Saturday, November 05, 2011

How to Get Free GYMBOREE Clothes for your Kids

I just placed an order on Gymboree.com.  My credit card will be charged only $3.50, which includes tax and shipping.  Only $3.50 for $128.80 worth of clothing.  If you are even moderately clever, you can easily pay $0.00.

gmail screenshot of order confirmation
What the what!?!?!?


Immediately upon sharing this glorious news on facebook, friends wanted to know how I did it.  How I do it, because yes, I do this sort of thing all the time.

First, if you look at the regular retail prices of Gymboree kids clothes, you might cry a little.  I know, they're expensive.  But truly, the quality is excellent.  Especially their denim and their holiday dresses.  If you plan to hand down your clothes from older sister to younger sister to younger cousin, a $10 Gymboree shirt will cost you less than a $10 Merona shirt in the end.

"But there aren't any $10 Gymboree shirts!  And you promised I'd be getting stuff for free, anyway!"

Be patient! Geeeeeeeez.

You'll need three things to play this game:
1) a Gymboree Visa card
2) a Gymboree Rewards card and
3) A healthy sense of discipline.

Use your Gymboree Visa to make all your regular purchases.  Groceries.  The electric bill.  Gas for your car. The bedding for your chickens.  AND PAY OFF THE BALANCE EVERY MONTH.  I cannot stress this enough.  If you carry a balance on this card and are paying interest, the chances that your savings on clothing will be worth it is VERY slim.

I am not suggesting you go into debt to get free Gymboree clothes.  In fact, I am prohibiting it.  If you can't handle the special temptations of a credit card, stop reading this post immediately.

So after you've been buying all your regular stuff using your card, you will open your mailbox to find a snazzy Gymboree gift card.  Every time you reach $10 worth of 'points', they automatically send you a card.  When we were fixing up our house, I once got a $50 gift card in the mail.....for just 1 month of purchases!

The Rewards card will result in you being mailed and emailed exclusive coupons for 20% and 30% off your shopping trip, which includes their website and which can, and this is crucial, be used on clearance merchandise.


30% off of a clearance price is a pretty sweet discount, folks!

So today I received an email with the coupon code REWARDSCOF good for 30% off of my Gymboree purchase through Tuesday.  I checked my wallet and found that I had accumulated just over $50 in gift cards.  Time for some Christmas shopping!

I NEVER look at the full-priced merchandise.  I go straight for the sale sections.  I sort by size and type of clothing and load up my cart without worrying at all about the total yet.

Then I open my "shopping bag" and weed through everything I've set aside.  I figure out how much the total should be in order for my gift cards to cover my entire purchase.  In today's case, I was looking for a total of just under $70.  When my cart total hit $68.96, I decided I was golden.

I put in my promo code, entered in my 4 gift card numbers, and voila: order total: $3.50.

Here's what makes doing this with Gymboree great:
-Excellent quality merchandise
-Points are accrued rapidly
-Gift cards can be used on any purchase
-Discounts apply to clearance and sale merchandise
-Multiple gift cards can be applied to a single order
-Shipping is always just $5

Many "budget friendly" stores (ahem- JC Penney) seem affordable, but then they pull stuff like "coupons can only be used on full priced items" and "shipping for this order is $17.95" and "You can't use free shipping and a discount on the same order" and in the end, you end up paying just as much as you would have at a store with better stuff.  In your face JC Penney.

Sometimes I even have Gymbucks to spend, which adds a whole new dimension of savings, but that's another matter for another time.  For today, this is how I did it and how you can do it too.

Someday, remind me to tell me about the time I paid negative $2 for a brand new Land's End winter coat for Tommy.  That was an awesome day....

Happy bargain hunting!
post signature

36 comments :

  1. I do NOT have #3, and while I kept on reading, well, I just know my limits. I guess the good thing is that I know that I cannot be trusted with a credit card (or chocolate!), and I stay the heck away from them! I am EXTREMELY impressed by your wherewithal AND your ability to cash in on it, though! Also, very jealous.... ;-)

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  2. Good job, Mama!
    I got a slew of Gymboree clothes for my then-toddler the old fashioned way: $2 for a bag of gently used Gymboree clothes at a yard sale. SCORE!

    You are right. These clothes last almost forever.

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  3. They DO! I am not a name brand person in general, but I TOTALLY see the value in them. They seem to come clean better than the cheap stuff, too. It's incredible!

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  4. My son and his roomies kept receiving an LL Bean package via UPS. They kept telling UPS none of them had ordered from LL, but the package kept being returned to them. After a YEAR of trying to not keep it, they opted to and are donated two down coats and two hats to a shelter--well they will once one of them leaves Louisiana and returns to the great white north. Your way sounds like it takes more thought and less "luck," but good for you nonetheless. Good thing I have no little ones to buy for, I was caught up in your fervor for a moment though!

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  5. I'm very impressed! I get my gymboree second hand and the stuff is very nice. I think the card idea is brilliant but requires good discipline. BRAVO!

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  6. My mom taught me to always pay off my balances on my credit card, to never buy anything that I can't actually pay for, and because if this credit cards have given my husband and I so many bonuses - we put almost everything on an airline credit card and we've gotten several free plane flights to visit family. We also get 5% cash back on another credit card (and we use that credit card only for gas).

    So glad you were able to save so much - amazing! I always love a good deal.

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  7. The way you rocked that sale! Love!

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  8. Wow. I'm the worst shopper ever. That's impressive, Dwija.

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  9. Wow! you're a wizard! (cough burn her cough) Do we get to see pictures of what you bought :)?

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  10. I swear we're related. Really. I thought I was the only freak in the world who gave so much thought to my Gymboree purchases.
    In Boston, the Janie & Jack store has a annual sale where racks of clothes are so deeply discounted it's ridonculous. Gwen had quite the wardrobe and, as a result, Kate does too. Darn, I love a bargain!!

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  11. Awe. Some. We shop at Gymboree a lot, but we don't have the visa, or rewards...why is this?

    I feel like a dunce! Thanks for the tips!

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  12. This is great. I just forwarded it to some fellow Gymboree lovers. We have been using a credit card similarly for books and get them totally free. I love reward points!

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  13. I'm with Mary Kate. I just don't have the discipline for a credit card (don't have any). But I still enjoyed reading your post.

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  14. WOW!!! That is awesome, Dweej!! You should try extreme couponing next. FOR REAL!

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  15. Wow I think I might do this!!! My sister works at a bank and she told me about a disney rewards card which I was also thinking about. Hmmm... Thanks for sharing the wealth!!

    Jamie
    For Love of Cupcakes

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  16. Seriously. When are you going to get your own show?!

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  17. You had me at "Free"! And BTW, I think I remember the -$2 Land's End Jacket from FB. You rock!

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  18. Wow, that's very impressive. I think I'm gonna have to try this. And I expect the other post sooner than later about the jacket for Tommy.

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  19. Thanks Dweej! I just signed up for the rewards card.

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  20. Here is a tip that I didn't know until I was 45 -- if a department store offers a credit card that gives you a percentage off your total purchase when you use it, but you don't want to be in debt even for long enough to the bill to come in the mail... Charge the purchase and then go to the payment desk and pay the bill for what you just charged. A clerk at a department store told me that and said people do it all the time. I am petite, and I find it hard to find clothes that fit. I do this at an expensive department store that sells good quality clothes that fit me -- I go in when they have a "use your credit card and get XX% off" sale, look through the clearance racks, and get great clothes for very little. And no bill weeks later!

    Congratulations Dweej!!!!! Gail Finke

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  21. A girl after my own heart. You are definitely my type of shopper! And I agree about Gymboree's quality...excellent!

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  22. that takes a lot of work to do. discipline is the keyword to that successful story. keep it up when you still got it!

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  23. Hey, you have a great blog here! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!

    kids clothes suppliers

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  24. Hi there may I use some of the information here in this post if I provide a link back to your site?

    kids clothing manufacturers

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  25. I am officially head over heels in love with you ---- I liked you a lot before, but now? Another Gymbo addicted bargain hunter lovin' momma? SQUEAL!!

    I love it.

    Sadly, I can't get a Gymboree VISA. Something about crappy credit.

    I hit the stores for my best deals. If you go in and make nicey nice with the salesladies, they get to know you, and will pull stuff out of the back. If they are not busy, they will go back in the back and pull out sizes for me. WOOT! I buy at the end of season, for next year. I've even schooled my best friend on how to shop there -- she will stop in and buy things, then I write her a check.

    You forgot Gymbucks!!
    Like right now, Circle of Friends, 30% off. Use a coupon found in Parents magazine, another 20% off. If I had a stinking VISA it would be another 5% off, I think. (right?) I spent $150, got $75 in Gymbucks to use later this summer. (to clothe baby 5.0) Dude, I got pajamas for $4.50. I love their PJs!

    And ...... I sell my outgrown stuff at the seasonal children's consignment sales. The quality is wonderful, and I get most of my money back.

    I know that shopping in the store is a little hairy with all the children, but for me, it's so worth it. I only do it when there's a sale that I can stack a coupon on top of. My husband has learned how much I'm saving us, and always says, "Thank you" to me, as he's carrying out my bag o' deals. Love it!

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  26. This is such a great idea and I'm totally going to try it! I love Gymboree too, but my one eensy teensy beef with them is that their knitted stuff (like girls' dresses) shrinks after a couple washes. However, I do wash in warm water and put them in the dryer -- maybe if I used lower heat settings they would stay true to size.
    My mom will usually send us a big box of stuff she got on sale once or twice a year -- it's great! So far my son's jeans from Gymboree are the only ones that don't have holes in the knees yet. :)

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  27. Its really impressive idea to get kids cloths :) I never thought to have such kind idea before but now it could be try once at least!

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  28. Boy, these are great diapers! Plus, they are double the size of the regular packs of diapers (exactly) and it just makes it easier to have one this size and fill up your diaper stacker than it is to have a zillion of the smaller packs. I love having enough diapers for a week and since these are size 1, you go through them like candy!
    honest diaper reviews

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  29. With all do respect... it's silly to pay shipping at Gymboree. All you need to do is buy over $75 and then it's free. Also, you can avoid paying shipping in all the department stores simply by buying for amount that qualify you for free shipping (Macy's - $99, JCP - $75 etc). You buy extra items you don't really need and get free shipping. Then on your next trip to the mall you simply return the extra items for full refund - voila! Also... a credit card like Gymboree's Visa that gives you 1% off all your purchases (not just at Gymboree) is not that special. There are many other credit cards that give you better return for you shopping, it just won't get back to you in a shape of a Gymboree gift card, rather cash directly to your account which in return is the same as having that gift card, or even better, cause you can spend it anywhere and not just Gymboree.

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  30. I prefer to shop online for my kids. I find it way more cheap and in times I can catch very good promotions and some online sales go to -50% -70% if you are at the right site at the right time. I came across this great site the other day kakao-kindermode.com/de/, I got it recommended by a friend of mine, it has very nice clothes for kids, planning to check it out myself soon.

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  31. I just got my Gymboree Visa in the mail, I so plan on doing this! I'm very curious to know which shopping method gets you more bang-for-your-buck: online or in-store? I get a lot of downtime at work so I check online pretty much daily, but I also have a few store semi-close to me along with a Gymboree Outlet. I want to make a big purchase during their next big sale & want to know which place I should 'attack', lol
    Also, I've heard that Gymboree Outlet might a lil less quality compared to gymboree store???

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