qbquilts

Any parents/grandparents out there who like to save money by shopping at Goodwill and garage sales?

Have you ever found the perfect game or toy but it's missing the directions or one small piece?

Did you know that you can usually contact the manufacturer and order the directions? The directions can often be sent by email for free (a small charge may apply for snail mail). I just did this for a Thomas's Tracks and Trestles game made by Briarpatch. The customer service lady email them to me in just a few minutes. If you need to do this, look up the customer service # on the box or on the manufacturer's website. Give them a call and let them know the game whose directions you are missing. If they have them available, they can usually send you an email with them :-).

In the past I've also ordered additional balls to go with various Playskool toys. You can do this with other brands too. There's usually a small (but reasonable) charge for both the replacement and shipping - in my experience, we had the best pricing when ordering Playskool parts. To order replacement parts, look for the customer service section of the manufacturer's website. There should be a link for replacement parts. You'll have to know the name of the toy. Not all toys have replacement parts that can be ordered. Also, if your toy has been retired, you but you need extra parts (like the balls for example), you can often order off the current version of the toy.

My example: purchased Busy Ball Choo-Choo at a garage sale for 25¢. It came with 1 ball, but should have had 4 or 5. A pack of 5 balls was $4.00. So for $4.25 I had a great toy that my nephews loved :-). Bonus: the balls were compatible with the Busy Ball Popper, so we had plenty of extra balls for both toys. Another example: we purchased the laugh 'n' learn home for $6.00 from Goodwill. The current version is $90 on Fisher-Price's website. Replacement balls/mail cost $5.00 (I think we did have shipping on it). So we got this great toy for about 15% of the original suggested price :-).

So don't despair if you can find a toy/game at a great price that's missing a small piece or the instructions. You can often get replacements at a reasonable (or free!) price and have a great game/toy for less than 50% or even 25% of the total cost.

Stitchnripper

You have provided some really helpful info! I have passed up games and such at a garage sales and now know I don't have to. Thanks.

NikkiLu

Yes, I bought my DD a Barbie gazebo or something like that at a garage sale and we could not figure out how to put it together, so I called Mattel and they sent me the directions - no charge. This was a few years ago though.