When it comes to her kids’ Halloween costumes, Devon Weaver has learned to take a laid-back approach.
“Costumes don’t have to be stressful,” said Weaver, a 45-year-old content creator who runs several blogs, including Mamacheaps.com, from her Hilltown, Bucks County home. “You can always repurpose things: Sports uniforms, dance costumes. It doesn’t have to be anything intricate.”
But a laid-back approach, she explained, is not the same as a last-minute one. To avoid an Oct. 30 trip to Spirit Halloween, where children’s costumes can cost as much as $90, it’s best to plan in advance, she said: Ask your children what they want for a costume, take inventory of what you already have, and scour discount stores for other components.
Planning ahead can save time and money — and help please picky kids. Those who manage local secondhand stores and events say early shoppers find the widest selection of gently-used kids’ costumes, which often cost less than $10.
And if you think mid-September is too early, you’re wrong.
Retail and secondhand stores have been selling costumes since the summer, with about half of U.S. consumers expected to shop for the holiday before October, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey. The Halloween shopping season has gotten earlier — in 2015, only 34% of shoppers said they planned to start before October.
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U.S. consumers are set to shell out $13.1 billion on holiday decor, greeting cards, costumes, and candy, up from $11.6 billion last year, the National Retail Federation (NRF) found in its survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The increase is due in part to the impact of tariffs on costumes and candy.
“For consumers looking to balance their budgets, strategies such as buying early to spread out purchases or shopping at discount stores are just some ways they are being mindful of costs,” Prosper executive vice president Phil Rist said.
How to score deals shopping secondhand
Local secondhand stores and events can be a cost-effective alternative to Amazon and other large retailers like Spirit Halloween and Target.
At Once Upon a Child in Deptford, children’s Halloween costumes sell for $8.86 on average, said owner Adam Samit.
“Most of our customers will buy about 10 items and spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,” Samit said. “It just can’t be beat.”
Between the Clements Bridge Road store and its warehouse, the store had a selection of about 1,000 costumes as of last week, down from a peak of about 1,870 in August, according to Samit.
While all items in store are technically used, Samit said many Halloween costumes are in excellent condition, and some even still have the tags on them.
Once Upon a Child also has locations in Exton, Huntingdon Valley, and Maple Shade. It’s a franchise of Winmark, as are the popular resale stores Plato’s Closet and Play It Again Sports.
Kids’ Halloween costumes, selling for between $3 and $15, were also a hit at an early-September Just Between Friends (JBF) sale in Upper Chichester, said Shannon McClure, co-owner of the JBF branches in the West Chester-Media and Wilmington-Newark regions. JBF regularly holds kids’ consignment events across the country, including on the Main Line and in Western Gloucester County.
McClure, a mother of four living in Media, said she started shopping at JBF sales when she was pregnant with her twin boys, who are now 8 years old. She said the events seem to have become more popular over the years.
“It has really grown, with inflation on the rise and just people trying to stretch their dollar,” McClure said.
Among parents, ‘it’s very cool to save’
Some parents keep costs down by reusing items they already have, or piecing a costume together with used and new components.
Last year, McClure said her family were characters from the movie Inside Out, which required buying only a few items. As of last week, they were still undecided on their costumes for this year.
In Bucks County, Weaver’s children are now 17 and 12, and plan their costumes mostly independently. But Weaver remembers the yearly task fondly, and passes along money-saving tips to friends and blog followers.
She recommends making a stop at Spirit Halloween, Target, or Walmart in the days after Halloween.
“You may not be able to predict what they want to be next year but you can certainly grab a pack of monster makeup or pet ears [or] wigs,” she said. “You can always stock up on things like that on huge discounts.”
Even Weaver, who has made a living helping others be more frugal, said she has caved and bought Halloween costumes at retail stores, like when her children had their hearts set on Disney Descendants costumes, that she couldn’t replicate at home.
But before going that route, she suggests asking friends and family, or parenting groups on Facebook. “Maybe the Paw Patrol costume that your kid has to have can be yours for free,” Weaver said.
Weaver said she’s grateful that making requests like this to save money has become commonplace.
When she was a kid, “it wasn’t as popular and was maybe even looked down upon,” Weaver said. “Now, I feel like it’s very cool to save. It’s almost like something you can brag about in the car line when you’re picking your kids up.”