1. Know what you're looking for. In many larger stores, there are huge sections of jeans, pants, shirts, sweaters, etc. and if you don't know where you're going, you can waste hours wandering aimlessly with a semi-dazed look on your face.
2. Skim for color and texture. Often similar colors are grouped together, but you will shop much faster by browsing each aisle and scanning for the shade you're after. Grab part of any item that catches your eye and feel its texture. (All this can be done as you're walking!) If it passes your inspection, check the size and pull it from the rack.
3.
4. Many thrift stores offer discounted prices on certain days. Find out when these days are!! Goodwills across the country sell almost everything in the store at 50% off the last weekend of each month. Other stores offer 25% off every Monday. Others offer a percentage off certain colored tags on various days. Why pay full price on Monday when you can wait till Friday and pay half?
5. Do not take your kids with you!!!!!!!These stores can be like a maze - which equals great fun for your munchkins and a heart attack for you.
6. Take a Claritin before you go. The price I pay for this kind of shopping is not being able to breathe for the rest of the day. Many of these clothes have probably been sitting in an attic for several weeks or months and can be dusty.
7. Be picky; be very, very picky.There are lots of clothes, and lots of good name brands to choose from. Don't settle for something you don't absolutely love. Some of my favorite outfits have been thrift store purchases; other times, I've thought, "It's only $1.50 - what the heck, I'll buy it," and the item sits in my drawer or closet until one of the kids pulls it out and tries to flush it down the toilet. Be sure to check every item for stains, holes, snags, etc. These clothes are non-returnable.
There are few things as rewarding as coming home with 2 giant bags full of clothing for less than $50. The only thing better than thrifting is garage saling! (more on that later)
If you are an experienced thrift store shopper and have any other good tips, let me know. If you'd like recommendations of specific stores and their locations, I'd be happy to provide them.
15 comments:
you forgot to mention:
inform your husband that he has never encounted the smell of fermented urine like he is about to encounter at the "slightly seedy" thrift store you are dragging him into...
that way he has a chance to be prepared. i could have used that one last gasp of clean air before we walked through the front door!
OK, that ONE store smelled pretty foul, but most of them aren't so bad!! If you complain any more, I'm going to go on a shopping spree at Sak's.
Didja know? The Salvation Army store near Dayton mall is the largest Thrift Store in Ohio
The Goodwill at Centerville keeps raising the prices on the good brand name stuff. True story: I saw a shirt that I liked at the Goodwill, but didn't get it. Later that day I saw the exact same shirt on the clearance rack at Elder-Beerman for LESS. I bought it. Now that's shopping!
I have loved thrift stores since my days at a Christian high school with a strict dress code when I would "stick it to The Man" by going to Goodwill and buying 70's clothes, dung-brown polyester pants and logo-ed work polos and v-necks that were all technically in dress code but still hideous most of the time. Then it turned out that I actually liked those clothes, and could find pretty cool stuff, and I have been a committed thrift and vintage store shopped ever since.
And besides, what self-respecting writer would be caught dead in The Gap?
what ever happened to the shake s going thrifting. i know we had once been planning on it...
Revpharoah -
Thanks for the heads-up on the Salvation Army. I haven't been to that one yet, but I feel a trip to Dayton coming on! I too have been very disappointed with Goodwill -- except on half price weekends you can find pretty nice kids' shoes for $1.
David -
I always wondered where you got all those hideous clothes! *smile* I have a question, though: what if I buy Gap clothing from a thrift store? Will I be able to call myself a writer?
Katie -
After watching you & Cory in Kmart last summer, I was too scared to take you anywhere! Maybe if you come back sometime in the summer we can plan a trip.
I personally enjoy browsing through the record collection to see how many Seals and Crofts albums I can find.
Charity - can you buy Gap clothes at a thrift store and still call yourself a writer? That's between you and your God. I can't answer that for you.
To share a quote from Knute Larson, my mentor and spiritual giant:
"I think shopping is what they do in hell."
To share another quote from the acclaimed writer and spiritual architect, Rob Bell:
"The goat has left the building."
i can't tell you how many times i've said to someone "ooo, i love that sweater/jacket/bag/fill-in-the-blank; where did you find it?!" and furthermore, i can't convey to you my disappointment and confusion when the brag about how they found it at goodwill for seventy-eight cents. meanwhile, i sit in my gap ensemble, wondering where all my money went, and trying to hide the tags from david at the same time....i have NEVER had luck at thrift stores. i found this post helpful; maybe next time i'm home you can point me in the direction of the better non-urine smelling thrift stores. that, or you can come to winona, and we'll both catch the train to chicago and hit up sak's!!! that sounds better to me :) :)
Charity, just *found* your blog. Loved this post! You have to go to the Last Chance Goodwill in Dayton. David knows where it's at. It's off I-75, the 2nd Stanley Road exit. Follow the exit, turn right at the bottom,since you're not driving in the Dominican you will have to stop at the red light, go over the bridge, turn left, first drive in the back.
If it hasn't sold in any area Goodwill's, it gets taken there. Clothing is by the pound, books and records are cheap, furniture, lamps, cookware, etc.
Wear gloves, take your anti-bacterial handcleaner, leave the kids at home, and don't reach blindly to the bottom of any of the bins (broken glass abounds) If you find part of something you want in one bin, keep checking the rest of them, because chances are it got separated. I've purchased Stephan and Samuel (grandsons extra-ordinaire)tons of Legos cheap! Shoes can be interesting...again check all the bins for the mate! And leave lots of time...I've gone in for 1/2 an hour and was shocked to discover upon leaving that 2 hours had gone by.
Boy do I miss a good resale, thrift store for shopping. Almost as much as Walmart and Barnes and Noble!
Oh, and feel free to visit my blog --Chin y Chon
Anna - any bargain i can find on kids toys is a good thing; thanks!!
Gary - To quote my Russian professor, Darek: "K Chortu!"
Forgot to mention that the Last Chance GW in Dayton, has 1/2 off whenever the one in Greenville has their 1/2 off weekend.
Quoth the Raven: nevermore.
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