Badass Thrift Store Shopping

[Dicey]

Amen, sister! There's also the idea that you are letting things go so others can benefit from them while they're still useful. Not the same as being wasteful at all.

[oneday]

The tip that had me nodding vigorously was that she said always look up the retail prices of the items you're considering, because thrift stores aren't always the bargain you think they are. YES. This is actually why I mostly don't thrift anymore, and why I basically am boycotting Goodwill.

+1 Goodwill's prices are whack.

The fact is that "crap" and clothes of the sort you find at thrift stores is just dirt cheap nowadays to buy new. The quality is typically pretty poor, so thrifting is often not really a great deal, because by the time most items wind up there, their lifespan of usefulness is effectively over...Ross or TJMaxx--thrift shop quality for ridiculously high prices

I am *very* picky in thrift stores & get excited more for vintage things that have stood the test of time, or have languished in someone's back cupboard for a few decades (so, very little wear) before being passed to the thrift shop.

[glacio09]

I'm having this sort of existential discussion with my husband. We have a very small house, receive a weird amount of free promotional stuff, and either buy as cheap as we can or as high quality. It means that when we clean house, most of the stuff is either shit things that weren't even worth the storage space or have been used until it's falling apart. My husband's knee jerk reaction is to "donate" everything when I say that we're just giving trash for the workers to have to throw out. The last disagreement was over reusable grocery bags. We have about 10 good quality ones, so I wanted to throw out the 6 that are absolute crap. He wanted to donate them. No. They were a waste of resources when they were made. We do not need to waste more resources by adding extra steps before they go to the landfill.

[Dicey]

I'm having this sort of existential discussion with my husband. We have a very small house, receive a weird amount of free promotional stuff, and either buy as cheap as we can or as high quality. It means that when we clean house, most of the stuff is either shit things that weren't even worth the storage space or have been used until it's falling apart. My husband's knee jerk reaction is to "donate" everything when I say that we're just giving trash for the workers to have to throw out. The last disagreement was over reusable grocery bags. We have about 10 good quality ones, so I wanted to throw out the 6 that are absolute crap. He wanted to donate them. No. They were a waste of resources when they were made. We do not need to waste more resources by adding extra steps before they go to the landfill.

I'm in charge of supplies at the thrift shop where I volunteer. We actually re-use those re-useable bags. Sometimes it's just to hold plastic bags until I have time to process them, others we give to customers buying heavy items. As long as they're reasonably clean and the handles are functional, they will get re-used.

Related rant: Safeway, and other stores, use "virtuous" plastic bags that say they can be used 125 times. I wonder what research that blatant "feel good" lie is based on?

[Cranky]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

[Dicey]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

[Cranky]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

Yes, she’s great!

It’s interesting to see what people buy at the bins - a lot of people are obviously resellers who go frequently and are only looking for vintage tees or toys is shoes. I’m usually looking for stuff to turn into other stuff, so nice fabric.

But dh and I both wear winter coats that I bought at the bins annual $1 coat sale.

[couponvan]

Macy’s has their Last Act buy 3 or more get 25% off sale through Sunday at my Macys. It’s not a thrift, but I got $13.00 retail price Maidenform underwear for $1.32 per pair anfter discounts and replenished my underwear stash minus one pair I will need to buy on sale later because I need at least one pair of a specific color. I also got 6 xmas cruise matching shirts for the men in the family for $14 each-original price $85. Underwear I don’t thrift. 😬

[Dicey]

Macy’s has their Last Act buy 3 or more get 25% off sale through Sunday at my Macys. It’s not a thrift, but I got $13.00 retail price Maidenform underwear for $1.32 per pair anfter discounts and replenished my underwear stash minus one pair I will need to buy on sale later because I need at least one pair of a specific color. I also got 6 xmas cruise matching shirts for the men in the family for $14 each-original price $85. Underwear I don’t thrift. 😬

Definitely badass!

[Warlord1986]

Macy’s has their Last Act buy 3 or more get 25% off sale through Sunday at my Macys. It’s not a thrift, but I got $13.00 retail price Maidenform underwear for $1.32 per pair anfter discounts and replenished my underwear stash minus one pair I will need to buy on sale later because I need at least one pair of a specific color. I also got 6 xmas cruise matching shirts for the men in the family for $14 each-original price $85. Underwear I don’t thrift. 😬

Underwear and swim suits. If it touches the genitals it needs to be new.

[iris lily]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

Yes, she’s great!

It’s interesting to see what people buy at the bins - a lot of people are obviously resellers who go frequently and are only looking for vintage tees or toys is shoes. I’m usually looking for stuff to turn into other stuff, so nice fabric.

But dh and I both wear winter coats that I bought at the bins annual $1 coat sale.

I got the most gorgeous vintage velvet coat in perfect condition at the Goodwill
Final Call bin store some years ago. Crazy. I like it so much it even moved with me to our new place and believe me, we jettisoned crap tons of things.

What do ya’ll say about household dishes? That is one of my go-to things I look at when visiting a thrift store. It seems to me they are dedicating less and less space to dishes, glassware.

[Sugaree]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

Yes, she’s great!

It’s interesting to see what people buy at the bins - a lot of people are obviously resellers who go frequently and are only looking for vintage tees or toys is shoes. I’m usually looking for stuff to turn into other stuff, so nice fabric.

But dh and I both wear winter coats that I bought at the bins annual $1 coat sale.

I got the most gorgeous vintage velvet coat in perfect condition at the Goodwill
Final Call bin store some years ago. Crazy. I like it so much it even moved with me to our new place and believe me, we jettisoned crap tons of things.

What do ya’ll say about household dishes? That is one of my go-to things I look at when visiting a thrift store. It seems to me they are dedicating less and less space to dishes, glassware.

I'm going to be stocking barware as soon as I finish getting the bar built (could be awhile).  I've seen tons of wine glasses, but fewer low ball and high ball glasses than I would have thought.  Will probably look into a lead test kit for them though.

[Dicey]

IIRC, the problem with lead in glassware occurs when libations are stored in them for long periods of time.

[Cranky]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

Yes, she’s great!

It’s interesting to see what people buy at the bins - a lot of people are obviously resellers who go frequently and are only looking for vintage tees or toys is shoes. I’m usually looking for stuff to turn into other stuff, so nice fabric.

But dh and I both wear winter coats that I bought at the bins annual $1 coat sale.

I got the most gorgeous vintage velvet coat in perfect condition at the Goodwill
Final Call bin store some years ago. Crazy. I like it so much it even moved with me to our new place and believe me, we jettisoned crap tons of things.

What do ya’ll say about household dishes? That is one of my go-to things I look at when visiting a thrift store. It seems to me they are dedicating less and less space to dishes, glassware.

Interesting… I wonder if younger households are less likely to have sets of dishes so there’s less to end up at the thrift store?  I’m mostly looking for some specific corelle and interesting glassware (hand blown and decorated.)

[Nutty]

Corelle was available at my local thrift store and I redid my dishes with patterns.  Not matching patterns, but it is an on going project.  Last time that I found some potentials and left them on the shelf because I didn't want to carry them around and they left without me.  LOL. Universe saying I didn't need those salad plates that didn't match anything else in the cabinet.  I have way too many now.

DD wanted a specific pattern she liked and we have filled out her set with two patterns.  It's fun to hunt.

Seems that people are cleaning out grandparents houses when you find large collections. 

[Little Nell]

I look for interesting pottery: pitchers, platters, and so on. Have found some nice earthenware.

[franklin4]

A couple times a month I take my 17 yo daughter to a Goodwill that has plenty of selection and lots of turnover - the understanding is that I'll buy anything she will wear. It took a little while but she enjoys the shopping and usually can find a thing or 3 to get. Trying to get her into a frugal mindset for the going forward times...

[Dicey]

While in CO, we made four pilgrimages to the Motherlode Mercantile. The primary goal was building materials for two projects and the MM provided.

We reworked SIL's closet. We added large cubbyholes on one side and shelving for shoes on the other. I found four containers to use on the shelves.We did other mods, but we used existing materials and spent 0. Total cost for the project was $20.

The second project was a Coffee Corner in the kitchen. The goal was to get as much off the counter as possible. While fine tuning the storage in the kitchen, I found a hanging fruit basket that was broken, so I fixed it and DH hung it up. They are coffee fiends, so we wanted to make a corner shelf. We found a dismantled armoire at MM. There were two maple shelves in the pile, complete with trim molding. These, plus five wooden shelves, and a twin size oak head/foot board, set us back another $20. The extra shelves will be paired with brackets sourced on a previous MM pilgrimage for a future project. DH did a masterful job on the corner shelf with minimal tools and it looks perfect. Mission Clear the Countertop complete.

The last $15 was spent on:
2 kitchen storage bins
2 oversize Ball canning jars, one with a pour spout and lid.
Supplies to bag/wrap granddaughter's birthday presents. (All thrifted, of course.)
A couple of cute fabric storage bins and an adorable Black Watch plaid small purse, which were also used to "wrap" birthday gifts.
A coffee mug that matches their existing ones.
A pair of black Obermayer ski pants in pristine condition.
A cute plaid Helly Hansen ski parka in perfect condition, both for DSD.
A new-in-box electric snot suck sucker for the grandbabies, which hopefully will never be needed.
A DVD for Miss Rigby, our RV. She's old school.
She got a new cutting board, too.
2 puzzles for me.
1 caulking gun
A short hanging shoe rack, which fits perfectly in granddaughter's closet.

There's more, but I need to get moving. Not a bad haul for $55.

Oh, and the kid's new place is much closer to the MM, which is a total win in my book!
.

[LaineyAZ]

A couple times a month I take my 17 yo daughter to a Goodwill that has plenty of selection and lots of turnover - the understanding is that I'll buy anything she will wear. It took a little while but she enjoys the shopping and usually can find a thing or 3 to get. Trying to get her into a frugal mindset for the going forward times...

That's great - my adult son is a 4th generation thrift store shopper, and my granddaughters are now 5th generation.  I wish more people would just browse thrift stores and garage sales, I think they'd get hooked.

[couponvan]

As someone who spent the day on FaceTime “space planning” a bunch of freebie stuff, excellent work to you! I have asked my son whether he could live without some items as opposed to keeping them just because they were so affordable. He is moving into hoarder territory IMO, however I have been told my aesthetic is “too clean”. Shrug.

[Dancin'Dog]

As someone who spent the day on FaceTime “space planning” a bunch of freebie stuff, excellent work to you! I have asked my son whether he could live without some items as opposed to keeping them just because they were so affordable. He is moving into hoarder territory IMO, however I have been told my aesthetic is “too clean”. Shrug.

My BIL is a hoarder with a Goodwill shopping addiction.  It's sad to see all the crap piled throughout their house, as he continues buying more.  As long as nobody gets hurt, a house fire would be a blessing. 

[couponvan]

As someone who spent the day on FaceTime “space planning” a bunch of freebie stuff, excellent work to you! I have asked my son whether he could live without some items as opposed to keeping them just because they were so affordable. He is moving into hoarder territory IMO, however I have been told my aesthetic is “too clean”. Shrug.

My BIL is a hoarder with a Goodwill shopping addiction.  It's sad to see all the crap piled throughout their house, as he continues buying more.  As long as nobody gets hurt, a house fire would be a blessing.

His isn't "that" bad, but when you are in a college bedroom and you have not one, not two, but THREE tables and 4 chairs in your BEDROOM.  Yeah, it's too many.  When his friends come over, they don't hang in the living room - they hang in his bedroom, but how often is he having friends over??  He got rid of two tables, and one chair.  Progress.  I will have to get a picture once it's finished.  Most things he paid nothing for.

[TimCFJ40]

We get nearly everything from our local thrift shop. The shop supports our local social services group, so it's also nice that the money goes to helping our neighbors. Aside from almost all of our wardrobe items, we've gotten several good bicycles for $10-25 ea (including a beautiful Schwinn with fenders and racks my wife loves for close errands), a great MSR Backpacking tent for $8, and a Yakima Roof rack system for $20.  Our kids also LOVE books and we have bought tons there for pennies. 

It helps that our area is fairly affluent, with lots of high quality donations.  They're only open Wed-Fri, and my wife usually goes first thing Wednesday to get the pick of the litter (another benefit of her CoastFIRE part time job).

[LaineyAZ]

All of the Goodwill stores here are having a 50% off sale tomorrow 8/17.  Am tempted to go but I'm also wondering if it will be a Covid super-spreader event.
Am leaning towards the latter, so the risk doesn't seem to outweigh saving a few bucks.

[Dicey]

All of the Goodwill stores here are having a 50% off sale tomorrow 8/17.  Am tempted to go but I'm also wondering if it will be a Covid super-spreader event.
Am leaning towards the latter, so the risk doesn't seem to outweigh saving a few bucks.

Huh. Wear a mask?

[Dicey]

Here's a fun twist. The neighbor of one of our volunteers is a hoarder and has dementia. Her brother, who is her conservator, recently moved her into a care facility closer to where he lives. He has offered the thrift shop the contents of the house. However, he has stressed that those of us who help out can keep anything we want. I'm spearheading the effort. I've been to the house every day for the past eight days and I'm too pooped to remember all the good stuff I've nabbed, but I won't need to buy TP, Kleenex, dishwasher detergent or laundry soap for a very long time.

We have to be finished by Monday, so it's going to be three very busy days, but we have made huge progress.

[oneday]

Good timing to have this thread pop up. I'm going to visit Mom & need to bring more stuff than usual. Needed a second piece of luggage to check under the plane. Thrift shop provided! Also, I found out blue tags were 50% off that day, so chose the blue tagged piece that was lowest cost. $10! Versus the $100 that Costco is asking for a similar sized piece. I love 90% off!

[Cranky]

We’ve been to several yard sales and a consignment sale and have bought pretty much all the grandboy’s fall clothes for $50 or so.

Now I’m working out outfitting the refugee my dd is sponsoring - poor guy, the Wisconsin winter is going to be a shock.

[JAYSLOL]

Thrift stores in my area continue to be horrible, however there’s deals to be had outside of the thrift shops, I found a set of brand new take-off wheels and tires from a new truck on a Facebook buy and sell group for $100 and just sold them for $475.

[Gerard]

I'm going to visit Mom & need to bring more stuff than usual. Needed a second piece of luggage to check under the plane. Thrift shop provided!

Vaguely related to this, if discount airlines keep increasing the add-on fees for luggage (and even carry-on), at some point I think I might travel packing only sox and undies, and buy shirts and shorts at a thrift store at my destination. $60 a bag both ways, that's a pretty generous clothing allowance at the thrift store! Plus, it's fun to see what kind of stuff is available in different places.

I get that this might not work for everyone, but hostel beach bum birdwatcher isn't a wardrobe-driven pastime.

[Cranky]

I'm going to visit Mom & need to bring more stuff than usual. Needed a second piece of luggage to check under the plane. Thrift shop provided!

Vaguely related to this, if discount airlines keep increasing the add-on fees for luggage (and even carry-on), at some point I think I might travel packing only sox and undies, and buy shirts and shorts at a thrift store at my destination. $60 a bag both ways, that's a pretty generous clothing allowance at the thrift store! Plus, it's fun to see what kind of stuff is available in different places.

I get that this might not work for everyone, but hostel beach bum birdwatcher isn't a wardrobe-driven pastime.

Some years ago I hastily threw a few things together and went to see my mom in a different state who was having medical issues. I ended up being there for two months, and I did buy myself a wardrobe at the thrift store because wearing the same three outfits was so boring. I bought a bunch of books to read, too.

[oldtoyota]

Today I found a girl's Hanna Andersson summer dress for $2.50 and a pair of Children's Place shorts for $3.50. The dress was probably about $40 new and the shorts about $25. Who the hell pays those prices? My granddaughter will love them both and won't even notice or care they're not brand-new. I also got two puzzles on BOGO, for a total of $3.00. Those are for me.

A long time ago, I found a toddler-sized Hanna Andersson cardigan at the thrift store. So well made! Even when this was outgrown, I had a little trouble getting myself to give it away. lol

[oldtoyota]

This is a fun thread. Thank you to the person who revived it earlier this year!

At our local shop, I found a silk shirt. I had a feeling about this shirt, so I googled the brand. Sure enough, this was normally a $300 shirt.

At that same store, years earlier, I found a cool piece of clothing that sells new for $800. Fancy Italian brand. I bought it for maybe $7-$8. The brand isn't known in the US at all, so the people at the store didn't mark up the price.

More recently, I was on vacation and hit up the thrift store because I needed shorts. I probably paid no more than $8 bucks per pair with several costing less than that. I was quite happy as I needed some new ones!

The stores in the more affluent areas are generally better. However, I also found some cool stuff in rural Virginia, which makes me think the clothing gets shipped to other stores.



Seeing you all talk about Le Creuset reminds me how silly I was in my 20s. My mother gave me a Le Creuset pot with a lid that was also a sautee pan. I was heading to grad school so this was an excellent gift and the design of it saved space. Sadly, the pan burnt due to some carelessness on my part. I never thought of saving the pot to have it repaired or replaced.

Now, I generally use cast iron because it's so durable.

[Sugaree]

I'm going to visit Mom & need to bring more stuff than usual. Needed a second piece of luggage to check under the plane. Thrift shop provided!

Vaguely related to this, if discount airlines keep increasing the add-on fees for luggage (and even carry-on), at some point I think I might travel packing only sox and undies, and buy shirts and shorts at a thrift store at my destination. $60 a bag both ways, that's a pretty generous clothing allowance at the thrift store! Plus, it's fun to see what kind of stuff is available in different places.

I get that this might not work for everyone, but hostel beach bum birdwatcher isn't a wardrobe-driven pastime.

This was actually kind of my plan when I went to Colorado last year.  I ended up finding a decently priced snow coat on clearance at REI for myself and a slightly used coat for the kid before we left though. 

[BC_Goldman]

It's been rough hunting here lately. Prices are up and quality is down. Last week we went to one and used DVD seasons of TV shows were $8-$20(!).

We did find a chaise that my wife liked for $30 that has a compartment we can store our shoes out of sight.

A few weeks ago, my wife found the complete Downton Abbey series on Blu-ray for $20 (missing one disc). That upgrades several of the seasons we already had on DVD and we already had the missing disc on Blu-ray. It just won't have the numbering like the other discs.

[Dicey]

I've had a couple of good scores lately, but this one beats them all. We're in SoCal working on one of our rental properties.  We checked out a new thrift store in an area we rarely visit. I was looking for a large, flat sheet. For $5, I got a King flat sheet and four king cases. The brand is Frette. I have always imagined owning Frette sheets, but I would never, ever dream of spending the kind of money they go for. Alas, there was not a Frette fitted sheet,  so I'll just have to keep  hoping I find one...

[K_in_the_kitchen]

I've had a couple of good scores lately, but this one beats them all. We're in SoCal working on one of our rental properties.  We checked out a new thrift store in an area we rarely visit. I was looking for a large, flat sheet. For $5, I got a King flat sheet and four king cases. The brand is Frette. I have always imagined owning Frette sheets, but I would never, ever dream of spending the kind of money they go for. Alas, there was not a Frette fitted sheet,  so I'll just have to keep  hoping I find one...

I had to look up Frette, and wow, those are some pricey sheets — good score!

I’ve been staying away from the thrift stores, in part because we did a major declutter in August and sent so much stuff to the thrift that I didn’t want to see it on their shelves.  But we went Monday and I came home with a vintage Farberware electric skillet with domed lid for $8, and a Starbucks insulated ceramic tumbler for $2.  I buy the insulated ceramic tumblers whenever I see them as they are DH’s favorite for tea, but do tend to end up broken.  This one even had the ceramic drinking lid, which most of them don’t.  I gave away my extra electric skillet to the young adult who moved out, so it was nice to replace it at a decent price.  I like having two because we fry tacos on special occasions and need one for the plant based tacos and one for beef, plus it goes faster frying in two skillets.

Speaking of said young adult, it has been fun to hear about their thrift shopping adventures as they outfit their apartment.  I can’t help but feel proud that any time they realize there’s something they need, they head to the thrift stores as a first option.

[Nutty]

I've started looking for pyrex glassware.  I'm amazed at the prices some go for online.  I bought a couple of pieces but since I'm downsizing, nothing really fits so I am leaving a bunch for the next treasure seeker who can actually use it.

The most useful score is a Pampered Chef batter bowl.  I'd been using a plastic mixing bowl and wanted glass.  This is working great but I'm not impressed with the quality.  The pour spout has a lip that doesn't work well for me.  I'm hunting for a replacement.

I was able to rehome a stack of dishes with dear son who came for a visit.  It started with I need bowls and changed into plates, saucers and a spatula.  Decluttering win.

[oldtoyota]

Some of my favorite recent finds include:

A Canadian Goose jacket for $25. They're online for $300-$400.

Italian-brand pants for $8, usually $500 - $800. The thrift store didn't recognize the brand, so they didn't jack up the price.

A new jacket-with-tags that I regret not buying. Selling for $10-12. It's on the company website for $132.

I also found wool sweaters in very good condition from high-quality brands.

[PMG]

Nothing as great as Frette sheets here but I did recently pick up quite a few things that have been on my list for a while.

Today I picked up a wooden clothing valet. I think my husband will use the heck out of it. $9.99. I’ll polish it up and give it as a birthday gift next week.

My kiddo found a nwot kid sized umbrella with sharks on it. It was raining at time of purchase. Delight.

And I picked up some nwt craft kits for my niblings for Christmas.

All on the list!

I also walked thru a thrift store yesterday and didn’t buy a single thing. I consider that badass as well.

ETA: there was also a nicer valet for $84. I might have considered it at $30 but $84 was too much. I just did a quick google search to see ballpark new prices and that $84 one showed up at Wayfair for $525. Yikes. Simpler ones like what I bought are showing around $100. That more in line with what I was thinking.

[jeninco]

I've had a couple of good scores lately, but this one beats them all. We're in SoCal working on one of our rental properties.  We checked out a new thrift store in an area we rarely visit. I was looking for a large, flat sheet. For $5, I got a King flat sheet and four king cases. The brand is Frette. I have always imagined owning Frette sheets, but I would never, ever dream of spending the kind of money they go for. Alas, there was not a Frette fitted sheet,  so I'll just have to keep  hoping I find one...

I had to look up Frette, and wow, those are some pricey sheets — good score!

I’ve been staying away from the thrift stores, in part because we did a major declutter in August and sent so much stuff to the thrift that I didn’t want to see it on their shelves.  But we went Monday and I came home with a vintage Farberware electric skillet with domed lid for $8, and a Starbucks insulated ceramic tumbler for $2.  I buy the insulated ceramic tumblers whenever I see them as they are DH’s favorite for tea, but do tend to end up broken.  This one even had the ceramic drinking lid, which most of them don’t.  I gave away my extra electric skillet to the young adult who moved out, so it was nice to replace it at a decent price.  I like having two because we fry tacos on special occasions and need one for the plant based tacos and one for beef, plus it goes faster frying in two skillets.

Speaking of said young adult, it has been fun to hear about their thrift shopping adventures as they outfit their apartment.  I can’t help but feel proud that any time they realize there’s something they need, they head to the thrift stores as a first option.

Isn't it lovely when they do that? Our older kid was living in an apartment with friends in spring of 2021 (campus was still partly closed during COVID) and, wisely realizing that he would only be there for 4-5 months, invested in a (not very pricey) mattress, and just picked up everything else they needed from various thrift stores. We joked about how the purchase price was basically a "rental fee", because when they moved out they just hauled everything right back...

[oldtoyota]

Nothing as great as Frette sheets here but I did recently pick up quite a few things that have been on my list for a while.

Today I picked up a wooden clothing valet. I think my husband will use the heck out of it. $9.99. I’ll polish it up and give it as a birthday gift next week.

My kiddo found a nwot kid sized umbrella with sharks on it. It was raining at time of purchase. Delight.

And I picked up some nwt craft kits for my niblings for Christmas.

All on the list!

I also walked thru a thrift store yesterday and didn’t buy a single thing. I consider that badass as well.

ETA: there was also a nicer valet for $84. I might have considered it at $30 but $84 was too much. I just did a quick google search to see ballpark new prices and that $84 one showed up at Wayfair for $525. Yikes. Simpler ones like what I bought are showing around $100. That more in line with what I was thinking.

Wow. $525 at Wayfair is a lot for the valet! That's fantastic you found one for 9.99. Well done!

[StarBright]

As part of my new job I am now in charge of a weekly free-store.

We get in 1-2k pounds of clothing a week, clothing stays on the racks for two months and then we purge to other area free stores and then salvation army for everything else. Because of the volume, volunteers are welcome to take clothes whenever they want, but I only grab stuff when it is about to be purged. I got a wool Calvin Klein peacoat, a Lily Pulitzer style belt (that someone was throwing in the trash!), a Lands End alpaca cardigan (matches the belt!), and a Gudrun Sjödén tunic sweater.

I am the best dressed I've been in a decade.

 

[Ladychips]

Not my story but my husband's. He found some fancy pants coffee maker. $349 on Amazon. He got it for $12.  He's so happy!

[Dicey]

Not my story but my husband's. He found some fancy pants coffee maker. $349 on Amazon. He got it for $12.  He's so happy!

Adjacent human's scores totally count.

I'll go:  we're cleaning up one of our out-of-area rentals. We've been interviewing agents, and cleaning madly, all week. Everyone has asked about the age of the appliances, especially the kitchen. We are able to say with pride that they all match and they're 2-3 years old. What we don't say is that DH scored a brand-new/used GE cooktop for $200, and the matching, brand-new GE wall oven for $350-400(can't remember exactly). They were CL finds from different sources.

@PMG, I love your scores!

[Loretta]

My side hustle requires me to wear a solid pattern tank style simple lines sort of dress this week.  Miraculously I already have a solid summer dress from Ye Olde Goodwill! 

[oldtoyota]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

Yes, she’s great!

It’s interesting to see what people buy at the bins - a lot of people are obviously resellers who go frequently and are only looking for vintage tees or toys is shoes. I’m usually looking for stuff to turn into other stuff, so nice fabric.

But dh and I both wear winter coats that I bought at the bins annual $1 coat sale.

I got the most gorgeous vintage velvet coat in perfect condition at the Goodwill
Final Call bin store some years ago. Crazy. I like it so much it even moved with me to our new place and believe me, we jettisoned crap tons of things.

What do ya’ll say about household dishes? That is one of my go-to things I look at when visiting a thrift store. It seems to me they are dedicating less and less space to dishes, glassware.

I inherited old ceramics, and they may have lead. We won't be eating off of them. If you know the situation with the dishes, it will probably be fine. I wouldn't risk anything that might contain lead or cadmium though and would check dates and brand to see the chances of there being a problem.

[Cranky]

My completely non scientific observation is that touristy places have poor quality thrift stores, and islands might be the worst.

The thrift stores here are a wonderland. I’m no looking for Walmart/Target/Shein kind of stuff. I mostly buy Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, REI, LL Bean and sometimes more boutique stuff, often NWT.

I do think GW is a little expensive, and I understand that it’s because so much of their sales are to resellers these days. Even so, they do a lot of volume and I still find some great stuff. But we have a whole lot of thrift stores and I can afford to be choosy. My favorite it still the pay by the pound bin store.

Do you follow Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate? She loves the bins and posts regularly about them. One of my favorite recurring themes is, "Goodwill, Badwill, Question-able Will." Not about the bins per se, but a fun introduction. Here's a recent one:

https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/goodwill-badwill-questionable-will-13/

Yes, she’s great!

It’s interesting to see what people buy at the bins - a lot of people are obviously resellers who go frequently and are only looking for vintage tees or toys is shoes. I’m usually looking for stuff to turn into other stuff, so nice fabric.

But dh and I both wear winter coats that I bought at the bins annual $1 coat sale.

I got the most gorgeous vintage velvet coat in perfect condition at the Goodwill
Final Call bin store some years ago. Crazy. I like it so much it even moved with me to our new place and believe me, we jettisoned crap tons of things.

What do ya’ll say about household dishes? That is one of my go-to things I look at when visiting a thrift store. It seems to me they are dedicating less and less space to dishes, glassware.

I inherited old ceramics, and they may have lead. We won't be eating off of them. If you know the situation with the dishes, it will probably be fine. I wouldn't risk anything that might contain lead or cadmium though and would check dates and brand to see the chances of there being a problem.

My stores have millions of glasses, but I notice that the plates are increasingly plastic. I suppose that’s what people actually use more of, but they don’t wear well. Anyway, I’m slowly picking up more recent Corelle pieces. I like pottery but we have a small kitchen and I think corelle is practical to plates.

[Dicey]

The shop where I volunteer closes down over the holidays. In anticipation of a full reset, everything in the store is half off. Those who worked on the last day were tasked with removing the remaining holiday merchandise and we could keep whatever we wanted. I found a pair of cute Hanna Andersson Santa's Sleigh tights in my granddaughter's size, so I grabbed them. I suspect they were worn once and then outgrown, as might be the case with our granddaughter. Did I mention they are super cute and her size?

At home, I had two boxed sets of American Girl books ($2/set at a library book sale, retail 29.95 each, egads!) that didn't fit in the holiday box I sent the whole family last week, so I packed them up them with the tights. I figured my granddaughter would love to receive a package addressed just to her. USPS wanted $21.95 to ship it. I went over to FedEx and used their Rate One service. Same two-day delivery time cost $14.50.

Another gift was something I spotted for a globe-trotting friend some months ago. It's a poster of world capitals. You scratch off each city you've been to and a lovely picture emerges. The outer tube had a bunch of shipping labels on it, but it was otherwise brand new. As I struggled to remove the old, dried out labels, the voice in my head said, "This is a pain in the ass. I hope it's worth it." I googled it and was shocked to learn it retails for $70 + shipping. I paid $4 at the shop, which was our retail price. Heh Heh.

[lhamo]

We are having DD's BF's family over for hot pot on Boxing Day.  I bought one hot pot set last year (for TheX's birthday, though he doesn't remember it....) but we need two setups because there will be 8 people around the table. I bought a little induction burner off Amazon that I figure I can use with my battery for car camping and/or power outage situations.  But none of my existing pots were induction friendly.  Quick run to Goodwill and I snagged a nice heavy-duty stainless induction ready 5 qt pot for $9 (including $.12 round up to goodwill).

Love being able to get useful stuff for good prices and keep it out of the landfill!  This pot will last me the rest of my life, I'm sure.