Welcome to shopping tips! The Boy's Store staff feels that it is important to share some of their "inside" information with you, so that you can make educated decisions before you purchase your items. Because we are not able to speak with you directly, we've created areas on our website that "speak" to you as if you were in our store. We will be updating our topics as new information reaches us, so we invite you to check back often. As always, we would enjoy your input or questions at any time, so feel free to contact us.

Pricing:
Here at the Boy’s Store, we are dedicated to bringing you the highest quality clothing and accessories the market has to offer at cost-effective prices. Many of you may not be familiar with some of the features of pricing and how that translates from manufacturer to a retail environment, so we would like to share our pricing philosophy with you.

As is the case with almost all retail goods, there are several points of increase along the way, and the end-price for you (our customers) is carefully considered. When the Boy’s Store purchases its garments, we are looking for features that warrant the prices being asked and, when they are fair exchanges (style, quality, wearability and durability), we feel we can have them in our store. Factors that can directly affect the wholesale prices include origin of product, volume of manufacturer output, and fabric/finishing work. Because we are not a big retailer, like a department store or large chain, we are bound by our vendors to sell their merchandise at a fixed minimum. Many boutiques and retailers add to this turnkey minimum, but we do not. We keep in mind that many families are on budgets—but that doesn't mean it has to be impossible to find special, fun clothing at fair prices. Therefore, our only way to deliver discounts is to create special customer offerings like "Tell a Friend." Special offerings like this enable everyone to get a discount without having to wait for things to go on sale. We invite you to request a discount code, which is good for 90 days and renewable, to be able to take full advantage of the 10% discount.

Origin of Product:
Many designers today have to go overseas to create a product that has competitive pricing. The standard places to manufacture are India, Pakistan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Some products at the Boy’s Store will also be made in the United State and Europe. However, many times this translates into higher pricing, but many domestic and European manufacturers can create a product that is cost effective. Even with a slightly higher price margin, these products tend to be extremely well made and are important to carry in our store. We will usually stress this in our vendor profile and you can always check your label if you are curious. The other manufacturing countries (India, Korea etc.) can usually offer designers very low prices for production and that often transfers beneficially to you. However, mass produced goods can have a wide range of qualities and it’s up to the buyer to feel and investigate to make sure garments that look fun and stylish are high quality and will stand up to washing and wearing without falling apart or fading. It is definitely a ‘buyer beware’ situation. At the Boy’s Store, we want to alleviate the ‘buyer beware’ risk as much as possible, that’s why we tug and pull and inspect each piece before we buy it. We also count on a line’s reputation to make sure they are representing and standing behind their product with honesty. So, at the Boy’s Store, you will find a variety of ‘country of origins’ on the labels. We do not discriminate by country, but rather by quality and durability of goods and how it translates into pricing. Your feed back about your purchases is important as we grow our company. We encourage you to send us your complaint or compliment at anytime.

Washing and Care:
Most of us want our purchases to last, so it is important to take a second to care for our garments. Most of the products at the Boy’s Store are 100% cotton and pre-shrunk, so they should not change their shape or be become scratchy and rough. However, we would like you to take a moment to always read the care instructions inside the garment and proceed accordingly. Extra wash/care tips come to us all the time, kind of like grandma’s advise, and when we can, we will pass these along to you. One that’s from one of our manufacturers is that shirts with any detailing not woven into the shirt, like heat transfers or sewn patches etc. will last longer when you turn them inside out before throwing them into the washer or sink. The reason is that they will ‘rub’ on the other clothing during the wash process if they are not turned inside out and over time, the colors and details will ‘rub’ off. So, if you want more life out of your dinosaur, turn him inside out and read his care instructions before treatment.

Sizing:
At the Boy's Store, we carry sizes 6 months to Junior 18. Many people who are buying clothes for a friend or relative have asked us how to size a child. Well it is fair to say that standard sizing in the US uses the child’s age as an indicator. This translates as follows: an 11 month old baby, if that child is average, would wear (at the time of purchase) a 'size' 12 month. If the child is an average toddler, say 2 years old, he would wear a 2T. A four year old could wear a 4T or you could buy a size 4 if the label offers it. Standard US sizing runs in the following groups: 06month, 12month, 18month and 24month, then, 2T, 3T, 4T, then 4,5,6,7,8,10, then usually 10/12, 12/14, 14/16 and 18/20 (these last four sizes in juniors also translate into small, medium and large, extra large). Sizing charts will appear as needed when a vendor's sizing falls outside of standard, or when we feel their product tags warrants extra help. The Boy's Store carries sizes 6 months to size 18, with the majority of our items in the 2T to size 10 range. Unfortunately, the market for boys clothing can be limited when it comes to sizing past Junior 10, only a scarce few reach higher. Many department stores create their own labels to fill this gap. However, there are a few excellent labels available, such as Wes and Willy, that reach past size 10 and whenever possible we will carry them. We are always on the look out for brands that fit this group, so if you have a favorite, please let us know. The Boy's Store is dedicated to bringing you a wide selection of sizes for the variety of boys out there. Our goal is to have something for each of them.

Thank you for taking a moment to read Shopping Tips, we hope that the above information can prove useful to you here at the Boy’s Store and elsewhere as you shop. We encourage you to write to us with questions and we will do our best to answer them. As we stressed above, we miss the dialogue that can occur during shopping visits to ‘brick and mortar’ stores, so for now, we will create ways to communicate with you, our customer, throughout our website.