Gymbo Mumbo Jumbo--Part 1

By popular demand, I have agreed to start divulging top-secret secrets regarding buying Gymboree on the cheap. Please note that this is classified information. If you see me in a Gymboree store, please do not approach me. If asked, I never knew you.

But seriously ... here are a few ground rules:

1. Never pay full price for Gymboree. Ever. Well, I guess you could pay full price if you really wanted to ... but really there is no reason to--unless, by some bizarre sequence of events, your daughter is asked to be a flower girl in a wedding and the bride has chosen a dress from Gymboree--and she just asked your DD to be the flower girl less than 24 hours before the ceremony, thus leaving you no time to at least scrounge up a coupon. That might be called an extreme circumstance and a full-price purchase could possibly be understood. But these should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

2. Join GymboFriends.com. This is a message board dedicated to Gymboree clothing. Yes, there are such things. But it's also so much more. There are forums about other things also--as well as a buy/sell/trade section, where members can--you guessed it--buy, sell and trade items (mostly Gymboree clothing, but it is not limited to just Gymbo). It does not cost a thing to be a member or to buy--but if you want to sell or trade, then you have to purchase a subscription, which is only $1.99 a month. Well worth it, IMO. As a buyer (again, it's free to buy), you can get some amazing deals. Amazing, I said. Even if you are not interested in the B/S/T section, it is definitely worth it to sign up on the site. Some of the members are Gymboree experts--they post announcements/reminders well in advance of the next sale, and they post the new line photos days before a new line makes an appearance in the store or on the Gymboree Web site. I have learned A LOT about how to get the biggest bang for my Gymbo buck on this site.

There is so much to cover regarding how to get great deals at Gymboree, and I don't think I can do it all in one post. So I think this will be a series of posts over the next several days or weeks. I'll try to cover the major sales, coupons, Gymbucks, and resale as well as any other related topics that may come up. Happy Shopping!