Kids Markets in Australia. The ones in Canberra tend to be held bi-monthly at the Fitzroy Hall at Exhibition Park. For the curious, these markets sell mostly pre-loved baby and young children’s goods – anything from clothes, to prams, to toys, to books, to car seats, to electrical appliances, to cloth diapers…
Stalls are set up and hosted mostly by mothers who
- had once upon a time walked into their new 4-bedroom home with their husband Before Children, and thought, “Phwoar! This place is freakin’ HUGE!”…. only to discover that children – and their clothes and paraphernalia – can and will take up half your house, despite your best intentions
- have sworn off the whole pregnancy gig, having acquired their 2.4 children
- have finally managed to sort through and part with all the clothes, shoes, toys, appliances and furniture that their offspring accumulated in 3 short years
- envision their newfound space and giddily embarking on their My Home Looks Like Something Out Of Pinterest project, only to find that they…
- …might make a small sum of money, but will run out and buy new things for their children anyway. Return to Square One.
For the consumer, the markets can be a treasure trove – especially for first-time mothers, since newborn clothes hardly get worn, much less get worn out. The first time Tony and I went together to shop for Arddun, we ended up with this.
I haven’t been to one in about a year, mostly because we’re fairly self-sufficient now and the last one I went to didn’t have that much clothes for Arddun’s age. It can be a bit hit-and-miss. Still, the MIL and I took a trip down yesterday with a rough list of items in our heads of things to get for Boy Blob.
Naturally, I emerged an hour later completely sidetracked, with loot for Arddun instead.

What can I say. I love a bargain.
24 November 2014 at 4:14 am
Jealous! The one equivalent we have doesn’t seem to operate anymore. And even so, the prices were never $1 a piece…
24 November 2014 at 10:17 pm
I have to say that some stallholders have more demanding prices than others. You can always tell which mommas are still very attached to their children’s things, and which ones are in it to declutter their homes so price is secondary. I think there’s more of a culture here to recycle things… almost a bohemian Mommy pride here to find near-new goods for rock-bottom prices, in some circles! :-)