We are a nation of stuff. We have stuff everywhere lining our apartments, our houses, and our closets. We have far more stuff then is practical or necessary to our lives which is why most of us at some point have piled said stuff into bags marked donate or Good Will and dropped them off or had them picked up and sent to these huge thrift stores. Rather than end your journey there, why not actually participate fully in the 3 R's: Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle by visiting and partaking in your local thrift store.
1. Finding a Location: Let's just be honest here: richer or more artsy neighborhoods tend to have THE best stuff at their closest thrift stores. Imagine rich women tossing out their designer gowns and labels after one use, or someone's heir apparent donating all the rest from their estate sale to the local thrift, or a local artisan getting rid of his pieces that didn't sell for the season. Their one time use or their creativity is your treasure. Also if you're road tripping it on vacation, visit the local’s thrift stores. You may need to come back with a U-Haul. If you'd like to easily locate shops near you, visit: www.thethriftshopper.com
2. Bring Some Cash: This is more practical than is necessary to do these days, but someone's credit/debit machine seems to always not be working, so a wad full of small bills is helpful in getting you through the line.
3. Come prepared to dig, but not through the rubble: Contrary to what you may imagine, thrift stores are very rarely messy. Most that I've been to have the clothes sectioned off like a department store in men’s, women’s, and children’s and in typical clothing categories, a lot of them employ color coding making it super easy to find that red shirt you're looking for, most do contain a section for "higher end" items, things even the thrift store knows are worth a bit more of your change, there are separate sections and shelving for furniture and household items, around the holidays they tend to have specific sections for those like items, and everything is easily marked. Some stores employ a simple pricing scheme, while some employ a color coded pricing, i.e. all yellow tags are x dollars.
4. Take your Time: Don't expect to rush in every single time and quickly find that gold etched mirror you've been looking for forever. Thrift shopping is all about the hunt and the hunt requires patience, dedication, and sometimes several trips to different shops to find what you're looking for. Go frequently and to a couple of the stores you know or will learn have prime inventory. Keep in mind, almost every day there is new inventory as people are constantly donating items, so didn't find it today, it might be there tomorrow. Also it’s a good idea to bring a few friends or family, because hunting in packs can help you find that mirror way before 80 year old Martha with a cane over there. The mirror is yours, darn it!
5. Use your Good Eye: as exciting as it may be that an item is 25 cents when in a regular store its $25, make sure you give it the complete once over. If its clothing, check to make sure all the seams are intact, zippers and buttons work, check for any stains (don't assume they'll come out in the wash, some do, many don't), check the pockets, check any designs, look for fading, or pilling, rips, or tears, and check the size especially with vintage clothing where the sizing is much different then we have now. Yes, many thrift stores offer dressing rooms so you can try on clothing. For all other items make sure they are in good condition and that they work. This tip is important because you can't return whatever you buy. Sure you can re-donate it, but returns aren't actual things at most if not all thrift stores.
6. One man's trash might still be trash that you can make into a treasure: Polish, glue, glitter, paint, staining, re-upholstering, decoupage, aging, sewing, patching...all these things are within your power once you find an item you think may be worthy of some TLC. And it’s not just for you. Many people search thrift stores for items they want to put their own creative spin on, and even go on to re-sell them or gift them because they went from looking like they were worth a dollar, to looking like $100 or brand new again with some or a lot of elbow grease.
7. Even here, there are deals You may think that it’s a thrift store, how could they even have sales, but trust me, they do, and they are fantastic!!! One of my favorites has half off Wednesdays whereby literally everything in the store is half off the entire day. Tell me what retail shop has ever offered that kind of deal? And believe you me, the store is packed on that day like its Black Friday. Check near the front of the store, or on hanging signs, or with the staff as to when they offer sweeter deals or deal days. Also believe it or not, you can go online and hunt for items there or find coupons for certain stores that further give you discounts.
8. Know your Labels: Some clueless people throw away practically priceless items because they either don't know the value of them or they were sold off or given away and eventually ended up in a thrift store. It won't happen every day or maybe never, but if you know what to look for, you just might come out of a thrift store far richer then you went in.
9. Moving, Entertaining, Decorating your Dorm, Upgrading a Space, Having a Vintage Wedding? Your first stop should be a thrift store especially if you are of the broke college kid variety or you know, just broke. Odds are no one is going to expect you to have anything above Ikea grade furniture just starting out, but you might be able to thrift your way into some faaaaar cheaper and way more interesting stuff for your first digs that are of actual high quality, than just the same boring cheap stuff everyone else has. You can find tons of household items everyone needs for pennies especially when it comes to dishes, plates, and glasses. Thrifting is great for your wedding, especially a vintage one. Find all the old timey decor your looking for, for nearly 1/4 the price of the rental costs at vintage wedding rental places. If sewing is your thing, you can take a vintage dress and make it your own or find some mismatched suits and dresses for the bridal party. Instead of renting 100 plates for $150, add to that cutlery, glasses, and napkins, source your local thrift stores where these items could easily only run you a 1/3 of the rental price (no need to worry about the insurance if your cousin breaks one), especially if you shop on deal days and then when the wedding is over, sell the items on eBay for double the price. If you see items in high end magazines that you know you could never afford, look for similar items at a thrift store that you can then turn them into similar items for a creative, but totally cheap on the wallet, look. Entertaining is a breeze, when you can find tons of platters, serving trays, serving utensils, and holiday themed decorations that won't empty your wallet. More money to then spend on food!
10. WARNING: Don't become the cat lady So we've talked a lot about thrifting and the wonders of this cheap and grand wonderland, but you have to know when to dial it back a bit. You don't need 14 wooden chairs you'll never spend time sanding or aging for your tiny studio apartment, nor do you have the space for that giant mounted faux moose head. Deals can become addictive, as can any form of shopping, but you also need to know that you must continue the cycle and help out the environment by continuing to donate and recycle what you don't need and bargain hunt for what you actually do.
Happy Hunting!
What Girls & Guys Said
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1Opinion
Nice take. I like finding good deals when going out shopping.
Thank you for the upvote.
I love thrift stores!