OCOEE, Fla — It’s no secret parents often shell out big bucks for back-to-school shopping. For many parents this year, clothing is taking the biggest bite out of that back-to-school budget.
Experts say that has a lot to do with how education is changing. With more work being done on computers the need for traditional supplies has gone down. That’s especially true for older students, but students will always need clothes. So, kids and parents are trying to figure out ways to save money even while clothing prices are up about 4% percent over last year.
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High school student Laeo Peters said, “Every year it’s like a little bit more and I’m not necessarily getting more clothes. It’s just the prices going up.”
She knows with back-to-school shopping in full force, it’s one of the biggest expenses parents and students will face.
Showing Action 9 her clothing haul from Plato’s Closet in Ocoee, she said “First we have this shirt and I got this shirt. There’s a lot of really good brands here.”
That’s why she likes Plato’s Closet, a store that buys used clothing, shoes and accessories and then resells them for a fraction of the price you might pay brand new.
“We try to get the name-brand styles that people are looking for when they are doing their school clothes shopping, said Sam Finley, the manager of Plato’s Closet in Ocoee.
Finley has seen the popularity of the secondhand store rise in the 15 years since she’s worked there especially with word spreading on social media and the retail price of clothing rising.
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This year, website RetailMeNot’s back-to-school shopping study found clothes a top priority for back-to school shoppers with students needing fewer traditional supplies as more work goes online.
Stephanie Carls with RetailMeNot said, “It wasn’t necessarily the supplies that were going to be some of the most expensive items. It was going be those clothes.”
Carls suggests comparison price clothes at different retailers, look for online deals and coupons and even stack discount codes that are posted on websites like hers.
“Whenever you take a look at stacking those different savings, there might be those promo codes or those cash back offers that then change that final total,” she said.
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Before you shop, look in your closet to see what you already have, so you don’t double-up. Consider only buying what you need for the beginning of the year. In Florida you probably don’t need a warm jacket in August. Plan to look for better discounts throughout the year, like Black Friday or post-holiday clearance sales. Also, don’t necessarily grab the first thing you see right up front in the stores. Check the clearance racks and racks on the edges of the stores where sometimes the best deals may be hiding. Those steps might give you the chance to stretch your wallet and get the fashions you want, like Laeo Peters did.
“Because I can get all of this and I guarantee it would be just as much as going to a name brand store and only getting four or five things,” Peters said as she showed Action 9 a pile of clothes, she bought secondhand.
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