The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: Dicey on January 09, 2022, 02:20:45 PM
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I stumbled across this article. Some of it is obvious (helmets, cribs, car seats) and some of it is just plain idiotic. A quick forum search via google only brings up really old thrift threads, so I figured I'd start a new one. Feel free to share your tales of thrift store treasures and/or nightmares. I'll share one below the link.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/40-things-never-ever-buy-142100724.html
In advance of the October 2020 Moab Meetup, I needed a new pair of boots. I was thrilled to find a brand-new pair of Merrells in the original box for $10.00 at the shop where I volunteer. I noticed the top of the box was sunbleached, but didn't think anything of it. They were super comfy and I proceeded to take a couple of hikes to break them in. They were awesome. After about the fifth hike, I noticed something black on the floor as I removed the boots. A closer inspection of the boots revealed that all the plastic bits were cracking and breaking apart! Apparently they had been stored someplace hot and all the plastic had dried out and become brittle. Since I volunteer there, I was able to return them for a full refund. My next effort was at REI in their Garage Sale section. For $65, I was able to find a different pair of Merells that are working just fine so far. They should be, for six times the price. Seven if you count sales tax, lol.
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Don't buy cookware or dishes? Pillows or bedding that can be washed? What about furniture you can strip and reupholster if it's got good bones? Hats? Shoes? In well cared for condition, I do a decent inspection of care/stains/smells and then proceed with a basic quarantine for a few weeks in heat/cold and clean/disinfect to my comfort levels. Do people genuinely not know how to sanitize or WASH things? I have shopped vintage/thrift stores since I was a teen, and I know how to clean things in general (steam clean, or leave in someplace really hot or cold depending on your ability to fit things into a hot car in summer or a freezer and use disinfecting sprays like the bowling alley uses on THEIR shoes for goodness sake!)
I haven't had any failures I can remember, but I've had some great successes:
Brand new limited edition converse high tops in perfect condition. Paid $40 and they were selling online for well over $100.
Signed artist's proof of a very famous folk art artist that specializes in puns and cats, professionally framed with a beautiful carved fruitwood frame. Paid $20, saw one go for $500 online around the time I looked to see if it was actually worth anything (I'm not selling because I adore cats and puns and it went right on the wall).
Another signed limited edition artwork, professionally framed with anti-glare glass, worth at least $125 (what it was actually selling for). I paid $6.
Out of print Stephen King (Bachman) book that is difficult to find for under $25, just snagged it in a lot of King books for $5-6 each when I broke down the costs. Any of the books were worth double that as I'd been pricing them at the local used book store and was thrilled I stumbled across a treasure trove like this.
Husband scored a grocery bag of trade paperbacks they gave away for free at the last library book sale. They were first/early run crime/noir editions that are collectable and out of print. They must have been donated from someone's collection and the donatee didn't see any value in a bunch of old books, but we're talking Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, Issac Asimov... to the right person these are a goldmine. But we're actually collectors of this genre so they're staying with us. ;)
Video games galore: We had a lovely sales associate at one thrift store that clearanced 4 PS3 games for $1 each.
I flip through the jeans section pretty often just to see if they have the brands I like in my size. I have scored so many beautiful clothes items for a few bucks it's almost impossible to really remember what I've bought from a "real" store.
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DH buys his shoes on Ebay - he really likes the Ecco ones. I think the most he's paid for a pair, always new or so gently used it's impossible to tell, is along the lines of $25. He irreverently calls them "dead guy shoes".
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I just paid $14 for this solid wood bed for my son. Knobs were missing from the cabinets so I paid an additional $2 for those at Restore. (A whole store that sells building supplies!!!). Probably my best ever find.
I've bought used tvs and other things from their "no" list before and they worked fine.
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Is there anything left that they think is ok to buy!? Silliness.
It's rare I buy something at thrift that is actually used. More often it's new, sometimes new without tags or box.
Just before Christmas I paid $6.99 for a like new pet screen tent and tunnel. Retails online for $80+. I left it in the car for a couple days but didn't otherwise sanitize it.
I also paid $24.99 for an air purifier. Retails between $300-$400. This one gave me a little pause, but even corona virus doesn't live that long on surfaces... we replaced the filter and have been using it.
I have made some mistakes before or gotten some duds. I got a pair of birkenstocks off ebay that looked new, but have worn quickly. They are either knock offs, or they were sitting somewhere hot or cold and the glues are breaking down faster than they should. But, meh. I can handle a dud or two.
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I’m surprised I’m not actually dead. LOL
Do people really replace their pots and pans every 5 years? That’s nuts. I’ve got kitchen stuff from my grandmother that’s probably 100 years old, and I use it.
I’ve also got a rug we picked up in the road…
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I have had some duds too, but the recliner I,m sitting on found on side of road, steam cleaned it and carefully checked for bed bugs. That was a great deal.
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My kids are obsessed with stuffed animals and almost all of them have come from thrift stores. $1 for big ones or $.49 for small ones, and many are in like-new condition. I just pop them in the washing machine when we get home (which the kids call "giving them a bath" haha).
One of my best purchases is a pair of end tables I bought for my first apartment in college 15 years ago for $20. They've faithfully stuck with me through eight moves since then.
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Yeah I think half my closet is from thrift stores at this point. We recently got four wooden stools that were listed at 24.99 each, but then were 50% off, so $12.50 each. We were pretty pleased with that.
I have also been wanting a quilt rack, since we have one cold room in our house that will need blankets. Found one for 8.99, sadly not on a 50% off day. But the other 2 that I saw recently flew before I bought them, so I snapped it up.
Oh I guess I'm pleased with my Pendleton flannel shirt that was only a few bucks. It's soft.
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Most of my clothes come from thrift stores and EBay. Best buys? I got a pair of orange Børn flats at a thrift store a couple of years ago for $15. Extremely comfortable, and I get compliments every time I wear them. I just bought a quilted Kate Lord vest (she makes golf clothes) for $4.99, new with tags. Retail for the vest and the flats would be $100 each. But my favorite finds are the two wooden trunks I pulled off the side of the road on bulk pickup day and the living room furniture we got from my youngest stepdaughter and her husband, which turned out to be highly collectible August Brandt Ranch Oak. .
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I got a dyson animal vacuum in July 2015 at goodwill for $100. It was missing a few attachments but those were only $20 or so to replace. It is still going strong.
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Nearly all my worldly goods are thrifted. It's such an easy way to get high-quality items. Lately, now that my pressing needs are filled, I've been shopping the free section of Facebook Marketplace pretty hard.
In my living room at the moment, I am lying on a free futon from Facebook Marketplace with a $40 unused mattress from someone's RV. I snagged the end table from the side of the road (along with a very large toaster oven I do all my baking in). I bought a TV for $40 from Craigslist and put it on top of a $10 TV stand (that came with two free end tables, which I have since donated to someone else). I have a free piano, wall shelf, dog crate, two brass lamps that cost me $6 for the pair, and if we extend into the kitchen, a very nice kitchen table with chairs that a coworker inherited and couldn't sell.
If you have the means to haul it, I'm not sure you need to pay for furniture, ever.
My most recent freebie was nine Tidy Cats buckets, which will let me start purchasing the large bags of dog and cat food again after having to stop due to mice. These are such useful buckets that people actually sell them around here for $2 apiece, so getting them free was a win. I use equine bedding pellets for cat litter and it comes in 40 or 50 pound bags.
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They listed so many things it was ridiculous. If I get something home and it doesn’t work out I never ask for a refund because they all support good causes so I just donate it back. I will buy anything I can wash in hot water to clean. I wouldn’t buy pans if they have a nonstick finish. I bought a crockpot that lasted for years.
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Are you kidding me? I buy bedding (sheets and duvet covers) used when we need them and I can find them -- do other people not have a "sanitize" cycle on their washing machines?
And I genuinely prefer used jeans, because that way they're pre-shrunk. As a fairly long-legged person, that's a great way to avoid unpleasant surprises. And used sweaters, because I can buy merino and/or cashmere sweaters for a song and treat them like sweatshirts (wear them all the time, wash on "delicate", not have to worry about them).
Other comments: "pre-owned", i.e. "old" or "antique" rugs go for a ballistic shit-ton more than "new", at least in certain categories.
Also, some of these things listed are so freaking obvious that anyone who isn't aware of them shouldn't be in charge of their own money. "Medication", really?
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My favorite thing in my neighborhood is that my buy nothing group has a clothing bin sharing system. You find your size range, and then sign up to get the bin when you are interested. You can put seasonal clothing you don’t want anymore in the bin too. Free clothing refresh!
But in terms of thrifting, I have come to love it for kids stuff. I got two lovely ski jackets for my big kids for 30 bucks total this week, and will be on the lookout for ski gear too. Such a joke to pay retail.
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I bought 3 warm sweaters for $25 this afternoon at my high falutin’ ritzy titzy local Thrift Shop! It’s on the edge of a high class neighborhood and has so many great finds.
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I have a Men's weatherproof vintage cashmere sweater that I use for lounging and sleeping -- IIRC I got it for $10 at Goodwill a couple of years ago. I wouldn't normally pay that much for a used sweater, but it was SOOOO soft I figured what the heck. I have started to wear holes in the elbows so I thought I'd check on line to see what a replacement might cost me. $50 on Poshmark!
I think I'll just keep my eyes out at the thrift stores next summer. YOu can always get better deals on sweaters when it is 80 F outside.
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I’m surprised I’m not actually dead. LOL
Do people really replace their pots and pans every 5 years? That’s nuts. I’ve got kitchen stuff from my grandmother that’s probably 100 years old, and I use it.
I’ve also got a rug we picked up in the road…
For pots and pans - the article actually does have a point. Something like cast iron is probably perfectly fine - but most anything "non-stick" is dangerous if it starts to chip. Non-stick pans are (unfortunately) essentially disposable items... there are a bunch of different types, but off the top of my head: Teflon/PTFE is dangerous, easy to overheat, and toxic if you are cooking with a scratched or chipped pan. Anodized Aluminum apparently can leach aluminum into your food if the surface is scratched - and apparently there are some health concerns there, including a possible link with Alzheimer's and other problems. Ceramic coated pans - they are OK, but the coating only lasts like a year, if that - and then you are just stuck with a low quality pan that sticks, and lots of these are cheap, easily scratched aluminum underneath, which could leach into food.
All of this to say... unfortunately, you are probably better off buying pots/pans new, unless your sticking to safer types, like cast iron or carbon steel (and even then, apparently a lot of pans advertised as carbon steel are actually weaker alloys that include other metals that might leach into your food when scratched - best to research the actual brand/properties of the pan).
Alot of other things on that list are indeed ridiculous - like worrying about if a used stroller has been recalled? Seriously - just lookup the brand and check for recalls... And the bit about jewelry is laughable - like a $5-10 ring at a thrift store is overpriced... but a couple hundred dollar ring is not? 🙁
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Strollers can take a lot of wear and tear, but there are a myriad of reasons you should purchase a new one when you have a baby. The biggest concern is safety, as items may have been recalled or outdated and without the manual you'd never know.
Don't you just hate it when you're reading the manual to your brand new stroller and it tells you it has been recalled and you need to return it for a refund? Ugh, such bad journalism.
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Over thanksgiving, DW and MIL went to a thrift store and paid ~$80 to bring me a used Lego haul. She texted pics and asked and I said yes. Good haul -- a dozen large sets, a few small ones, some missing parts, sure, but surprisingly complete.
In particular it has a set I always wanted as a kid -- the galaxy explorer. It was gone from retail by the time I was old enough for Lego, but I saw it in the idea books (or old advertising inserts?). I never bought one for myself -- not that I couldn't, they're only ~$300 (used), but if I was going to spend $300 on Lego, I'd get one of the star wars UCS or a modular building.
I quit totaling the market value of what she brought home (mostly early lego space -- I can ID the likely the unique parts, pull up instructions, and confirm which sets were there) somewhere after $1000.
Lego at 90-95% off? Sign me up! I do need to find a shelf for the galaxy explorer though...
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I don't buy near as much thrift store clothes as i used to; I just don't buy many clothes anymore, and the ones I do buy I want new.
I was on vacation recently in Hawaii and needed a nice shirt for a luau, so I went to the Sally's (Salvation Army) and found one for $3, so that was nice.
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I don't buy near as much thrift store clothes as i used to; I just don't buy many clothes anymore, and the ones I do buy I want new.
Since starting work from home, my need for dress clothes has basically gone to zero, and my thrift store clothes shopping has followed the same trajectory. While there were very good deals to be found on dress clothes, used casual clothing does not seem to be worth it. At my local Goodwill, jeans go for $5-7, but can be bought new for $12-17 at Meijer (Like Target for those of you not in the MidWest). For that small difference, I buy new.
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A friend just gave me a Needless Markup cashmere blazer for my husband. It wasn't his size, but wonder of wonders, it fits! If only he had some place to wear it. It's a classic style, so eventually the right ccasion will come along.
If you're wondering how this relates to the topic, I volunteer at a thrift store. I tell friends they can drop stuff off at my house any time and I'll take it in it for them, as we only take donations twice a week. She gave this to me separately and instructed me to give it to DH if it fit, the thrift shop if it didn't. Win!
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A friend just gave me a Needless Markup cashmere blazer for my husband. It wasn't his size, but wonder of wonders, it fits! If only he had some place to wear it. It's a classic style, so eventually the right ccasion will come along.
If you're wondering how this relates to the topic, I volunteer at a thrift store. I tell friends they can drop stuff off at my house any time and I'll take it in it for them, as we only take donations twice a week. She gave this to me separately and instructed me to give it to DH if it fit, the thrift shop if it didn't. Win!
But, it's fabric! It might have cooties! (sticks out tongue at that article)
Congrats on the awesome score, Dicey -- I hope Mr. Dicey has many opportunities to wear it and both look dapper and feel all sort and huggable!
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A friend just gave me a Needless Markup cashmere blazer for my husband. It wasn't his size, but wonder of wonders, it fits! If only he had some place to wear it. It's a classic style, so eventually the right ccasion will come along.
If you're wondering how this relates to the topic, I volunteer at a thrift store. I tell friends they can drop stuff off at my house any time and I'll take it in it for them, as we only take donations twice a week. She gave this to me separately and instructed me to give it to DH if it fit, the thrift shop if it didn't. Win!
But, it's fabric! It might have cooties! (sticks out tongue at that article)
Congrats on the awesome score, Dicey -- I hope Mr. Dicey has many opportunities to wear it and both look dapper and feel all sort and huggable!
And I'm not even going to dry clean it. Best way to kill good, soft cashmere.
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All of this to say... unfortunately, you are probably better off buying pots/pans new, unless your sticking to safer types, like cast iron or carbon steel undred dollar ring is not? 🙁
But stainless steel though? That's really all I use, it's held up well, and IMO it's in the highest category of safety. I've never trusted nonstick or aluminum anything. Theoretically I respect anodizing but it does scratch.
When I don't need highish slow heat, copper-clad Revere Ware is a solid standby, although much older pieces are better constructed. Just don't leave it on high heat unattended or the copper could melt and you'll have an uneven-bottomed pan. :P
Otherwise, SS that has a thick sandwich bottom is fabulous. I have 2 old Belgique pieces I got at a flea market that were well-used at the time; I don't even want to say how long I've had them (2-handled stockpot with lid and deep Dutch oven pan).
Had a cast iron skillet a while back and loved it, but I think they perform best with a gas stove and I haven't had one for a bit. Gas is ideal but eh, sometimes you just have to deal with electric.
I imagine stainless should be easy to find secondhand?
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We don’t have many thrift stores here, but all our furniture is secondhand. We bought an ikea sofa set, an IKEA headboard and mattress, a pottery barn bed and mattress, a rug, dining table, upholstered dining chairs, upholstered chaise lounge...and horrors of horrors, we picked up a free rug for DD. According to the article, we should be dead from bedbugs, lead, or some terrible disease lurking in our rugs.
Oh, and our bread maker was also a freebie. That should have faulty wiring and we should currently be dead from an electrical fire.
And DD’s stroller was a used one. She’s almost 8 now, so I guess it’s a wonder she didn’t die from being pushed around in her used Maclaren stroller.
Seriously, all our furniture is secondhand. I spent around $1000 furnishing a 3 bedroom 2 bath home. That was three years ago, and so far, none of the bad things the article said might happen have actually happened.
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I'm glad you're not dead.
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I know you're all just joking about bugs and vermin and such, but I actually got scabies in my early twenties from thrift store pants.
Yes, I neglected to wash the pants before wearing (hey, they looked plenty clean to a 21 y.o. guy!)
No, it was not fun getting rid of them!
Yes, I did learn my lesson.
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My favorite thing in my neighborhood is that my buy nothing group has a clothing bin sharing system. You find your size range, and then sign up to get the bin when you are interested. You can put seasonal clothing you don’t want anymore in the bin too. Free clothing refresh!
My group does this too! We have traveling clothes, jewelry, book, movie and music bins. Sometimes someone decides to keep the whole bin (and a group rule is that we never comment on it in the spirit of gifting!), but another one usually gets started pretty quickly.
We even had at tea bin going around last winter, which was delightful.
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Are you kidding me? I buy bedding (sheets and duvet covers) used when we need them and I can find them -- do other people not have a "sanitize" cycle on their washing machines?
Do other people not sleep at hotels? Where the sheets have been used by other people??
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And yeah, I wouldn’t buy a nonstick pan that was chipped from the thrift store, but have bought a couple brand new ones there over the years. I keep *one* nonstick pan in the house for eggs. Otherwise, I buy the kind of pans that cost $100 new…
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Our best thrift store purchase has been a blender. The cutting blade fits onto a small mouth mason jar. It has been a $5 Vitamix for the past 6 years.
We got bed bugs from a used mattress, but we should have known better. Definitely don't take used mattresses!
Lately, since the buy nothing page came to town, our front porch looks a lot like a thrift store drop off. People are picking up and dropping off regularly. It is more convenient than going down to the thrift store.
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Strollers can take a lot of wear and tear, but there are a myriad of reasons you should purchase a new one when you have a baby. The biggest concern is safety, as items may have been recalled or outdated and without the manual you'd never know.
Don't you just hate it when you're reading the manual to your brand new stroller and it tells you it has been recalled and you need to return it for a refund? Ugh, such bad journalism.
I’m assuming the poster is referring to the fact that it is near impossible to find out what model you have without the manual…
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My favorite thing in my neighborhood is that my buy nothing group has a clothing bin sharing system. You find your size range, and then sign up to get the bin when you are interested. You can put seasonal clothing you don’t want anymore in the bin too. Free clothing refresh!
My group does this too! We have traveling clothes, jewelry, book, movie and music bins. Sometimes someone decides to keep the whole bin (and a group rule is that we never comment on it in the spirit of gifting!), but another one usually gets started pretty quickly.
We even had at tea bin going around last winter, which was delightful.
Ooh! A tea bin sounds lovely!
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Are you kidding me? I buy bedding (sheets and duvet covers) used when we need them and I can find them -- do other people not have a "sanitize" cycle on their washing machines?
Do other people not sleep at hotels? Where the sheets have been used by other people??
And the towels, beds and toilet, lol.
The great Amy Dacyczyn espoused the term "selective squeamishness." Years and years later, the term still comes in handy.
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My local thrift store always has sales on federal Mondays. Yesterday I bought four tweed jackets for DH at $6 apiece. He's not sure he needs all four, so I will probably take one or two back on Thursday.
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Literally just about everything I own is either secondhand, or new, but not bought retail. Almost nothing from thrift shops though, only a couple in my area and I’ve never found good items or deals at either. I’ve had really good luck at auctions, garage sales, liquidation places and found lots of useful stuff in storage lockers I’ve bought. I’m currently wearing a tee shirt that was $3, and a pair of really nice dark grey Levi’s that were $5, both brand new at a liquidation place, as well as a real solid leather belt that I’ve worn every day for 9 years since I found it in a storage unit I bought at auction. At garage sales I’ve found insane deals on everything from a snowblower to furniture to gold jewelry and a solid gold watch to tires to clothing to a cargo trailer. DW calls garage sales “my churches”, lol.
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Are you kidding me? I buy bedding (sheets and duvet covers) used when we need them and I can find them -- do other people not have a "sanitize" cycle on their washing machines?
Do other people not sleep at hotels? Where the sheets have been used by other people??
And the towels, beds and toilet, lol.
The great Amy Dacyczyn espoused the term "selective squeamishness." Years and years later, the term still comes in handy.
Yeah, or eaten at restaurants. Gasp! Used dishes! Used Furniture! Used Cutlery! The horror!
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I know you're all just joking about bugs and vermin and such, but I actually got scabies in my early twenties from thrift store pants.
I got scabies as a little kid from the changing rooms at the swimming pool. Actually most of my small town got them. One of my earliest memories is being coated in that strong-smelling pesticide oil they used to have to put on you!
But, for the sake of argument- you can also get scabies from trying on new clothes in a retail store. Bugs be bugs.
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I got scabies from a thrift store, too.
The thrift stores in my location don't usually have great deals, but I did just score a new-in-box pair of roller skates for my son for $15, which counts as a good deal to me.
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Literally just about everything I own is either secondhand, or new, but not bought retail.
This inspired me to walk around my house and I discovered it's almost true for us, too. I was surprised at how much of our stuff is handed down, much more than I'd have guessed before looking. We have bought a certain amount of Ikea stuff new, and mattresses, and a very large handmade custom dining table--though the money for that was a gift with a lot of familial significance.
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Literally just about everything I own is either secondhand, or new, but not bought retail.
This inspired me to walk around my house and I discovered it's almost true for us, too. I was surprised at how much of our stuff is handed down, much more than I'd have guessed before looking. We have bought a certain amount of Ikea stuff new, and mattresses, and a very large handmade custom dining table--though the money for that was a gift with a lot of familial significance.
That’s awesome, and of course it’s totally ok to buy new stuff, especially when it’s something that’s perfect for you and made to last. I don’t own a single piece of furniture that was new when I bought it, yep, not even our mattress (it was purchased from a friend we knew who was downsizing and this mattress was on a bed in their spare room and had maybe been used 10 times, and some of those times was from me staying there lol). The most expensive new item I’ve ever bought was a Yamaha piano, which was totally worth it because my kid and I both use it everyday, and there just weren’t any quality used ones available. Other than that most of the stuff that was new when I bought it are our computer, phones, some clothes and some kitchen items.
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Buy Nothing and thrift stores all the way!
The only thing I'll never get from the Buy Nothing group is used underwear. Seriously. Someone was giving away used panties and boxer briefs. Ewww.
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Buy Nothing and thrift stores all the way!
The only thing I'll never get from the Buy Nothing group is used underwear. Seriously. Someone was giving away used panties and boxer briefs. Ewww.
Yea, that is a bridge too far for me, too.
I'm about to meet up with a local gent over some ridiculously cheap used skis and boots for my kids (they are doing ski camp in February). At the price he is selling, we will save money over renting daily or seasonally if we buy his kids used stuff. *fingers crossed* they fit, and the bonus is that as our kids get older, the younger kiddos will fit the same skis! Maximum usage!
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I have definitely found many treasures over the years. It helps if you know materials. I studied textiles so have a pretty easy time spotting high quality items by look and feel. Plenty of merino or cashmere for a few dollars at a time..
Some favourite finds have been a red, silk Christian Dior jacket for a few dollars and a vintage YSL purse. I’m not normally a brand buyer but sometime a gorgeous old fashion piece can feel classy.
Also original artwork, already framed..
I live in a town with some very wealthy homeowners so when they upgrade their decor or pass away, the thrift store here can be filled with unbelievable items (if you know what your looking at). I have a harder time practicing minimalism because of it. But I try to be very considerate with my purchases..there are always deals so it’s more about beauty and functionality.
Sometimes places are ‘staged’ for photos and/or movies and then items are donated. I found a beautiful new duvet this winter..paid $6 and the online price was over $300 (!)
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My kid's winter coat this year is a barely used Columbia ski jacket. It was $9.
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Not a thrift store, but a free FB marketplace listing for a 42" Samsung LCD tv (nonworking). After I looked up the model, many had a really cheap capacitor go bad and figured I could just solder in a replacement for a couple of bucks. Got it home, plugged it in, pressed the power button and it didn't turn on as advertised. Noticed a rocker switch on it...flipped the rocker...fully functioning tv with a great picture :)
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I have a harder time practicing minimalism because of it.
free FB marketplace listing for a 42" Samsung LCD tv (nonworking).
These seem to go together ;-)
My son-in-law found a nearly-new balance bike for my granddaughter--all it needed was a little spot of rust sanded off. He paid $6, retail price is $150. I got a leather purse from Coach for $4.
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Has anyone here tried thredup?
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Has anyone here tried thredup?
I haven't used threadup - but have used poshmark when I was looking for something specific. Both times I got the exact clothing items I was looking for, with tags still on, at a fraction of the list price.
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I've used ThredUp twice. I like it for brands that I'm already familiar with and know correct sizing. When I wanted new yoga pants, I ordered two pairs in generic size Large, and one of those was too small for me. Hence the preference for brands I'm familiar with! (I used the small pair to make patches for a pair that was getting holes... the fee to send it back made it seem not worth it to return.)
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I remember when DH quit a job working for someone else, a job that provided uniforms. I thought oh crap now we have to buy clothes for him. Doh, I had forgotten about thrift sore clothes EVEN THO I myself shopped there for clothes.
He does light construction work, so clothing was not hard to find with the exception of blue jeans at the thrifts. He is short, so finding the right length isnt easy. But shirts, shorts, sometimes casual docker-type pants—those are easy to find.
Saved us a boatload of money.
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I've used ThredUp twice. I like it for brands that I'm already familiar with and know correct sizing. When I wanted new yoga pants, I ordered two pairs in generic size Large, and one of those was too small for me. Hence the preference for brands I'm familiar with! (I used the small pair to make patches for a pair that was getting holes... the fee to send it back made it seem not worth it to return.)
That is super helpful. Thanks.
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Maybe a bit of a silly question, but DH and I opportunistically buy from op shops (which I sort of conflate with thrift shops, but maybe I am wrong?) or flea-markets for many things. Basically, b/c it's cheaper, more sustainable (as "already there") and often older/better quality as new, short-lived products (e.g. traditional cookware, tools, etc.)
We don't use ebay (we don't use FAANG products on principle).
Still, I sometimes feel guilty for thrift shopping b/c we could afford to shop new - so aren't we crowding out ppl who have to rely on op shops and second-hand goods? Anyone of you have had that concern, as well? What's your "excuse"?
I have settled on "I have no excuse, I do it anyway" ...
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Still, I sometimes feel guilty for thrift shopping b/c we could afford to shop new - so aren't we crowding out ppl who have to rely on op shops and second-hand goods? Anyone of you have had that concern, as well? What's your "excuse"?
I have settled on "I have no excuse, I do it anyway" ...
Don't feel guilty. There is so much stuff around. Unfortunately, I don't have easy access to thrift stores at the moment but when I was there there was always plenty of stuff and most stores used the money they got to help other people. Here it's now almost impossible to get rid of things even for free.
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Maybe a bit of a silly question, but DH and I opportunistically buy from op shops (which I sort of conflate with thrift shops, but maybe I am wrong?) or flea-markets for many things. Basically, b/c it's cheaper, more sustainable (as "already there") and often older/better quality as new, short-lived products (e.g. traditional cookware, tools, etc.)
We don't use ebay (we don't use FAANG products on principle).
Still, I sometimes feel guilty for thrift shopping b/c we could afford to shop new - so aren't we crowding out ppl who have to rely on op shops and second-hand goods? Anyone of you have had that concern, as well? What's your "excuse"?
I have settled on "I have no excuse, I do it anyway" ...
Not silly at all. I volunteer at a thrift shop and I assure you, there is plenty to go around. Unless you're blocking the door to keep people out, lol. There are also CL, ND, FB Marketplace and Buy Nothing groups.
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We have a ton of thrift stores so yes Dicey is right about plenty of stuff to go around so shop them guilt free:)).
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Has anyone here tried thredup?
I’ve done a couple of orders from ThredUp and been pleased. They are more expensive than Goodwill, but you can search for exactly what you want.
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We are big thrifters here. And in the summer we garage sale almost every weekend - even better deals than thrift stores.
Many years ago, I only thrifted selectively. Then when pregnant, DH’s coworker recommended we try a Mom2Mom sale - where parents rent tables to sell their baby and kids stuff. First trip I bought one special occasion dress and couldn’t imagine buying everyday baby clothes. Before long, we were buying practically every bit of baby gear used.
And a year later, we started organizing the same sales in our city. Imagine 120+ tables of baby and kids stuff with 2000+ shoppers coming through in 4 hours. It was garage saling on steroids.
As you can imagine, we soon got over any squeamishness and buy pretty much everything thrifted. I do draw the line at underwear - although I buy used swimsuits so that might still be inner squeamishness lol.
Even better, both my young adult kids still thrift regularly and take their friends to thrift stores.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Has anyone here tried thredup?
I tried a box from thred up. I read on the frugal girl blog to like items that appealed to me to give them a better idea of what I was looking for. The box I received was mostly those items lol. But it worked out great- I got a few Patagonia items in great condition. It might have been lucky timing though.
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We are big thrifters here. And in the summer we garage sale almost every weekend - even better deals than thrift stores.
Garage sales are where it’s at, lots of competition out there, but I’ve found crazy amazing deals on stuff
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Still, I sometimes feel guilty for thrift shopping b/c we could afford to shop new - so aren't we crowding out ppl who have to rely on op shops and second-hand goods? Anyone of you have had that concern, as well? What's your "excuse"?
I have settled on "I have no excuse, I do it anyway" ...
I've been told that I shouldn't shop at thrift stores because I can afford to shop elsewhere. But the person who told me that is someone who grew up poor and married into money and is now way invested in keeping up with the Joneses. I think I told her that I'd give her opinion all the consideration that it deserves.
Just because I "can" afford it doesn't mean that buying new is the answer to everything. It's almost as much about keeping crap out of the landfill as it is saving money. Especially clothes. As far as the whole taking-away-from-less-advantaged-people I read an article recently that said that the money that the thrift stores generate with their stores funds programs that help more than the availability of cheap clothing does (usually....I have some doubts about one of my local stores).
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Thank you all for your comments. It definitely helps to not feel guilty again for snapping up some good items. ☺
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Still, I sometimes feel guilty for thrift shopping b/c we could afford to shop new - so aren't we crowding out ppl who have to rely on op shops and second-hand goods? Anyone of you have had that concern, as well? What's your "excuse"?
I have settled on "I have no excuse, I do it anyway" ...
I've been told that I shouldn't shop at thrift stores because I can afford to shop elsewhere. But the person who told me that is someone who grew up poor and married into money and is now way invested in keeping up with the Joneses. I think I told her that I'd give her opinion all the consideration that it deserves.
Just because I "can" afford it doesn't mean that buying new is the answer to everything. It's almost as much about keeping crap out of the landfill as it is saving money. Especially clothes. As far as the whole taking-away-from-less-advantaged-people I read an article recently that said that the money that the thrift stores generate with their stores funds programs that help more than the availability of cheap clothing does (usually....I have some doubts about one of my local stores).
Another aspect of this discussion is the sheer availability of material goods. The amount of stuff produced nowadays is simply staggering.
When I was a kid, I had 1 pair each of church, school (specific uniform shoe), and play shoes. Nowadays, I'm sure I own twenty pair of shoes, if not more. As a kid, I had 2 or 3 uniforms, the same number of church dresses, and a week or two worth of play clothes. Now I have a huge walk-in closet that's pretty full.
No one is really taking anything away from anyone, there is simply too much being produced for that to be true.
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I've been told that I shouldn't shop at thrift stores because I can afford to shop elsewhere.
By that logic, I should let myself get cheated, buy extra food just to throw it away, set fire to a dollar bill every day, ....
As far as the whole taking-away-from-less-advantaged-people I read an article recently that said that the money that the thrift stores generate with their stores funds programs that help more than the availability of cheap clothing does (usually....I have some doubts about one of my local stores).
Most of the thrift stores where I live don't directly fund programs. Instead they pay a charity (each store has a different one) a dollar amount based on the weight of donations.
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I've been told that I shouldn't shop at thrift stores because I can afford to shop elsewhere.
By that logic, I should let myself get cheated, buy extra food just to throw it away, set fire to a dollar bill every day, ....
As far as the whole taking-away-from-less-advantaged-people I read an article recently that said that the money that the thrift stores generate with their stores funds programs that help more than the availability of cheap clothing does (usually....I have some doubts about one of my local stores).
Most of the thrift stores where I live don't directly fund programs. Instead they pay a charity (each store has a different one) a dollar amount based on the weight of donations.
Most of the stores here that aren't Salvation Army or Goodwill are associated with church-based drug rehab programs. One group isn't exactly bad, even though I have doubts about the effectiveness of programs that rely on former participants as counselors instead of licensed professionals. The other feels like a grift. The thrift store employees, and also the employees at the oil change shop that the program also runs, are working for free (technically, their pay goes to offset the cost of their "treatment" which is not licensed and thus not covered by insurance). Anyone with a trade is sent to work for free in their trade. I knew a guy who was a licensed electrician who would be sent all over the state, including the pastor's beach house, to do electrical work.
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I too used to believe that I was stealing from the poor by getting great deals in thrift stores. But this thread and that video above eased my fears. I have quite a few in my new neighborhood to check out.
I like getting board games for 90 percent off retail and of course thrift store shopping does hopefully
Ease some of the waste of all the excessive manufacturing of goods.
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The vast majority of our possessions and clothes are thrifted/bought used. I used to be squeamish about upholstered furniture, but I got over that. I'm just really picky and inspect thoroughly.
Some of our best finds over the years have been beautiful solid wood furniture for cheap. As far as clothes go, one time I got a great down vest for $8. I adore it and still wear it all the time.
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Today is my shift at my favorite thrift shop. Oh, the anticipation!
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That was a very interesting documentary - one to make you think.
My husband had a car shop and I was always on the look out for work pants for him. Paying $3 instead of $30 made it easier to deal with grease and stains.
Also, I generally donate and then shop on the same trip. I probably buy only 10% of the time when I donate/shop, but have found some very good buys on things I actually use. Notable is kids first 2 wheeler bike with training wheels for $10, random pieces of silverware that match my current for .25 per piece, and flower vases for under $1. (I have a couple of bushes that flower prolifically and like to give cuttings to some friends & family.)
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I also try to donate at the same time I shop. Here, every Tuesday is senior day which is 25% off. It's my incentive to declutter things like costume jewelry, CDs, kitchen items, etc. and then browse.
Last week I was happy to find a pair of gray suede ankle boots in great condition that were wide enough and only $6 - usually this style seems to be too narrow and tight for my feet. Stylish + comfortable = hard to find.
However I'm still dismayed to see prices climbing - used bras for $5, kids bikes in rough shape for $25, dollar store items for $2 and up, etc. I realize inflation means paying more but some of this stuff is barely re-usable.
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I previously posted a recliner that I found on the street, but I forgot the 20 bicycle that was in pretty good shape for 20$ had to negotiate down the price from 25, this was during the pandemic and you could not get a bike cheaper that works. I bought it for a friend who has no money and was driving a bike with one very crappy brake that barely worked! We call it happy bike because it is a total Mary popping upright rider and it is so different than modern bikes, very comfortable and the wheels spin with out much resistance. I can keep up with others on it and everyone wants to ride it on group rides because it is so unique looking.
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Picked up a pair of solid kid's ski boots at "Play it Again Sports" yesterday for a song. They fit great, and when we are done with them, they will go right back to Play it Again for the next kiddo. Win win!
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As usual, my thrift shop shift did not disappoint. I deliberately didn't look for anything this time. Normally, I spend most of the day on the floor, curating inventory, which is how I find treasures. I worked retail for 14 years and am
a lot younger than many of the other volunteers, so I normally get a lot of shit done.
We were short handed, so I cashiered all day, whomp, whomp. As I was exiting the retail portion of the shop, after the store had closed, I noticed a Fellowes Paper Shredder. (I own a badass one from my pre-FIRE days, but I used it a LOT. Now it only works when you actively hold the "Clear" button down. DH has tried to fix it, going down the YT rabbit hole and even contacting the company, but it apparently can't be done. Of course, we were still limping along with it, but its days were numbered.) It was priced at $15! Oh yes, pretty baby, you're coming home with me! It's not quite as monstrous as the model I have, but now that I'm FIRE, 8 pages at a time (vs. 20) is sufficient. Just in time to start on our taxes, yippee! A quick search says this model sold for about $110, so $15 was a pretty good price.
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Has anyone here tried thredup?
I’ve done a couple of orders from ThredUp and been pleased. They are more expensive than Goodwill, but you can search for exactly what you want.
I have used both Poshmark and ThredUp, and thus far I'm most pleased with ThredUp. I've sold a few things on Poshmark (Frye boots previously bought from a thrift store) and bought a few things (Eileen Fisher cardigan that arrived absolutely REEKING of awful perfume).
When I was getting ready to do job interviews last year, I got a perfect condition set of Banana Republic wool suiting for about $24 total from ThredUp. They are like brand new, and I felt 100% confident going into the interview that I looked professional and up-to-date.
I also did a ThredUp closet clean-out bag to get rid of some work dresses I can no longer use, maternity clothes, stinky Eileeen Fisher cardigan, some hand-me-down Patagonia items (my Dad is an outdoor gear shopaholic), and the fruits of my ill-fated foray into minimalist footwear (result: I got plantar fasciitis). I'm pleasantly surprised at the payout. I have more than $50 in credit, thanks mostly to the stinky Eileen Fisher cardigan, on which I actually made a teeny profit (bought it at a steep discount from Poshmark).
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I love thrift and consignment stores. There is always so much stuff. Don't feel guilty about buying used, feel happy that you're saving something from the landfill and reducing waste consumption.
Just got back from the local thrift store. Found a book for my dad's upcoming birthday!
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Another spot that often gets overlooked is pawn shops for mechanical tools. I must have a steep discount for electrical stuff and expect it to be short lived. I've only had a few meet that expectation.
Wrenches, sockets, screw drivers are all there for the negotiation. Know what you are buying and inspect it.
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Pawn shops are a no-go for me. I've looked at jewelry, tools and electronics there and was surprised at how high the prices were. Also lots of sad people there and I always got the vibe of poor people being exploited.
But thrift stores are another vibe entirely. And I'm happy to donate lots of good quality items I just don't need anymore (whether I ever needed them is debatable, but I won't go there!)
Sometimes there's an item that's fairly valuable and it makes me happy to think that someone will find them and be thrilled (looking at you Coach shoes that were just a bit too big).
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Pawn shops are a no-go for me. I've looked at jewelry, tools and electronics there and was surprised at how high the prices were. Also lots of sad people there and I always got the vibe of poor people being exploited.
But thrift stores are another vibe entirely. And I'm happy to donate lots of good quality items I just don't need anymore (whether I ever needed them is debatable, but I won't go there!)
Sometimes there's an item that's fairly valuable and it makes me happy to think that someone will find them and be thrilled (looking at you Coach shoes that were just a bit too big).
100% agree!
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I've had good and bad experiences with the vibes. In some cases, it is exploitation. In others, people have a need. As with all things, it depends on the user and how they approach the pawnbrokers.
As consumers, we choose who we do business with and there are some I don't patronize. As with thrift stores and flea markets, everything is negotiable. If you don't like the price, there is usually some wiggle room, but don't just expect a steal or them to give it to you. I have gotten discounts on old merchandise. Some good deals and others were what I was desiring/needing.
I know people who will buy a specialty tool and rather than selling it themselves, will get a little money back after having used it and gotten their money worth through the use and let the shops sell it. These are the complete tools with instructions. They don't last long. Cheers
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I know people who will buy a specialty tool and rather than selling it themselves, will get a little money back after having used it and gotten their money worth through the use and let the shops sell it. These are the complete tools with instructions. They don't last long. Cheers
I've never been one to hassle with selling used but still valuable items and just end up donating. You make a good point here on how pawn shops could be useful for the original owners to recoup some $$. And I don't mean to say ALL pawnshops are exploiters, just a vibe I've gotten at times that is super uncomfortable for me so now avoid completely.
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As usual, my thrift shop shift did not disappoint. I deliberately didn't look for anything this time. Normally, I spend most of the day on the floor, curating inventory, which is how I find treasures. I worked retail for 14 years and am a lot younger than many of the other volunteers, so I normally get a lot of shit done.
We were short handed, so I cashiered all day, whomp, whomp. As I was exiting the retail portion of the shop, after the store had closed, I noticed a Fellowes Paper Shredder. (I own a badass one from my pre-FIRE days, but I used it a LOT. Now it only works when you actively hold the "Clear" button down. DH has tried to fix it, going down the YT rabbit hole and even contacting the company, but it apparently can't be done. Of course, we were still limping along with it, but its days were numbered.) It was priced at $15! Oh yes, pretty baby, you're coming home with me! It's not quite as monstrous as the model I have, but now that I'm FIRE, 8 pages at a time (vs. 20) is sufficient. Just in time to start on our taxes, yippee! A quick search says this model sold for about $110, so $15 was a pretty good price.
This made me smile because I just donated a shredder to our local thrift store last weekend. (Partner and I combined households and did not need 2 shredders.)
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As usual, my thrift shop shift did not disappoint. I deliberately didn't look for anything this time. Normally, I spend most of the day on the floor, curating inventory, which is how I find treasures. I worked retail for 14 years and am a lot younger than many of the other volunteers, so I normally get a lot of shit done.
We were short handed, so I cashiered all day, whomp, whomp. As I was exiting the retail portion of the shop, after the store had closed, I noticed a Fellowes Paper Shredder. (I own a badass one from my pre-FIRE days, but I used it a LOT. Now it only works when you actively hold the "Clear" button down. DH has tried to fix it, going down the YT rabbit hole and even contacting the company, but it apparently can't be done. Of course, we were still limping along with it, but its days were numbered.) It was priced at $15! Oh yes, pretty baby, you're coming home with me! It's not quite as monstrous as the model I have, but now that I'm FIRE, 8 pages at a time (vs. 20) is sufficient. Just in time to start on our taxes, yippee! A quick search says this model sold for about $110, so $15 was a pretty good price.
This made me smile because I just donated a shredder to our local thrift store last weekend. (Partner and I combined households and did not need 2 shredders.)
Hmm, I thought I'd added a post-script here, but I guess not. The shredder went back, because it couldn't chew up as much as our existing one does, even though ours only works in manual mode. Since I volunteer there, I was able to check it out to try it at home, and then bring it back, so no money changed hands. Making do for the win!
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My $3 thrift store toaster works great!
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MrInCO dropped our butter dish the other day, so when I had 10 minutes to spare on Monday I ran through our local Goodwill and found a replacement. It'll hold the shorter, wider sticks, but I'm not sure it's long enough for the longer, skinnier sticks -- not that it really matters: we buy a brand that comes in the size that fits.
turns out, green stickers were half off, so after tax it cost 95 cents! (And it's innocuous white ceramic.)
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Nothing to report yet, but today is my official volunteer day at the Thrift Shop. Ooh, the anticipation!
Also, it never fails, no matter how thoroughly we look around before the store opens, a customer always, always presents something for payment that one of us would have snagged if we'd seen it first. Which just goes to show there's plenty to go around, lol.
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Nothing to report yet, but today is my official volunteer day at the Thrift Shop. Ooh, the anticipation!
Also, it never fails, no matter how thoroughly we look around before the store opens, a customer always, always presents something for payment that one of us would have snagged if we'd seen it first. Which just goes to show there's plenty to go around, lol.
Can’t wait to hear what else you find. Still too cold for garage sales here, but hopefully I can start snagging amazing deals soon too
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Today I bought my 21 mo grandson (we live together) a Little Tikes car he can sit in and push with his feet for $13. It retails for $50. Previously I have bought him a kitchen ($24) and work bench (complete with all the tools and screws). ($15 IIRC). Definitely his favorite toys and they are taking over my living room!
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Today I bought my 21 mo grandson (we live together) a Little Tikes car he can sit in and push with his feet for $13. It retails for $50. Previously I have bought him a kitchen ($24) and work bench (complete with all the tools and screws). ($15 IIRC). Definitely his favorite toys and they are taking over my living room!
Lol, there used to be a great kid's consignment shop on my walking route. My walking partner found a kitchen there that's so similar to yours, it must be from the same manufacturer. She keeps it at her house, but it gets passed around to all the visiting grandkids. It's been shared by at least five other families. My granddaughter loves it and has no idea it doesn't live at our house.
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Last night the nurses in our childbirth class were adamant that the dishwasher is not sufficient to sterilize bottles for a newborn. We’re so overwhelmed by All. Of. The. Information. That we have decided if those nurses tell us something we’re going to do it. (Ok… within reason… but… sometimes you just have to pick someone to trust! They are a good choice…)
Today, after an appointment next door to
to the local goodwill I popped in and purchased a brand new in box Dr Browns microwave bottle sterilizer for $8.99 or less than half of what I would have paid if I went to Walmart.
I dunno if that was badass but it sure was easy.
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It seems like there are some great thrift stores in the US. The ones where I live tend to be utter crap.
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Last night the nurses in our childbirth class were adamant that the dishwasher is not sufficient to sterilize bottles for a newborn. We’re so overwhelmed by All. Of. The. Information. That we have decided if those nurses tell us something we’re going to do it. (Ok… within reason… but… sometimes you just have to pick someone to trust! They are a good choice…)
Today, after an appointment next door to
to the local goodwill I popped in and purchased a brand new in box Dr Browns microwave bottle sterilizer for $8.99 or less than half of what I would have paid if I went to Walmart.
I dunno if that was badass but it sure was easy.
Baby #1 drops pacifier. Mama immediately swoops it up, puts it in a plastic bag and gets a sterile pacifier out of the diaper bag.
Baby #2 drops pacifier. Mama picks it up, sticks it in her mouth, then gives it back to baby.
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Baby #1 drops pacifier. Mama immediately swoops it up, puts it in a plastic bag and gets a sterile pacifier out of the diaper bag.
Baby #2 drops pacifier. Mama picks it up, sticks it in her mouth, then gives it back to baby.
It's a little different with bottles. Incidental germ exposure from licking the floor, etc. is going to happen, but bacteria is a numbers game and if you give them a good medium like warm milk and a little time, they will proliferate quickly.
I got a.microwave sterilizer at a thrift store for my kid. It was an extra step after washing but overall pretty easy.
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I completely understand the reason, I'm merely pointing out that things tend to be a lot more relaxed the second time around.
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I did the microwavable sterilizer too. We only sent bottles to daycare, so that extra step wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure I picked mine up at a consignment sale for about $10.
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I scored some kids clothes today when I was on my way into the consignment shop to drop off more stuff... worked out great, because I still have a credit even after spending!
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I wore my $200 t shirt this week! LOL
I picked it up at goodwill, so not $200, but it still had the tags, so I looked it up. It’s from a boutique in California that imports from Japan.
I enjoy imagining how it ended up at Goodwill in Wisconsin - an unappreciated gift, perhaps?
I did feel pretty fancy.
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I wore my $200 t shirt this week! LOL
I picked it up at goodwill, so not $200, but it still had the tags, so I looked it up. It’s from a boutique in California that imports from Japan.
I enjoy imagining how it ended up at Goodwill in Wisconsin - an unappreciated gift, perhaps?
I did feel pretty fancy.
Ooh, you look pretty fancy, too!
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I stopped into the middle class Goodwill a few days ago and got two pairs of pants for me and two pairs of pants for DH.
They’ve increased their prices and their pants are now $4.50. I think they used to be $3 or $3.50 for plain vanilla non-fancy pants.
They have really improved their game, expanding incertain areas, got rid of other areas. They are sorting their men’s pants by small medium large which is better than no sorting at all, so with that change I’m willing to go through racks to find pants for DH.
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I hear a lot of complaints the GW is more expensive than it used to be, and I agree that prices have gone up and that they seem to be basing some prices on eBay resale value. So I *am* trying to be more aware of their sales cycle.
Our store does sort by sizes, but they make a lot of mistakes, so it’s worth a glance through the other sizes. Also, they make mistakes about what’s mens/womens, and that seems to result in nice stuff sitting there until it’s tag color is up for half price.
Yesterday my dh got a pair of brand name deck shoes (of which he is inexplicably fond) for $8. I bought a large piece of 100% cotton fabric - which is probably a tablecloth - for $2.99. It’s destined to either recover some pillows or become bags.
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
Lucky!
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
Lucky!
Ouch!
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
Lucky!
Ouch!
I'm confused. Why is that an "ouch"? What am I missing?
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
Lucky!
Ouch!
I'm confused. Why is that an "ouch"? What am I missing?
Play on words? Lucky jeans/Lucky to fit back into them?
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
Lucky!
Ouch!
I'm confused. Why is that an "ouch"? What am I missing?
Play on words? Lucky jeans/Lucky to fit back into them?
Haha, yes, painfully on-point pun!
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As a non-perfume-wearer, I was a bit surprised to find myself pleased to find two small but nearly-full bottles from the re-use centre. Burberry and Chanel Mademoiselle..they both smell wonderful--I just need to dispense them in micro-amounts since I don't like overly strong scents. Looked up the bottles and it is over $300 of scent (for $4). We do have loads of wealthy citizens with 2nd homes in our town so this type of thing happens when people move/or are only here for a short period of time and don't want to fly things home. Feels pretty lux'.
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I've lost enough weight to fit into the Lucky jeans that I picked up a few months back for like $8. I was considering flipping them, but I do like the way they fit.
Lucky!
Ouch!
I'm confused. Why is that an "ouch"? What am I missing?
Play on words? Lucky jeans/Lucky to fit back into them?
Haha, yes, painfully on-point pun!
I'm not that clever. Lucky to find that the jeans she intended to flip fit well. Lucky she hadn't sold them. I'm pretty sure I have a couple pair of Lucky jeans at the bottom of a drawer that seem to have shrunk during the pandemic...
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My Goodwill sells pants for $8. I recently noticed that hardback books are now $5 at Goodwill, which surprised me, as this is higher than the price for a hardback at the Goodwill Bookstore (or now a book and collectibles store). But I also realize I have no idea how much a hardback book costs new these days.
But it isn't just Goodwill; my large locally owned thrift store also prices a lot of items really high. Sometimes I see vintage Pyrex and the like priced higher than ebay. But they don't catch everything, especially unmarked vintage items -- I recently came home with a Fenton milk glass cake stand that was priced at $5, and I had a half price coupon from their anniversary sale. This particular pattern regularly sells for over $50 ebay. Then at the Goodwill Bookstore I found a large Metlox bowl for $6 that also sells for over $50 on a regular basis. Neither of those pieces are marked with a maker -- you just have to know. My grandmother had a lot of Fenton glass, and since she and my grandfather lived in Los Angeles during the height of the L.A pottery boom, I've learned a lot of about the various manufacturers and their pieces.
This week's big thrift score was 145 books for $15.77, which includes sales tax. The independent thrift store clears out books once a month, charging 10¢ each with a 10 book minimum. Between the pandemic and having other things scheduled on the sale day, it's been a few years since I've gone.
I don't resell anything, or at least I haven't yet. I buy housewares that "spark joy" and that I plan to use, and with the books, I'm frequently putting finished books in a Little Free Library (I'll buy classic children's books for 10¢ just to put them directly in the LFL), or I donate nicer books to our Friends of the Library for their bookstore and sales. Bringing in the gorgeous Fenton cake stand meant the thrifted plain Anchor Hocking cake stand I had made its way back to the thrift store.
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Last night I slept on brand new sheets (King size), in my preferred colour, that retail for $109/set. The pillowcases were missing but I didn't mind that to pay only $14. I have plenty of spare pillowcases, they usually sell for about $1-$2 each at our OpShops. I also purchased a new pair of Levis with loyalty points, the cost was NIL. They were a little short so I rolled them up to mid calf length, very fashionable (LOL)!
I don't usually buy greeting cards but there were some nice Hallmark ones for 20c so my husband will receive his first ever 'Happy Anniversary' card from me in November (if I remember where I put it). I'm thinking I'll use the same card forever, make a small note for the high points of the year so that each Anniversary we share past good times.
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Last night I slept on brand new sheets (King size), in my preferred colour, that retail for $109/set. The pillowcases were missing but I didn't mind that to pay only $14. I have plenty of spare pillowcases, they usually sell for about $1-$2 each at our OpShops. I also purchased a new pair of Levis with loyalty points, the cost was NIL. They were a little short so I rolled them up to mid calf length, very fashionable (LOL)!
I don't usually buy greeting cards but there were some nice Hallmark ones for 20c so my husband will receive his first ever 'Happy Anniversary' card from me in November (if I remember where I put it). I'm thinking I'll use the same card forever, make a small note for the high points of the year so that each Anniversary we share past good times.
That's a very cool idea for the ongoing anniversary card!
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My Goodwill sells pants for $8. I recently noticed that hardback books are now $5 at Goodwill, which surprised me, as this is higher than the price for a hardback at the Goodwill Bookstore (or now a book and collectibles store). But I also realize I have no idea how much a hardback book costs new these days.
But it isn't just Goodwill; my large locally owned thrift store also prices a lot of items really high. Sometimes I see vintage Pyrex and the like priced higher than ebay. But they don't catch everything, especially unmarked vintage items -- I recently came home with a Fenton milk glass cake stand that was priced at $5, and I had a half price coupon from their anniversary sale. This particular pattern regularly sells for over $50 ebay. Then at the Goodwill Bookstore I found a large Metlox bowl for $6 that also sells for over $50 on a regular basis. Neither of those pieces are marked with a maker -- you just have to know. My grandmother had a lot of Fenton glass, and since she and my grandfather lived in Los Angeles during the height of the L.A pottery boom, I've learned a lot of about the various manufacturers and their pieces.
This week's big thrift score was 145 books for $15.77, which includes sales tax. The independent thrift store clears out books once a month, charging 10¢ each with a 10 book minimum. Between the pandemic and having other things scheduled on the sale day, it's been a few years since I've gone.
I don't resell anything, or at least I haven't yet. I buy housewares that "spark joy" and that I plan to use, and with the books, I'm frequently putting finished books in a Little Free Library (I'll buy classic children's books for 10¢ just to put them directly in the LFL), or I donate nicer books to our Friends of the Library for their bookstore and sales. Bringing in the gorgeous Fenton cake stand meant the thrifted plain Anchor Hocking cake stand I had made its way back to the thrift store.
Whre are you located that Goodwill charges $8!
During the pandemic when I was unable to shop at thrift stores, I graduated up to eBay used clothes. I now will buy things on eBay for up to $20 where I used to limit myself to the thrift stores around here which are very cheap and plentiful. I don’t like not being able to touch and feel the fabric, but I got so that I peered carefully at the photographs and skipped over any that did not give the fabric content. I like a lot of cotton in my clothes and so I skip over those that are not clearly that.
I’m now on a search to replace or duplicate an old silk and cashmere cardigan I got on eBay. It’s like an ugly old professor’s tattered sweater, but it’s so soft and warm, and easy to maintain. I do not dry clean it I put it in a cool cycle wash and let it air dry. I found another on eBay but it’s in a smaller size. I’m confident I can find this exact sweater.
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Maybe a bit of a silly question, but DH and I opportunistically buy from op shops (which I sort of conflate with thrift shops, but maybe I am wrong?) or flea-markets for many things. Basically, b/c it's cheaper, more sustainable (as "already there") and often older/better quality as new, short-lived products (e.g. traditional cookware, tools, etc.)
We don't use ebay (we don't use FAANG products on principle).
Still, I sometimes feel guilty for thrift shopping b/c we could afford to shop new - so aren't we crowding out ppl who have to rely on op shops and second-hand goods? Anyone of you have had that concern, as well? What's your "excuse"?
I have settled on "I have no excuse, I do it anyway" ...
What is—
“Op shop”
“FAANG products”
?…??
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My Goodwill sells pants for $8. I recently noticed that hardback books are now $5 at Goodwill, which surprised me, as this is higher than the price for a hardback at the Goodwill Bookstore (or now a book and collectibles store). But I also realize I have no idea how much a hardback book costs new these days.
But it isn't just Goodwill; my large locally owned thrift store also prices a lot of items really high. Sometimes I see vintage Pyrex and the like priced higher than ebay. But they don't catch everything, especially unmarked vintage items -- I recently came home with a Fenton milk glass cake stand that was priced at $5, and I had a half price coupon from their anniversary sale. This particular pattern regularly sells for over $50 ebay. Then at the Goodwill Bookstore I found a large Metlox bowl for $6 that also sells for over $50 on a regular basis. Neither of those pieces are marked with a maker -- you just have to know. My grandmother had a lot of Fenton glass, and since she and my grandfather lived in Los Angeles during the height of the L.A pottery boom, I've learned a lot of about the various manufacturers and their pieces.
This week's big thrift score was 145 books for $15.77, which includes sales tax. The independent thrift store clears out books once a month, charging 10¢ each with a 10 book minimum. Between the pandemic and having other things scheduled on the sale day, it's been a few years since I've gone.
I don't resell anything, or at least I haven't yet. I buy housewares that "spark joy" and that I plan to use, and with the books, I'm frequently putting finished books in a Little Free Library (I'll buy classic children's books for 10¢ just to put them directly in the LFL), or I donate nicer books to our Friends of the Library for their bookstore and sales. Bringing in the gorgeous Fenton cake stand meant the thrifted plain Anchor Hocking cake stand I had made its way back to the thrift store.
Whre are you located that Goodwill charges $8!
During the pandemic when I was unable to shop at thrift stores, I graduated up to eBay used clothes. I now will buy things on eBay for up to $20 where I used to limit myself to the thrift stores around here which are very cheap and plentiful. I don’t like not being able to touch and feel the fabric, but I got so that I peered carefully at the photographs and skipped over any that did not give the fabric content. I like a lot of cotton in my clothes and so I skip over those that are not clearly that.
I’m now on a search to replace or duplicate an old silk and cashmere cardigan I got on eBay. It’s like an ugly old professor’s tattered sweater, but it’s so soft and warm, and easy to maintain. I do not dry clean it I put it in a cool cycle wash and let it air dry. I found another on eBay but it’s in a smaller size. I’m confident I can find this exact sweater.
Goodwill has been attempting to raise their image and prices for awhile. I do appreciate that the stores are cleaner and better organized, but I've largely stopped shopping there. Most things with value are auctioned off on their website, which you can still find deals if you are lucky or good. I filled out a china pattern that way. I have some reservations with them as a company, but that seems to come with the territory of thrift stores.
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Whre are you located that Goodwill charges $8!
During the pandemic when I was unable to shop at thrift stores, I graduated up to eBay used clothes. I now will buy things on eBay for up to $20 where I used to limit myself to the thrift stores around here which are very cheap and plentiful. I don’t like not being able to touch and feel the fabric, but I got so that I peered carefully at the photographs and skipped over any that did not give the fabric content. I like a lot of cotton in my clothes and so I skip over those that are not clearly that.
I’m now on a search to replace or duplicate an old silk and cashmere cardigan I got on eBay. It’s like an ugly old professor’s tattered sweater, but it’s so soft and warm, and easy to maintain. I do not dry clean it I put it in a cool cycle wash and let it air dry. I found another on eBay but it’s in a smaller size. I’m confident I can find this exact sweater.
California, and $8 pants were in place pre-pandemic. Nightgowns are $7 (or were pre-pandemic, I haven't paid attention to clothing price increases).
Today is $1 clothing at the independent thrift store. I didn't go at opening because it's absolutely insane. That store gets tons of resellers -- people show up with their own bins and wagons because there aren't enough carts (and there are 30+ carts). Sometimes I go later in the day to see if anything that was left behind is usable. But I have plenty of clothing right now, and enough sewing projects too.
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I don’t go to the inner city retail Goodwill because they moved it a couple years ago and it was then crowded and pretty crappy. Living as I do in the urban core I didn’t mind the clientele or even then contemporary music that wasn’t for old white people. I did mind their lack of product.
I think I’ve heard they closed that store and no wonder Cuz they really ruined it when they moved it.
But the Goidwill store closest to me is also urban core, and it’s in a giant warehouse which is their “ Last chance sales place. You go there and buy clothes by the pound and anything else is by the pound I think. I don’t go there cause I don’t need more junk at the moment, but man it’s a trip to go there. I got a super velvet coat there, vintage, and I to this day cannot figure out why it made its way to that store. Should’ve been sold on eBay. I’ve also picked up a fair amount of junk that cluttered my life that I ended up just jettisoning.
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What is—
“Op shop”
“FAANG products”
?…??
[/quote]
I have no clue what FAANG means but in Australia 'Thrifts Stores' = 'Op Shops', short for 'Opportunity Shops'. Personally while there are many awesome opportunities for bargains at OpShops, I think they could be called 'Searching for Treasure Shops'.
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According to Google:
FAANG is an acronym referring to the stocks of the five most popular and best-performing American technology companies: Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet (formerly known as Google).
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St. Vinny’s has a bin store here, and I’m eventually going to spend a morning there. I’m looking for men’s shirts to cut up for a quilt, and I’m looking for cheap.
Goodwill here prices based on brand, I think, so some things are as low as $3.99 and some are as high as $9.99.
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I swung by St. Vincent de Paul today which is the big thrift store closest to me. I was looking for a couple of things to replace the things I had thrown out a few weeks ago, but you know that’s okay. I thought of Pete saying the thrift stores are our storage place and that’s fine. Anyway – I saw astonishing oak chairs from the 40s, Gothic carving, quarter sawn oak, sitting there and they were already sold. There were two of them.
Someone had carefully refinished them in a hideous shiney poly sheen, oy. Simply awful. But these old chairs were so heavy and wonderful, and they will survive that kind of abuse.
I am actually glad they were already sold when I saw them because they were problematic in a couple of ways, that new finish. And then they were squatty and not nicely proportion, but oh that Gothic carving!
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I took 4 bags of clothes to the thrift store and they gave me 20% off whatever I bought. I usually don’t browse but did and came home with a small antique creamer for 4:)). Recently I bought 3 pairs of pjs that were 6 each so definitely noticed thrift store inflation. I don’t have the patience to shop for pants or capris which are much harder to fit then shirts. But also I have downsized my clothes a lot especially with no longer needing old clothes for yard work.
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I was at the Goodwill Bookstore earlier this week and heard they are raising the prices on all of the books. The employee was concerned that parents already think the children's book are expensive. Most books will be $4 or $5 now -- children's will be less than that but she wasn't sure exactly what they would cost.
Maybe I'm old, but I just don't see paying $5 for a used book unless it was something I'd been waiting for since it was published, the library hadn't purchased it, and it was still rather new. Even online, I look to pay under $4 including shipping, and again that's for books I'm specifically shopping for. Browsing in a used bookstore, I'm just not likely to spend a lot of money on a book that catches my fancy, since I can go to the library and have something catch my fancy for free.
Same Goodwill charges $3 and up for coffee mugs. They're 99¢ at the locally thrift unless priced otherwise, and they only charge more for clearly vintage mugs (but they don't charge more for the good old made in USA diner style mugs).
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If anyone is in Council Grove, Kansas, everything in the thrift shop is $0.25. The main worry is you might buy too much stuff.
After you're done buying shirts, I'll recommend the Trail Days Cafe, which a retired judge runs as a non-profit historical site.
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I don’t mind paying $4-5 for a book. That’s the going rate at our biggest chain, Value Village. Salvation Army is about the same. A local one charges 35 cents each, but their selection is crap. The local library isn’t great either and I hate being on wait lists. I’ve ordered some books from Thriftbooks, even though their shipping is often equal to the price of the book, but considering brand new prices, I think I’m still doing okay.
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Holy cow! The shop where I volunteer charges 50 cents for children's books and on Tuesdays ALL books are 25 cents. The challenge with children's books is that they rarely are in good enough shape to command premium prices. (Which is totally understandable. Kids tend to read their favorites over and over and over.)
There are simply too many books out there for those GW prices to hold.
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I don’t mind paying $4-5 for a book. That’s the going rate at our biggest chain, Value Village. Salvation Army is about the same. A local one charges 35 cents each, but their selection is crap. The local library isn’t great either and I hate being on wait lists. I’ve ordered some books from Thriftbooks, even though their shipping is often equal to the price of the book, but considering brand new prices, I think I’m still doing okay.
I do order specific books I want from Thirftbooks on ebay, but they always offer free shipping, as well as discounts on multiple books. Books used to come in under $4 this way, but I've noticed lately an increase in their prices as well.
My large local thrift has a huge selection of books, but they aren't organized in any manner so it's definitely a treasure hunt. They charge $3 for hardbacks and $2 for paperbacks, and then a random $7 for textbooks which isn't great because employees will argue that any oversized book is a textbook and you really have to watch as they ring the books up and point out when a large book isn't a textbook. Then all the books are 10¢ each once a month.
I don't mind wait lists as I have so much to read anyway, and my library is within walking distance.
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I would rather have a treasure hunt in uncategorized books than the way VV does it. They put fiction books in non-fiction if it’s been made into a movie or tv show. How on earth does that make it non- fiction??? Plus some books are just randomly put in the wrong sections, maybe by customers changing their minds. Having worked in a library many years ago, I find it so aggravating and itch to redo the whole book section!
Thriftbooks charges for shipping to Canada unfortunately. A tip for anyone buying from them - spend a few extra cents to get the best condition book they have on offer because they tend to overestimate the described condition of books.
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Yesterday I went to our local Kid-to-Kid which is a shop for used kids clothes, shoes, jackets, toys, strollers, etc. They also sell some new items like socks, books, or Melissa and Doug toys.
Tuesdays are "Grandparent Days" so for me it was 15% off. I bought 7 clothing items for $20, including a pair of stretchy gym shorts which were only .85. That's cheaper than Goodwill, it's basically yard-sale prices.
They are a buy and sell shop, and there's plenty of young families in the area, so there's always a fresh inventory. Things are gently used but clean, and they also check for recalls so you know it's safe. I understand Kid-to-Kid is a franchise and I'm not sure how widespread their stores are but I'd highly recommend checking them out if you ever need to sell or buy stuff for the age 12 and under group.
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I went to St. Vincent’s bin store for the first time, and man, was that a trip!
Textiles are $1.25/lb, “small goods” are $.50/lb, and furniture was priced by the piece. Everything that doesn’t sell at the other stores goes to the Dig and Save, and is dumped into bins. There were some bins for linens, many bins for clothing, and a separate area for bins of “stuff”. There was a line waiting to get in but it wasn’t crowded. A lot of people were clearly resellers who knew what they were looking for. There were loads of CDs and dvds; I didn’t see any books but may have just missed them.
I was primarily looking for fabric to cut up for sewing things, so I was more interested in the fabric content than the label, but there was some really nice stuff.
I bought 21 cloth items, 3 stitch holders for knitting, 15 pencils and a small 31 tote bag, and spent $22. That included 2 actual quilts and a duvet cover, a Gap vest for my dd and a Duluth Trading flannel shirt for whoever snatched it up fastest.
We will definitely go there again, as it seems like the cheapest way to get fabric that I can think of.
There is so damn much stuff in existence.
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I needed some new jeans. Miraculously, I found two pairs that fit me on the single rack filled with random sizes, styles, and lengths. $10 each.
I also needed a floor length dress for a black tie wedding I'm going to this summer. I tried on every floor length dress they had and managed to find a great option for $12. It only takes one!
I'm sure a lot of you find that expensive for Goodwill, but it's still cheaper than the other thrift or consignment stores that I have access to in the middle of NYC, and it's better from a sustainability standpoint than paying a little more to buy things new. Maybe I could do better searching online, but between shipping and the high chance whatever I order won't fit, I still think Goodwill is a pretty good deal.
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I needed some new jeans. Miraculously, I found two pairs that fit me on the single rack filled with random sizes, styles, and lengths. $10 each.
I also needed a floor length dress for a black tie wedding I'm going to this summer. I tried on every floor length dress they had and managed to find a great option for $12. It only takes one!
I'm sure a lot of you find that expensive for Goodwill, but it's still cheaper than the other thrift or consignment stores that I have access to in the middle of NYC, and it's better from a sustainability standpoint than paying a little more to buy things new. Maybe I could do better searching online, but between shipping and the high chance whatever I order won't fit, I still think Goodwill is a pretty good deal.
Woo-hoo! IMO hacking the wardrobe makes every fancy-pants event even more fun. Winning!
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I went to St. Vincent’s bin store for the first time, and man, was that a trip!
Textiles are $1.25/lb, “small goods” are $.50/lb, and furniture was priced by the piece. Everything that doesn’t sell at the other stores goes to the Dig and Save, and is dumped into bins. There were some bins for linens, many bins for clothing, and a separate area for bins of “stuff”. There was a line waiting to get in but it wasn’t crowded. A lot of people were clearly resellers who knew what they were looking for. There were loads of CDs and dvds; I didn’t see any books but may have just missed them.
I was primarily looking for fabric to cut up for sewing things, so I was more interested in the fabric content than the label, but there was some really nice stuff.
I bought 21 cloth items, 3 stitch holders for knitting, 15 pencils and a small 31 tote bag, and spent $22. That included 2 actual quilts and a duvet cover, a Gap vest for my dd and a Duluth Trading flannel shirt for whoever snatched it up fastest.
We will definitely go there again, as it seems like the cheapest way to get fabric that I can think of.
There is so damn much stuff in existence.
Never heard of such a thing around me. Sounds awesome.
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This isn't a thrift store story, but I thought people might get a kick out of it too.
I recently helped one of my sisters declutter and reorganize her giant mess of a closet, and in return she let me pick out any clothes I wanted.
So instead of spending money at a thrift store, I get a suitcase full of nice clothes, in sizes and styles that I like, to take home with me. Win-win and I don't even have to spend the time and money to go to a thrift store!
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This isn't a thrift store story, but I thought people might get a kick out of it too.
I recently helped one of my sisters declutter and reorganize her giant mess of a closet, and in return she let me pick out any clothes I wanted.
So instead of spending money at a thrift store, I get a suitcase full of nice clothes, in sizes and styles that I like, to take home with me. Win-win and I don't even have to spend the time and money to go to a thrift store!
Nice! Win-win!
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This isn't a thrift store story, but I thought people might get a kick out of it too.
I recently helped one of my sisters declutter and reorganize her giant mess of a closet, and in return she let me pick out any clothes I wanted.
So instead of spending money at a thrift store, I get a suitcase full of nice clothes, in sizes and styles that I like, to take home with me. Win-win and I don't even have to spend the time and money to go to a thrift store!
Awww, you already know I love you, but here you go, just piling on more reasons. This story wins the thread, IMO!
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I’ve been traveling and my favorite travel pants are a pair of Eddie Bauer capris. I got them new with tags at our local goodwill a few months ago. They were marked down to their lowest price…just a hair below $2. The problem was they had a huge sharpie line across the front. I took a gamble, soaked them in alcohol, and like magic it disappeared. Brand new, perfect warm weather pants for less than a cup of coffee!
My husband has been wearing a pair of light weight hiking pants I got him from Patagonia a couple years ago. He insists he bought them at REI, but I’m sure I got them at goodwill. One doesn’t easily forget when a pair of perfect hiking pants presents itself for $6. It’s seared into my memory.
Now, I’m excited to get home and go hunting. I have a list of warm weather stuff I need to find for this year…the kids just keep growing.
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I’ve been traveling and my favorite travel pants are a pair of Eddie Bauer capris. I got them new with tags at our local goodwill a few months ago. They were marked down to their lowest price…just a hair below $2. The problem was they had a huge sharpie line across the front. I took a gamble, soaked them in alcohol, and like magic it disappeared. Brand new, perfect warm weather pants for less than a cup of coffee!
My husband has been wearing a pair of light weight hiking pants I got him from Patagonia a couple years ago. He insists he bought them at REI, but I’m sure I got them at goodwill. One doesn’t easily forget when a pair of perfect hiking pants presents itself for $6. It’s seared into my memory.
Now, I’m excited to get home and go hunting. I have a list of warm weather stuff I need to find for this year…the kids just keep growing.
Ooh, is alcohol really a thing for removing Sharpie marks? When MIL lived with us, she had a penchant for putting pens in her pockets. She once stuffed a not-quite-firmly-capped Sharpie into a back pocket and sat on a velveteen chair in the living room. Then she moved to the sofa, leaving Sharpie stripes on both. I've never tried to remove them, just turned the cushions around. I was afraid of doing more damage.
Also, I completely believe you got those Patagonia pants at GW. Screaming deals (quality + value + serendipity) get seared into our memories, don't they?
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I’ve been traveling and my favorite travel pants are a pair of Eddie Bauer capris. I got them new with tags at our local goodwill a few months ago. They were marked down to their lowest price…just a hair below $2. The problem was they had a huge sharpie line across the front. I took a gamble, soaked them in alcohol, and like magic it disappeared. Brand new, perfect warm weather pants for less than a cup of coffee!
My husband has been wearing a pair of light weight hiking pants I got him from Patagonia a couple years ago. He insists he bought them at REI, but I’m sure I got them at goodwill. One doesn’t easily forget when a pair of perfect hiking pants presents itself for $6. It’s seared into my memory.
Now, I’m excited to get home and go hunting. I have a list of warm weather stuff I need to find for this year…the kids just keep growing.
Ooh, is alcohol really a thing for removing Sharpie marks? When MIL lived with us, she had a penchant for putting pens in her pockets. She once stuffed a not-quite-firmly-capped Sharpie into a back pocket and sat on a velveteen chair in the living room. Then she moved to the sofa, leaving Sharpie stripes on both. I've never tried to remove them, just turned the cushions around. I was afraid of doing more damage.
Also, I completely believe you got those Patagonia pants at GW. Screaming deals (quality + value + serendipity) get seared into our memories, don't they?
I’ve had great success with rubbing alcohol (not vodka) removing sharpie on both hard surfaces and soft. I’d test it on an area to make sure the alcohol doesn’t hurt the fabric itself and know that it will lift the marker, but may also move the ink and kinda spread it, so blot and apply carefully! I’ll dump a ton on clothes so it just sort of wash’s all the ink off, then wash them out, but on furniture and rugs, where you can’t wash off the excess it’s a slower process to lift and remove by blotting.
Alcohol also lifts sap. We have tons of pine where we are and I’ll find great outdoor things at the goodwill that are sappy.
My Dd loves doing things herself and art. It was a joyful day when she was gifted a set of colored sharpies. She knows they are permanent markers and takes great pride in being allowed to use things that need to be treated carefully. I was comfortable giving them to her because I know I can get it out of 99% of the things it gets on. One thing that doesn’t come off easily is foam and certain rubbery plastics.
I hope it works for you!
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My Goodwill sells pants for $8. I recently noticed that hardback books are now $5 at Goodwill, which surprised me, as this is higher than the price for a hardback at the Goodwill Bookstore (or now a book and collectibles store). But I also realize I have no idea how much a hardback book costs new these days.
But it isn't just Goodwill; my large locally owned thrift store also prices a lot of items really high. Sometimes I see vintage Pyrex and the like priced higher than ebay. But they don't catch everything, especially unmarked vintage items -- I recently came home with a Fenton milk glass cake stand that was priced at $5, and I had a half price coupon from their anniversary sale. This particular pattern regularly sells for over $50 ebay. Then at the Goodwill Bookstore I found a large Metlox bowl for $6 that also sells for over $50 on a regular basis. Neither of those pieces are marked with a maker -- you just have to know. My grandmother had a lot of Fenton glass, and since she and my grandfather lived in Los Angeles during the height of the L.A pottery boom, I've learned a lot of about the various manufacturers and their pieces.
This week's big thrift score was 145 books for $15.77, which includes sales tax. The independent thrift store clears out books once a month, charging 10¢ each with a 10 book minimum. Between the pandemic and having other things scheduled on the sale day, it's been a few years since I've gone.
I don't resell anything, or at least I haven't yet. I buy housewares that "spark joy" and that I plan to use, and with the books, I'm frequently putting finished books in a Little Free Library (I'll buy classic children's books for 10¢ just to put them directly in the LFL), or I donate nicer books to our Friends of the Library for their bookstore and sales. Bringing in the gorgeous Fenton cake stand meant the thrifted plain Anchor Hocking cake stand I had made its way back to the thrift store.
I have noticed high prices in my local Goodwill store. I sell stuff at a flea market, and the flea market prices are about half of what Goodwill sells it for.
But even at half the Goodwill price, a lot of my product goes unsold. Ironically, I end up donating a lot of my unsold stuff to the Goodwill. I know they will be able to sell it, because I see it on their shelves. A good example is loose leaf paper binders. I can't give them away at the flea market, but Goodwill has them priced at $1 to $2 each. God bless them.
Your 10 cent books is an exception! 10 cents per book is a great deal. I ask 50 cents per book.
I think the people who shop at Goodwill never go to flea markets, maybe.
I may sound like I am complaining, and I suppose I am, but I don't really have anything to complain about (well yes, I do, but whatever).
It's just fascinating to me how economics works.
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My child has recently informed me that he hates the thrift store and always feels like he needs a bath after leaving one. How is this my kid?
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I love the thrift stores and agree I feel like I need a bath... and sometimes like I need the cleansing of fire to alleviate the grunge.
My area's GoodWill has done a controversial and mercenary move: they're eliminating the veteran/teacher/senior discount completely and also the 75% off day. It's now only 25% M-W and 50% Th-Sun, on the week's featured color tags. People are ENRAGED. They'd already raised prices over the last year - dresses and blouses used to be $6, now they're $7 and they've also closed down several locations and turned a few of them into the scary bin free-for-all bulk by the pound stores (I visited one that used to be a nice "select" store and OMG never again).
I already only donate to one place that is a small community based charity shop that has much nicer facilities and looks more like a retail store (but still with amazing pricing) because they give back a much larger portion to the people in the area. Also another one that is specifically for the local school district (it's pretty cool too). I do still hunt at GW, but it hasn't been as easy to find any good stuff as I think it's much more widespread to find fun things.
I did take a load of clothing and good costume jewelry to the thrift store last week and picked up a huge leather look black purse for $1. I also scored a pretty rare video game that I have missed out on multiple times in auction for about 75% less than I could resell if I was into selling games... which I'm not.
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Baby #1 drops pacifier. Mama immediately swoops it up, puts it in a plastic bag and gets a sterile pacifier out of the diaper bag.
Baby #2 drops pacifier. Mama picks it up, sticks it in her mouth, then gives it back to baby.
It's a little different with bottles. Incidental germ exposure from licking the floor, etc. is going to happen, but bacteria is a numbers game and if you give them a good medium like warm milk and a little time, they will proliferate quickly.
I got a.microwave sterilizer at a thrift store for my kid. It was an extra step after washing but overall pretty easy.
I'm with Dicey here, only I wiped them on my shirt instead of putting them in my mouth. All the parenting books I had said that bottles just had to be clean, not sterile, unless you had a preemie or immunocompromized kiddo. As soon as they come out of the sterilizer and touch anything they aren't sterile any more anyway.
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Baby #1 drops pacifier. Mama immediately swoops it up, puts it in a plastic bag and gets a sterile pacifier out of the diaper bag.
Baby #2 drops pacifier. Mama picks it up, sticks it in her mouth, then gives it back to baby.
It's a little different with bottles. Incidental germ exposure from licking the floor, etc. is going to happen, but bacteria is a numbers game and if you give them a good medium like warm milk and a little time, they will proliferate quickly.
I got a.microwave sterilizer at a thrift store for my kid. It was an extra step after washing but overall pretty easy.
I'm with Dicey here, only I wiped them on my shirt instead of putting them in my mouth. All the parenting books I had said that bottles just had to be clean, not sterile, unless you had a preemie or immunocompromized kiddo. As soon as they come out of the sterilizer and touch anything they aren't sterile any more anyway.
We had the Dr. Brown's bottles with a thousand parts, so while I logically knew that they weren't sterilized once they came out of the microwave thing, it made me feel better to have run it through and theoretically knock down the number of bacteria in those nooks and crannies. We'd refill them and put them in the fridge almost immediately after cleaning them so that I could clean all the pump parts while I was cleaning bottles.
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Another flea market vs Goodwill example: I have tried to sell suitcases at the flea market. Big sign on the nice medium size suitcase indicating One Dollar ($1.00) and no one even looks at it all day, every day. Same story for big, small, medium, soft shell or hard shell suitcases.
What is Goodwill asking for the same type of suitcase? Twenty-Five dollars. Wow, just wow.
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
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Our local thrift store sells books for $1 and they have a pretty incredible selection. Funny thing is that they have a sign at the donation area saying 'we do NOT accept books, NO books'. But people don't read the sign or ignore it so they constantly have books coming in. I am amazed at how recent some of the titles are..but maybe since we live in a popular vacation spot, people just buy books and leave them?!
I scored a great winter coat earlier this year, perfect for skiing (it was new, I paid maybe $20).. I've never received so many compliments on a piece of gear before :)
I do love thrift stores--just try to be realistic about how many things/clothes/books I actually need and will use. I like the option for variety without the associated guilt of buying new (both financial and environmental)
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My husband bought a bag of scuba gear at goodwill for $16. Took it to the scuba store and can consign it for $150, but he's keeping the $50 knife. He was so happy
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Badass indeed!
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My husband bought a bag of scuba gear at goodwill for $16. Took it to the scuba store and can consign it for $150, but he's keeping the $50 knife. He was so happy
Nice score! I live kinda close to an unclaimed baggage store. It used to be that it was worth going to. Then they started hiring people who knew what things were worth. Then they started hiring people who *thought* they knew what things were worth. An example of this is a 25 year old regulator priced at $300. It wasn't even that expensive new and good luck getting parts for it.
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I bought a new spring coat at Goodwill this week, to replace my truly ancient “barn coat” (so ancient that it was actually called a “barn coat”.) It’s a purple Eddie Bauer waterproof coat with a button in liner and it seems to have retailed for around $150. I paid $14.99, as I did not try to wait for half price day. ;-)
I’m saving the barn coat for doing messy stuff outside, but the new coat is certainly more presentable. Also it’s good to have a working zipper again!
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I bought an entire outfit at Goodwill last week: a jacket, pants, shoes for a conference I will attend next week.
I seldom if ever buy shoes at the thrift stores, but there were two pairs of slip on Easy Spirit shoes that I’m now finding are great! One pair was dirty with sand in them, and the store clerk turned up her nose and said” oh these need washed!” I assured her they were going to be gardening shoes so it didn’t matter how dirty they started out. The other pair was barely worn.
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Badass indeed!
So, I decided since 240v heaters from that specific brand are probably an item that would be easy to search for, I had a look at Facebook Marketplace listings and found someone selling another one right near where I was working today for $40. I got it for $30, and I’ll go drop it off at the store on Monday (same chain, different location though just in case). Hopefully I’ll soon have two gift cards for $99.99 for a grand total cost of $40. I’m going to keep an eye out for other recalled items people might be selling for cheap lol
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Another quick thrift stop while on a work trip. I found the exact hospital friendly, labor and delivery, nursing gown (with pockets!) that I bought new (on sale!) via motherhood maternity, except this one is black. It appears new without tags and was half price, so $3.50. I do have one already, but we’ve got a chance of a longer hospital stay and at that price, I might as well have two! I also got a nursing camisole and a couple flowy light short sleeved layers to wear over nursing tanks or tees that I think will help me feel more put together postpartum and make the few really basic nursing tops I have feel more office appropriate. That’s my plan anyway. It was a good little thrift trip.
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About to head off to my local thrift store with a friend this morning- it’s an old house that has been around for a 100 years and supports 7 different charities. They are open a few days a month- almost all volunteers- I thunk they have a paid director and two laborers to help with donations. They were closed during the pandemic- but they put out free decorations on their lawn- help yourself- for Christmas, Easter and Halloween.
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About to head off to my local thrift store with a friend this morning- it’s an old house that has been around for a 100 years and supports 7 different charities. They are open a few days a month- almost all volunteers- I thunk they have a paid director and two laborers to help with donations. They were closed during the pandemic- but they put out free decorations on their lawn- help yourself- for Christmas, Easter and Halloween.
Ooh, that gives me the shivers! I hope you have a blast!
In other Thrift Store-related news, I'm on a board that is hosting an in-person Gala soon. I used to be in charge of the Silent Auction, but I have pulled back from that responsibility [see: non-profit politics]. At the last-ish minute, I was asked to set up a specific aspect of the Silent Auction. Every board member donates a bottle of wine and it's sold as one lot. Trick is, it has to be set up and photographed, then disassembled, and removed. On the night of the event, the process has to be repeated. This is no big deal compared to what I've done in the past, so I agreed.
I didn't want to spend a lot of money or time securing props. I also did not want to go to a craft store and buy kitchy wine crap that will end up in a landfill. I was able to borrow some nice wooden wine boxes to use for risers, but I needed more props. I popped into the Thrift Shop where I volunteer yesterday and it proved to be a treasure trove. I found more wine boxes, a couple of pedestals, a set of coasters made from wine corks, a big bag of wine corks, some really cool wine plaques, including "In Vino Veritas" and a full spool of fancy ribbon. Best of all, the shop manager told me I could just borrow it all, since I was using it for another non-profit! I worked a full day shift there last week and I swear none of this stuff was there then. The Thrift Store gods were very generous yesterday!
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I haven't been thrifting much, but I did tag along with DH to our independent thrift store last week. Among the hats I spotted a sunhat that appeared to be well-constructed, so I took a closer look. It was a Wallaroo Casual Traveler and sells for $43 on their website. It has a 4" brim and is made of a light yellow cotton fabric that has a UPF50+ rating. Since it was in good shape and didn't look dirty or even very worn, I went ahead and paid the $6.91 they ask for hats. The problem there is you have to know your stuff, as other hats were of the under $5 at Dollar Tree variety. I could have waited for half price on hats day but I didn't think it would still be there, as this store is popular with resellers.
I recently paid $15 full price for a sunhat at Walmart because my previous straw sunhat (10 years old) was in rough shape. So just under $7 for a new/thrifted sunhat is excellent (I'm never going to be a person who pays $43 for a sunhat). I'm going to put the Wallaroo in the van because it can take abuse better than a straw hat can -- my old sunhat mostly got banged up once I started keeping it in the van because DH and the kids would shove it all sorts of places, put stuff on top of it, etc. This Wallaroo sunhat should be indestructible and I hope to be wearing it 20+ years from now. The Walmart sunhat can be my everyday hat (very wide brim with interchangeable fabric scarves that can be tied in a bow at the back of the hat or be used to tied under the chin in breezy conditions).
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Both the bike and the trimmer are sold, got over $100 each, so that’s three pretty good wins
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Got 3 very rare video games (this is a thing me and the husband both collect) for a very reasonable price. I literally could resell all of them for 3x what I paid.
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About 15 years ago I found a new copy of The Pirates of Penzance VHS (back before it had been released on DVD) for $1. I resold it for $100 so that was a pretty good ROI :)
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I haven't been thrifting much, but I did tag along with DH to our independent thrift store last week. Among the hats I spotted a sunhat that appeared to be well-constructed, so I took a closer look. It was a Wallaroo Casual Traveler and sells for $43 on their website. It has a 4" brim and is made of a light yellow cotton fabric that has a UPF50+ rating. Since it was in good shape and didn't look dirty or even very worn, I went ahead and paid the $6.91 they ask for hats. The problem there is you have to know your stuff, as other hats were of the under $5 at Dollar Tree variety. I could have waited for half price on hats day but I didn't think it would still be there, as this store is popular with resellers.
I recently paid $15 full price for a sunhat at Walmart because my previous straw sunhat (10 years old) was in rough shape. So just under $7 for a new/thrifted sunhat is excellent (I'm never going to be a person who pays $43 for a sunhat). I'm going to put the Wallaroo in the van because it can take abuse better than a straw hat can -- my old sunhat mostly got banged up once I started keeping it in the van because DH and the kids would shove it all sorts of places, put stuff on top of it, etc. This Wallaroo sunhat should be indestructible and I hope to be wearing it 20+ years from now. The Walmart sunhat can be my everyday hat (very wide brim with interchangeable fabric scarves that can be tied in a bow at the back of the hat or be used to tied under the chin in breezy conditions).
I have a Wallaroo sun hat that was also thrifted. It is nearly indestructible, and I keep my keep mine in the car too! A friend borrowed it and commented on how much she loved it--that's when I found out they go for $40ish American dollars. I would never pay that for a sunhat but it should last a long time.
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Both the bike and the trimmer are sold, got over $100 each, so that’s three pretty good wins
Nice triple. I assume the line trimmer had a gummed up fuel line?
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Both the bike and the trimmer are sold, got over $100 each, so that’s three pretty good wins
Nice triple. I assume the line trimmer had a gummed up fuel line?
Close, but it was actually even simpler than that, the weighted end of the fuel line that goes into the tank is supposed to sit at the bottom of the gas, but for some reason was stuck up in a corner and wasn’t getting any fuel, so I just poked it down where it was supposed to be and it fired right up
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Both the bike and the trimmer are sold, got over $100 each, so that’s three pretty good wins
Nice triple. I assume the line trimmer had a gummed up fuel line?
Close, but it was actually even simpler than that, the weighted end of the fuel line that goes into the tank is supposed to sit at the bottom of the gas, but for some reason was stuck up in a corner and wasn’t getting any fuel, so I just poked it down where it was supposed to be and it fired right up
Oh wow! Slamming it down in disgust had a chance of fixing it…
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Finally went to some garage sales on Saturday, had a few interesting wins.
Found a Ladies mountain bike in decent shape except a brake handle was snapped off and they only wanted $5, well I found a brake handle for a bike laying in the grass on a site I work and saved it a couple weeks ago, so I installed it, works fine and I’m going to list the bike up for $150 and see what happens.
Also found a 240v garage heater for $10, seemed like a deal so I got it. I googled it later in the day to see what they go for new ($99.99), but more googling and turns out there’s a recall on that exact model because they can overheat, but the store that sold it takes them back no proof of purchase, so I got a $99.99 gift card for returning it to the store.
Also got a decent Husqvarna line trimmer for $20, the guy said he couldn’t get it to run, it only took me 2 min to get it running again when I got it back to my shop
Both the bike and the trimmer are sold, got over $100 each, so that’s three pretty good wins
Nice triple. I assume the line trimmer had a gummed up fuel line?
Close, but it was actually even simpler than that, the weighted end of the fuel line that goes into the tank is supposed to sit at the bottom of the gas, but for some reason was stuck up in a corner and wasn’t getting any fuel, so I just poked it down where it was supposed to be and it fired right up
Oh wow! Slamming it down in disgust had a chance of fixing it…
Yes, my usual fix would have had a good chance!
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Is this a thrift store win, because the item is worth way more than the $35 paid?
Or is it a dud, because she spent $35 and she doesn't get to keep the item since it's stolen?
Or is it a win after all, because the story/experience is worth more than $35?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-34-99-goodwill-purchase-turned-out-to-be-an-ancient-roman-bust-that-s-nearly-2-000-years-old/ar-AAX1Q3y
I vote #3.
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Is this a thrift store win, because the item is worth way more than the $35 paid?
Or is it a dud, because she spent $35 and she doesn't get to keep the item since it's stolen?
Or is it a win after all, because the story/experience is worth more than $35?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-34-99-goodwill-purchase-turned-out-to-be-an-ancient-roman-bust-that-s-nearly-2-000-years-old/ar-AAX1Q3y
I vote #3.
I’d gladly pay $35 to make that kind of find and have the story
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Is this a thrift store win, because the item is worth way more than the $35 paid?
Or is it a dud, because she spent $35 and she doesn't get to keep the item since it's stolen?
Or is it a win after all, because the story/experience is worth more than $35?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-34-99-goodwill-purchase-turned-out-to-be-an-ancient-roman-bust-that-s-nearly-2-000-years-old/ar-AAX1Q3y
I vote #3.
I’d gladly pay $35 to make that kind of find and have the story
I saw that story and loved it. I vote #3 as well.
In other, more mundane news, I scored four pair of SmartWool socks for two bucks today. That works out to two bits a foot. That's my kind of bitcoin.
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We popped into a Goodwill we rarely frequent -- it's in a another city near our favorite Indian restaurant, but we don't go there often.
Hardcover books were $7.99, so I didn't bother to look.
But I did find a large, sturdy plastic wreath box, which contained a Christmas themed wreath and a large metal wreath hanger. Our wreath box broke this past season, so I figured this was a good buy even if I don't rehab or reuse the wreath in some way. $15 was a much better price than any I saw in January. And we really like to not buy new products if we can help it.
As for the wreath, I've had plans to make a Star Wars / Star Break themed wreath or garland using old Hallmark Magic ornaments (some we bought decades ago and a dozen or so given to us recently). These ornaments don't work with newer LED light strands, so we've been buying the odd old short string of lights here and there as we find them at thrift stores. So if the Christmas wreath in the box doesn't have enough decent material to make pretty Christmas wreath, it at least does have a decent wreath form to build a new wreath on.
And the wreath hanger makes for a sturdy over the door hook, if nothing else.
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Is this a thrift store win, because the item is worth way more than the $35 paid?
Or is it a dud, because she spent $35 and she doesn't get to keep the item since it's stolen?
Or is it a win after all, because the story/experience is worth more than $35?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-34-99-goodwill-purchase-turned-out-to-be-an-ancient-roman-bust-that-s-nearly-2-000-years-old/ar-AAX1Q3y
I vote #3.
I’d gladly pay $35 to make that kind of find and have the story
I saw that story and loved it. I vote #3 as well.
In other, more mundane news, I scored four pair of SmartWool socks for two bucks today. That works out to two bits a foot. That's my kind of bitcoin.
ROFL:)
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I got a really pretty Ambercrombie and Fitch dress for less than $19. It was from a consignment store. Bonus: I got a hug from the owner, who is one of my favorite people.
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Dropped off a box of clothing (mostly outgrown by the kid, a couple of things outgrown by me) at Goodwill (I know, not the best choice, but they're open today and I'm going with "waste reduction" rather than being perfect).
While I was there, I went in to look for a sleeveless shirt (to replace the one I think is too small on me) and came out with a 3/4-sleeved blouse with a pretty pattern, which I will wash, and then cut off and hem the sleeves to be ... either sleeveless or cap sleeves, I have to decide. I'll probably take it in a little, too -- women's clothing sizing is such a mess, even though it was kind of of my size, it's probably a bit too capacious.
Anyhow, $6.50 later (I also bought a sleep cami) and a little messing around with a sewing machine, I'll have another usable summer top. Now I just have to find a white one I like that fits (that's what I was really looking for, but no luck on that front). We have a cat with extra claws (and all her claws are pretty thick) and not a lot of grace, so my shirts tend to develop holes where she's digging in, especially when she's on my lap and gets startled. I'm willing to fix sweaters, but not $6 shirts.
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I attended a dressy fund raising affair last night. My pretty dress cost $6, which was half price because I got it on Senior Day at my favorite Thrift Shop.. I donated many many times that number to a cause I care about. This ratio made me very happy.
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Dropped off a box of clothing (mostly outgrown by the kid, a couple of things outgrown by me) at Goodwill (I know, not the best choice, but they're open today and I'm going with "waste reduction" rather than being perfect).
Did I miss something? Is Goodwill not a good choice for donations anymore? I know all thrift stores have challenges when it comes to unsold goods, is GW worse than others?
I think it's not the best choice (CEO makes a ton of $, various reports of employees not being treated well or fairly -- a little googling will go a long way), but sometimes I feel like the option to recycle stuff outweighs the ideal of "small local place". (Sometimes I go to the small local place, but they're not always open and I just want to get the box out of the house, you know?)
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Now that I've worked out the local Goodwill's color cycle (half price on Sunday/Monday) I'm limiting myself to those color tags to increase the thrill of the hunt. LOL It has suddenly gotten very warm here, so I'm looking at short sleeved stuff. I did buy dh a really nice Columbia shirt for next fall.
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About 15 years ago I found a new copy of The Pirates of Penzance VHS (back before it had been released on DVD) for $1. I resold it for $100 so that was a pretty good ROI :)
That's amazing! I assume you sold it on eBay?
I have lots of old VHS tapes I am only asking 50 cents for, lol. I'll have to research them!
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Has anyone here tried thredup?
Yes! I love ThredUp!!
I've had the best luck getting clothes for brands I'm already familiar with. One day I made a list of brands I liked and went to the mall and tried on a bunch of shirts, pants, and dresses at those stores. I didn't buy anything, I just made note of what size I am in each brand. Then I use that information when I search on ThredUp. It almost feels like cheating 😆 thrifting shouldn't be this easy haha! Ever since doing this, I haven't had a "dud" purchase that doesn't fit me.
ThredUp is also amazing for fancy kids clothes. I've found their prices on regular kids clothes to be about on-par with buying new stuff at Target, so not much savings to be had there. But the fancy clothes are a great deal, if you are into that. I get a lot of joy from dressing up the whole family super fancy for Christmas & Easter. With ThredUp I can find gorgeous, unique, high quality pieces for my kids for like $10-$15 each!
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I ordered 8 warm weather work dresses from ThredUP for $68 and 6 items fit well! One dress has an ink stain I’m pretreating. Success!
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I ordered 8 warm weather work dresses from ThredUP for $68 and 6 items fit well! One dress has an ink stain I’m pretreating. Success!
That’s awesome! I love thredUP so far.
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Don't think I've ever contributed to this thread. I just don't have a lot of clothes I guess, ha!
I did stop by the local thrift shop today as it's right next to Lowe's. I was making a supply run and have been needing a couple pair of "work" shorts recently and dreading the thought of buying new only to annihilate them within a year. I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple pair of used cargo shorts that fit me perfectly. And they are darker colored so dirt and grim won't show as much. $10 for both pair together. Score!!!
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Don't think I've ever contributed to this thread. I just don't have a lot of clothes I guess, ha!
I did stop by the local thrift shop today as it's right next to Lowe's. I was making a supply run and have been needing a couple pair of "work" shorts recently and dreading the thought of buying new only to annihilate them within in a year. I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple pair of used cargo shorts that fit me perfectly. And they are darker colored so dirt and grim won't show as much. $10 for both pair together. Score!!!
Awesome!
I found that our (fancy pants town) Salvation Army thrift store has (apparently) now got people cherry-picking things for re-sale online.
However, I still wound up with two shirts, one dressy almost-sleeveless shirt (still not sure about that one -- I tried it on over a tank top, and when I tried it again at home I realized I can see my bra strap through the armhole: unintentional underwear exposure is not really OK with me), and one size 3X gauzy number that I took in (I think I took nearly 20 inches out of the body) and removed the sleeves from, to give me a lovely sleeveless blouse.
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I've nearly stopped thrifting entirely in favor of the local free store.
Today I donated a big bag of boy's clothing, some canned food, fresh eggs from my coop, some random dishes and shoes.
In return I got a pair of boy's shorts and 3 packs of floss (no one locally seems to floss LOL, they always have a ton).
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I've picked up way too many movies and TV shows at thrift stores for a few dollars each.
My wife had the best find so far today though. She found some chinaware with pictures she really liked. $13 for a large box. Royal China Ironstone Memory Lane was the one she liked (30pcs) but there were a number of pieces from the Colonial Homestead set as well (25pcs).
It looks like she got the whole thing for the cost of one or two pieces on Etsy. She's wondering if she can resell the Colonial Homestead pieces. Who knows, some people make a decent business out of flipping stuff.
https://www.etsy.com/market/memory_lane_ironstone
https://www.etsy.com/market/colonial_homestead_by_royal
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I have to vent somewhere, but while pushing my son in the stroller for a nap, I came across a discarded solid brass bookshelf on the street. Probably ~120 pounds of solid, scrappable, valuable, brass. And the shelf itself was actually pretty cool, maybe even neat enough to use indoors. By the time the kid woke up and I could get him in the car, it was gone. That would have been such a sweet score. Someone's eating steak tonight. It is unbelievable to me how easy it is for people to overlook the scrap value of their trash. A 5 minute drive to the yard would have netted about $300.
I guess the moral of the story is everyone should push a cargo stroller.
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I have to vent somewhere, but while pushing my son in the stroller for a nap, I came across a discarded solid brass bookshelf on the street. Probably ~120 pounds of solid, scrappable, valuable, brass. And the shelf itself was actually pretty cool, maybe even neat enough to use indoors. By the time the kid woke up and I could get him in the car, it was gone. That would have been such a sweet score. Someone's eating steak tonight. It is unbelievable to me how easy it is for people to overlook the scrap value of their trash. A 5 minute drive to the yard would have netted about $300.
I guess the moral of the story is everyone should push a cargo stroller.
Oh man, that’s too bad! I do landscaping for a living and have found lots of random things left/stashed on commercial sites I work on, like old car batteries, left over construction materials occasionally including piles of copper wire, as well as some random things left by street people like clothes and bags and tools etc. Would be awesome to find $300 worth of scrap one day, I’d try to stash it in the bushes if I had to come back for it
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Yeah sometimes I've put things in a city garbage can if I have to come back for it, I figure people rarely look in the garbage can for things other than soda cans and beer bottles, but this was way too big to hide anywhere. I should have knocked on the door and asked the homeowner if I could put it aside for 20 minutes, that would have been a smart move.
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Does anyone have any NYC thrifting advice? We're going there later this summer to visit family. My teen daughter is very into thrifting and it's not really a 'thing' here so I thought maybe we could hit some thrift stores while there.
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Does anyone have any NYC thrifting advice? We're going there later this summer to visit family. My teen daughter is very into thrifting and it's not really a 'thing' here so I thought maybe we could hit some thrift stores while there.
It has been a few years since I had time to go thrifting (and visit NYC :) ) but i remember there being several excellent vintage stores in NoHo.
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Does anyone have any NYC thrifting advice? We're going there later this summer to visit family. My teen daughter is very into thrifting and it's not really a 'thing' here so I thought maybe we could hit some thrift stores while there.
It has been a few years since I had time to go thrifting (and visit NYC :) ) but i remember there being several excellent vintage stores in NoHo.
Can you tell me where exactly? Any names of stores? My teen daughter's aesthetic is 90s grunge, rock n roll t-shirts and jeans.
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Does anyone have any NYC thrifting advice? We're going there later this summer to visit family. My teen daughter is very into thrifting and it's not really a 'thing' here so I thought maybe we could hit some thrift stores while there.
Paging our esteemed expert on all things NYC, @Dollar Slice.
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Does anyone have any NYC thrifting advice? We're going there later this summer to visit family. My teen daughter is very into thrifting and it's not really a 'thing' here so I thought maybe we could hit some thrift stores while there.
It has been a few years since I had time to go thrifting (and visit NYC :) ) but i remember there being several excellent vintage stores in NoHo.
Can you tell me where exactly? Any names of stores? My teen daughter's aesthetic is 90s grunge, rock n roll t-shirts and jeans.
L Train is the only one off the top of my head.
Here is a yelp map (and it has L Train on it!) :
https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=thrift_stores&find_loc=NoHo%2C+Manhattan%2C+NY
There is also Hamlet's in Greenwich Village which was sort of a hot spot a while ago. It is high end vintage, but a friend of mine scored a Dior New Look dress about a decade ago and the quality and condition were absolutely gorgeous! Might be fun to look through?
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I think my best thrift score to date is like-new ski Marmot brand pants & jacket for my 5yo son. $2 for the whole outfit. I've gotten a fair number of other kids (and adult) clothing items but that one was the best.
We also got a toaster over at a Goodwill that proceeded to work perfectly for 8 years. Eventually the timer gave out.
Buy Nothing groups are also a great way to get things--I recently scored a huge bag of nice clothes in my size, and have also gotten kids toys, random fancy foods, a heating pad, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting...
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Something I recently realized: doll clothes for bigger dolls are expensive, so instead of buying new, check out the infant/toddler clothes at thrift stores.
The 6 month - 1 year old size fits perfectly.
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Does anyone have any NYC thrifting advice? We're going there later this summer to visit family. My teen daughter is very into thrifting and it's not really a 'thing' here so I thought maybe we could hit some thrift stores while there.
Thrifting is kind of strange here. There are definitely thrift shops/secondhand stores, but they charge NYC prices. The Goodwills here are way smaller with less inventory than rural locations, and they're more expensive. You can definitely still find some good stuff for reasonable prices - I just got a bunch of summer tank tops from my neighborhood Goodwill for $4/each. But that's the lowest price for clothes. Shirts are $8, jeans are $10, dresses are $12, and there are markups for brand names. You won't find the same dirt cheap gems you can get at Goodwills elsewhere.
The other main thrift store chains that I hear about are Housing Works and Buffalo Exchange, which are still reasonably priced but more than Goodwill. There are also some trendier boutique thrift stores that curate their clothes to the trendy aesthetic you describe, but the prices can be like shopping in regular stores. I don't know names off the top of my head, I've just heard about them from my friends.
But who knows. Maybe there are some good options in other neighborhoods I'm just not familiar with!
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There used to be a Housing Works near by dad's apartment and I actually donated a ton of stuff that I'd left in his basement to them. They had some nice stuff.
Anyway it's sad that NYC is always so pricey nowadays. Sometimes I feel nostalgic for how cheap everything was in my childhood in the 70s and 80s in NYC but then I remember how crappy our neighborhood was back then.
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I found a brand-new, still-in-the-pack, dog coat for $3 on Friday. While I live somewhere that doesn't get excessively cold, I have a Dane and they don't typically do well in temps below 45.
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I found a brand-new, still-in-the-pack, dog coat for $3 on Friday. While I live somewhere that doesn't get excessively cold, I have a Dane and they don't typically do well in temps below 45.
I noticed that my Good will has a dog clothes rack right next to the kid section!
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I found a brand-new, still-in-the-pack, dog coat for $3 on Friday. While I live somewhere that doesn't get excessively cold, I have a Dane and they don't typically do well in temps below 45.
I noticed that my Good will has a dog clothes rack right next to the kid section!
Funny, but slightly off-topic story: When my kid (who turns 9 today!) was about 2 and a half, I knew it was probably the last Halloween that I could choose the costume without him having an opinion on the matter. I may or may not have gone all out turning him into a tiny Edward Scissorhands. I spent *months* scouring the thrift stores for black belts with silver studs and accents and putting together this costume complete with scissor hands made from black gloves, plastic knives that had been filed down, and the handles from cheap dollar store scissors.
Two weeks before Halloween, we're on the way home from work one afternoon and I hear this little voice from the backseat ask "Mommy, can I be a pumpkin for Halloween?" We negotiated an agreement where he would be a pumpkin at daycare and wear the Edward costume to go trick-or-treating. You would think that finding a pumpkin costume for a toddler would be fairly easy since that's kind of a traditional little kid costume. Nope. Not a single store had one. Finally, a day before Halloween I stopped at this weird little store that was advertising $5 costumes. No kid's pumpkin costume, but we did discover that a pumpkin costume for a large dog will fit a 2 year-old perfectly.
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I found a brand-new, still-in-the-pack, dog coat for $3 on Friday. While I live somewhere that doesn't get excessively cold, I have a Dane and they don't typically do well in temps below 45.
I noticed that my Good will has a dog clothes rack right next to the kid section!
Funny, but slightly off-topic story: When my kid (who turns 9 today!) was about 2 and a half, I knew it was probably the last Halloween that I could choose the costume without him having an opinion on the matter. I may or may not have gone all out turning him into a tiny Edward Scissorhands. I spent *months* scouring the thrift stores for black belts with silver studs and accents and putting together this costume complete with scissor hands made from black gloves, plastic knives that had been filed down, and the handles from cheap dollar store scissors.
Two weeks before Halloween, we're on the way home from work one afternoon and I hear this little voice from the backseat ask "Mommy, can I be a pumpkin for Halloween?" We negotiated an agreement where he would be a pumpkin at daycare and wear the Edward costume to go trick-or-treating. You would think that finding a pumpkin costume for a toddler would be fairly easy since that's kind of a traditional little kid costume. Nope. Not a single store had one. Finally, a day before Halloween I stopped at this weird little store that was advertising $5 costumes. No kid's pumpkin costume, but we did discover that a pumpkin costume for a large dog will fit a 2 year-old perfectly.
I loved this story.
The reverse is also true. We have more than once put a kid's shirt on a dog to keep her from chewing on stitches or a spot of dermatitis!
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I found a brand-new, still-in-the-pack, dog coat for $3 on Friday. While I live somewhere that doesn't get excessively cold, I have a Dane and they don't typically do well in temps below 45.
I noticed that my Good will has a dog clothes rack right next to the kid section!
Funny, but slightly off-topic story: When my kid (who turns 9 today!) was about 2 and a half, I knew it was probably the last Halloween that I could choose the costume without him having an opinion on the matter. I may or may not have gone all out turning him into a tiny Edward Scissorhands. I spent *months* scouring the thrift stores for black belts with silver studs and accents and putting together this costume complete with scissor hands made from black gloves, plastic knives that had been filed down, and the handles from cheap dollar store scissors.
Two weeks before Halloween, we're on the way home from work one afternoon and I hear this little voice from the backseat ask "Mommy, can I be a pumpkin for Halloween?" We negotiated an agreement where he would be a pumpkin at daycare and wear the Edward costume to go trick-or-treating. You would think that finding a pumpkin costume for a toddler would be fairly easy since that's kind of a traditional little kid costume. Nope. Not a single store had one. Finally, a day before Halloween I stopped at this weird little store that was advertising $5 costumes. No kid's pumpkin costume, but we did discover that a pumpkin costume for a large dog will fit a 2 year-old perfectly.
I loved this story.
The reverse is also true. We have more than once put a kid's shirt on a dog to keep her from chewing on stitches or a spot of dermatitis!
+1. We had dogs that freaked out at fireworks. We got a tip that wrapping them in something close-fitting, like a kid's t-shirt, might help keep them calm. I hit on the idea of using thrifted onesies, and they really did help.
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Just found a vintage Cosanti bronze wind chime at the street store! So excited I've always wanted one just didn't want to pay the $100.
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Picked up a cute little silver trash can on the last trip. Why is it so heavy? Oh, it's made from 304SS and is a 10 gallon barrel for $8. No lid, but will work for brining turkeys! Now I don't need a 10 gallon crockware for brining foods, it's deep and wide enough for most pieces of meat. Just pull the shelves from the refrigerator and we are good.
The complete barrels are $150 to $250 from an online search and used for brewing beers. I'd like to find a lid and ring clamp for it, but I don't brew. Yet.
I bet there is more than $8 of SS scrap value. The things you find when you aren't looking.
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I am trying to mostly sew with upcycled fabric, so I've been picking up stuff at Goodwill, the bins, Buy Nothing.
Last week I came home with a heavy-ish piece of black and white fabric for $2. Upon inspection it's a yard of vintage Marimekko from the 70s, and kind of valuable. Now I feel bad about making a tote bag! It may have to be pillows...
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I am trying to mostly sew with upcycled fabric, so I've been picking up stuff at Goodwill, the bins, Buy Nothing.
Last week I came home with a heavy-ish piece of black and white fabric for $2. Upon inspection it's a yard of vintage Marimekko from the 70s, and kind of valuable. Now I feel bad about making a tote bag! It may have to be pillows...
Hmmm, Katy over at the Non Consumer Advocate frequently finds Marimekko fabric and resells it tor very good prices on eBay. Whatever makes you happiest is the right thing to do, no matter how valuable the fabric. Someone clearly had it for a long time without doing anything with it.
Related: I worked a shift at the Thrift Shop last week and someone donated eight or nine bolts of fabric cheery. It caught my eye, but I couldn't visualize a use for it. I decided that passing on it meant someone else was going to be thrilled.
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I needed a platter to take some food to a party. Ran to my nearest thrift store, found two new matching platters for 99c each. The tag color was 50% off that day so I was able to get both for $1!
I forgot them at the host's home but it doesn't matter if I don't get them back.
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Found a cute Star Wars backpack, new with tags, and it had the 50% off tag so it was like $4. I didn't tell my son where it came from. He hates the thrift store (where have I gone wrong??).
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Found a cute Star Wars backpack, new with tags, and it had the 50% off tag so it was like $4. I didn't tell my son where it came from. He hates the thrift store (where have I gone wrong??).
Don't despair, he's young and still has plenty of time to change his mind.
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I just passed up a vintage marimekko bag at goodwill tonight. Last summer I was selling stuff on eBay but I’ve slowly let myself stop, and have recently been considering just donating my box of items I intended to sell… so while this bag was very tempting to flip, it wasn’t in great shape, and I didn’t want to obligate myself to flipping and selling it and all the other things… right now my time is better spent on my family and my day job and I’d benefit from letting go of excess stuff. Shew. So I let marimekko sit. I did text a photo of it to a friend who does some flipping, so maybe she’ll benefit.
And in great practical finds, I bought the car charger for my breast milk pump for 99cents.
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I just passed up a vintage marimekko bag at goodwill tonight. Last summer I was selling stuff on eBay but I’ve slowly let myself stop, and have recently been considering just donating my box of items I intended to sell… so while this bag was very tempting to flip, it wasn’t in great shape, and I didn’t want to obligate myself to flipping and selling it and all the other things… right now my time is better spent on my family and my day job and I’d benefit from letting go of excess stuff. Shew. So I let marimekko sit. I did text a photo of it to a friend who does some flipping, so maybe she’ll benefit.
And in great practical finds, I bought the car charger for my breast milk pump for 99cents.
You are one badass thrift store shopper, PMG!
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Found a cute Star Wars backpack, new with tags, and it had the 50% off tag so it was like $4. I didn't tell my son where it came from. He hates the thrift store (where have I gone wrong??).
Don't despair, he's young and still has plenty of time to change his mind.
Yes, my girls were horrified by thrift/yard sale stuff as tweens/early teens, and they definitely all got over it - especially once it was their own money they were spending!
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I did my regular Sunday shift working at the local thrift store yesterday. Excitement for the day was that someone donated a leather Peter Millar rolling duffel bag that retailed for $1600 new. (Wuttt? Who buys something like that?) I passed on it because I have no need, but was glad the thrift store will benefit. I had no idea what price to put on it, and left it for the regular weekday crew that will come in Monday morning.
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I did my regular Sunday shift working at the local thrift store yesterday. Excitement for the day was that someone donated a leather Peter Millar rolling duffel bag that retailed for $1600 new. (Wuttt? Who buys something like that?) I passed on it because I have no need, but was glad the thrift store will benefit. I had no idea what price to put on it, and left it for the regular weekday crew that will come in Monday morning.
Wowza!
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Still no good thrift stores happening here, but I’ve been killing it at the garage sales lately. A few weeks ago I got went to a huge community sale and lucked out by finding a guy that was moving and selling everything, he had a garage full of tools and fishing gear that I got really cheap, so I asked him if he had any hunting stuff and he said I could buy all his gear for $500, so I went into the house and had a look, it was easily worth $3k used so that was a huge score. A week ago I went to a sale that was advertised, but they canceled due to weather, so I asked the guy what he had, it was basically all tools, so I got to have a look before anyone else and picked up a full truck load of tools and equipment for $1100, including a snowblower, tiller, mig welder, makita compressor, stihl chainsaw and a large assortment of other tools. Then today I stumbled upon another tool sale and the guy was blowing stuff out at stupid cheap prices, including a Honda water pump, weed whacker, set of tires and a ton of tool boxes and misc tools and a fancy hiking backpack all for $130.
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Wow! Badass indeed!
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This weekend my family was driving to Lowes to buy a mirror for our garage gym with some cash from selling our unwanted things. Stopped by a garage sale in our neighborhood and found two mirrors in the approximate size I was wanting, $5 each. The nice lady running the sale even threw in a toy each for my little gremlins. So glad I told the hubs to stop!
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We had a couple of nice scores from our local op shop: a good, clearly hardly used Dutch oven and a Tefal frying pan (together for 6 bucks) plus a beautifully coloured (albeit a bit worn) Persian rug, 9x9 feet, for less than 50 EUR. DH has a thing about handmade old rugs, so we have gotten most of our rugs this way or from flea-markets. And the colour is really beautiful. The most threadbare corner fits nicely under the sofa, and the texture is very pleasant.
It seems that the op shop gets most of their stuff from well-off boomers dying off, so the stuff has often been quite expensive in their days. The heirs seem to not want to bother with ebay sell-offs, so they just drop it at the thrift store.
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Was wanting some plastic storage bins for clothes (as the place I'm storing my stuff has mouse problems). Stopped at a garage sale and got 4 huge bins for $15 (saw single bins at aldi that were half the size for $10 each).
Went to a thrift shop in Dubuque on vacation, got a pair of black patent snake print with short heels - Stuart Weitzman for $2. Regular retail around $475. Too bad they're not more comfortable, have to be selective about what events to wear them.
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I like deep, white ceramic bowls for oatmeal, because they don't boil over. I found a set of four from Crate & Barrel that are the perfect size yesterday, priced at $4/set. Bonus: it was 40% off everything day, so they ended up being 40 cents per bowl.
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Swung past goodwill to look for shorts for me and T-shirts for Mr. InCO. Found a couple of decent shirts for him (two Tees and a button-down), and two pairs of shorts that fit me. One was white, but I realized: hey! I'm well past menopause, so the worst that can happen is I sit in something, or spill on myself, or try to wipe off my hands on my shorts, and for $5, I'm willing to risk it!
Also picked up a couple of smaller-than-our-cereal bowl sized bowls (we've been having a lot of cold soups lately, and I'd prefer slightly less enormous bowls for that) and a smaller-than-our-serving-bowl sized serving bowl, because we're about to be down to just two of us, and it's a good size for, say, two people's worth of fruit salad for dessert.
I'm actually trying to equip us with all the smaller serving pieces we need to just be making nice-looking dinners for two, and also to replace some of our mixing bowls with something prettier. (I'm planning a kitchen remodel, and thinking about replacing some upper cabinets with shelves. Glass multi-use (mixing and serving) bowls will look just lovely on those, and meanwhile I get to touch something prettier every time I mix one thing with another.
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We just moved to a new location where winter is a thing. I decided to hit up the local goodwill to see what they might have suitable for my 6-yo (I'm a bit less concerned about husband and self, as we aren't changing size every year we have a reasonable stash of cold weather gear, also looking for stuff for 3 people was just more than I had time/mental capacity for).
Anyway, I got some good stuff! Not rock-bottom cheap, but in decent condition and way cheaper than new. I got:
-Columbia brand puffy jacket, with hood and that reflective interior stuff that makes it extra toasty.
-REI brand winter jacket (basically a heavy duty rain jacket with a thick fleece lining)
-long underwear bottoms
-snow pants
-a pair of regular pants (all his current ones have holes in the knees thanks to his tree climbing addiction)
-a couple of lightweight technical long-sleeve t-shirts, which should be about the right size next summer when it's 100 degrees and humid out.
All of that was $50, so like I said, not quite rock bottom. But the puffer jacket alone retails for $130 and apparently school recess is held outdoors unless the windchill goes to minus 10 or lower so...yeah. Feeling pretty good about my haul!
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My friend recently turned me onto online secondhand shopping specifically for outdoor technical clothing (expensive stuff!). I was surprised at how many quality pieces I've seen in really good shape. She chalks it up to many people trying to get into new hobbies and then finding out they don't enjoy them.
This is especially handy for someone at the extreme end of the size range like me. Sometimes shops don't even stock my size in new clothing.
In the past year I've gotten:
-Merino wool outdoor shirt for half off on Poshmark
-Expensive fleece jacket for half off on REI Used Gear
-Designer dress for over half off on Poshmark
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My friend recently turned me onto online secondhand shopping specifically for outdoor technical clothing (expensive stuff!). I was surprised at how many quality pieces I've seen in really good shape. She chalks it up to many people trying to get into new hobbies and then finding out they don't enjoy them.
This is especially handy for someone at the extreme end of the size range like me. Sometimes shops don't even stock my size in new clothing.
In the past year I've gotten:
-Merino wool outdoor shirt for half off on Poshmark
-Expensive fleece jacket for half off on REI Used Gear
-Designer dress for over half off on Poshmark
Ooh, thanks for this Intel. Paging @NinetyFour...
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Thanks, @Dicey and @lifeandlimb ! I have not yet checked out REI Used Gear, but I will!
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We were in Iceland, of all places. There's a thrift market every weekend in Reykjavik. We visited on a whim half an hour before it closed. My daughter found a puffer coat that fit her perfectly and was almost new, $11. (She also bought a nearly-new Patagonia jacket at a thrift shop in LA for $1.)
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We had a few good scores this year in terms of carpets and llama hair blankets from the op shop. This will come in handy for this winter's heating challenge. I don't need any new clothes, but DH has gotten some really good high quality boots and jackets for the winter. He estimates 600 quid worth of good quality stuff for basically 20 bucks.
Other than foodstuff/pet supplies and tools/renovation items, we only buy second hand. It's amazing, what ppl give away. DH really got an eye for bargains, coming from a family of milliners and farmers, who thrived on quality recognition. This is probably part of the reason why our things last for ages. His motto: "I am too poor to afford shitty things".
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My friend recently turned me onto online secondhand shopping specifically for outdoor technical clothing (expensive stuff!). I was surprised at how many quality pieces I've seen in really good shape. She chalks it up to many people trying to get into new hobbies and then finding out they don't enjoy them.
This is especially handy for someone at the extreme end of the size range like me. Sometimes shops don't even stock my size in new clothing.
In the past year I've gotten:
-Merino wool outdoor shirt for half off on Poshmark
-Expensive fleece jacket for half off on REI Used Gear
-Designer dress for over half off on Poshmark
Is there a trick to shopping REI Used Gear? I can see items, but can't click on anything. I don't see any particular instructions about requiring a log-in to shop, etc. Help!
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I have only been able to get used gear at the store, maybe they don't let you buy it online as it's too hard to judge condition.
On another note, does anyone know why it's so hard to find good minifridges that fit under the counter on the street? I've had it on my list for a couple months and I don't see any good ones. Are they really popular? I feel like people would throw them out all the time.... but maybe not? I haven't bought any small appliances in so long I just can't really imagine starting now.
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I have only been able to get used gear at the store, maybe they don't let you buy it online as it's too hard to judge condition.
On another note, does anyone know why it's so hard to find good minifridges that fit under the counter on the street? I've had it on my list for a couple months and I don't see any good ones. Are they really popular? I feel like people would throw them out all the time.... but maybe not? I haven't bought any small appliances in so long I just can't really imagine starting now.
Might be a timing thing. End of semester/school year in a college area would be easy pickings, I'd think. You might also post "ISO" (in search of) ads on your favorite listservs.
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I have only been able to get used gear at the store, maybe they don't let you buy it online as it's too hard to judge condition.
On another note, does anyone know why it's so hard to find good minifridges that fit under the counter on the street? I've had it on my list for a couple months and I don't see any good ones. Are they really popular? I feel like people would throw them out all the time.... but maybe not? I haven't bought any small appliances in so long I just can't really imagine starting now.
Might be a timing thing. End of semester/school year in a college area would be easy pickings, I'd think. You might also post "ISO" (in search of) ads on your favorite listservs.
Yep, especially in the pre-Craigslist days, the student housing areas were amazing places to find tons of free stuff like mini fridges, sporting good and tons of random stuff all left out for free at the end of the school year because they couldn’t bring it home. Now I’m not sure as much as people can easily throw things on marketplace and get cash before moving out, but I’m sure there’s at least more supply of that kind of thing at the end of school year
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@Dicey @NinetyFour I just realized that the REI Used Gear section probably requires a REI membership/login. I got one about a decade ago, so I just checked what it entails now. It's a $30 one-time fee and as far as I know it lasts a lifetime.
I believe without a membership you can still shop REI Outlet (more past-season deals rather than pre-owned. I think the discounts aren't as large).
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That sounds about right. And the REI membership I think entitles you to a dividend check on all the normal price stuff you get (which often is nothing since most things are on sale). I can vouch for the outlet though. I got a really powerful headlamp for $20 that kept me in bright light for my whole cripple wall brace and bolt project. It was a $100 lamp discounted and seemed to have been in as-new condition. Not as good as a street find, but for something specific a great deal.
Yes I've been surprised at the fridges. I keep the college schedule on my radar, have a scout that lives nearby, walks a dog and is supposed to alert me to any things on my list. Maybe students aren't keeping dorm fridges as often anymore? Are there more like full size fridges in common rooms now?
We just found a portable dishwasher on the street. Maybe I'll sell that and the 6 heaters I've been saving to sell in the winter heating season and just buy a fridge. Not sure why I'm so indignant the street store isn't providing here, I just really feel let down by it. L'Avenue usually knows what I want.
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I see dorm fridges on Buy Nothing/Zero Waste pretty often.
Recently found a whole bunch of actually nice yarn at Goodwill @ $2.99/skein. I was surprised - they usually just have half used balls of acrylic and I think the nicer stuff goes to the online store. But there's my winter's knitting sorted.
My Goodwill had a ton of high end summer stuff last week, so I think the local stores have shipped their summer clearance out. I bought some Prana tops for next summer.
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This thread inspired me. I needed some new-to-me clothes for my new part-time gig, and scored 4 pairs of pants and one shirt at our Goodwill for $30. Shopping for clothes is usually a dreadfully tedious chore for me, but today the clothing goddesses were with me, as it was a pretty painless trip. Yay!!
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@Dicey @NinetyFour I just realized that the REI Used Gear section probably requires a REI membership/login. I got one about a decade ago, so I just checked what it entails now. It's a $30 one-time fee and as far as I know it lasts a lifetime.
I believe without a membership you can still shop REI Outlet (more past-season deals rather than pre-owned. I think the discounts aren't as large).
I have a membership that's so old, I paid nothing for it. Logging in was the first thing I tried. Maybe the site was having problems. I might try using a different browser today.
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Most recent street-store find: a free but banged up patio table from a neighbors move-out pile. 2 cans of rust-oleum ($20--when did paint get so expensive???) and one set of plastic hardware ($15?), and I have the turquoise table I had been fantasizing about.
Poshmark is hit-or-miss for me. I sold a pair of slightly-too-small Frye boots (sigh, having 2 kids made my feet grow) and got back nearly what I paid for them. I bought one Eileen Fisher wool cardigan that was absolutely gorgeous, but so soaked in someone else's perfume that no amount of handwashing would get rid of the smell. I sent it to ThredUp along with a few other items, and now I have a $50 credit for a replacement.
I'm a big fan of ThredUp these days, because thrift stores in my area are not great, and I do not have the time to sift through the piles looking for gems. ThredUp at least lets me set up filters so I can find exactly what I need.
My best ThredUp find was like-new suiting, which I used for job interviews last winter and this spring. I got a black wool Banana Republic suit jacket and pants for $24 total. They fit beautifully, and wearing them, I got a new job that pays about 40% more than my previous job. That was by far my baddest-ass score.
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Just found another dinner on the street - two gallons of EVOO, two pounds of whole bean coffee, mac and cheese for the kids, bread loaves, tofu that was still cold, a sealed bottle of zyrtec, and to trade for the food I didn't find, 60' of short cuts of 2 gauge copper wire. How does this particular assemblage occur? Like, I'll throw out my pantry, and while I'm at it cut apart my main house power line? Copper has come down in price, I'll add it to the stash in case there's an upswing.
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I found a new with tags collared shirt for my son at the thrift store for $1.50.... on a half-off day, so I paid $0.75. It has little bicycles all over it and when I brought it home he loved it! It was a little too big. He decided it was going to be his school picture day shirt.
That was 10 years ago... and he wore it for EVERY school picture since... it became a running joke! He just had his high school senior pictures done (now he is 6'1" and around 200lbs..., so a little bit bigger than when he was 8 years old!), and he squeezed into it one last time! It looked fantastic :) That was a good thrift store find for sure! Now I want to pack It away in the event he has kids in the future I could pass it down :)
He's a very funny kid :)
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I found a new with tags collared shirt for my son at the thrift store for $1.50.... on a half-off day, so I paid $0.75. It has little bicycles all over it and when I brought it home he loved it! It was a little too big. He decided it was going to be his school picture day shirt.
That was 10 years ago... and he wore it for EVERY school picture since... it became a running joke! He just had his high school senior pictures done (now he is 6'1" and around 200lbs..., so a little bit bigger than when he was 8 years old!), and he squeezed into it one last time! It looked fantastic :) That was a good thrift store find for sure! Now I want to pack It away in the event he has kids in the future I could pass it down :)
He's a very funny kid :)
Except that I don't want it to end, I would declare this post the winner of the thread. Love it!
This Senior Mustachian, with the authority vested in me by [somethingsomething] officially confers upon him the honorific of "Bad Ass Badass". It's a very prestigious award, usually conferred by a dragon with a car, but he's busy right now, so I'll happily do the honors.
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I bought a giant piece of framed art at thrift store for $35. The frame and glass were what I wanted, the print was ick.
I ordered an art print I like for around $100 and a color appropriate mat for $25. I tarted up the silver frame with silver leaf, to match the finish of the cabinet below it. The entire big piece cost around $175.
While that ain’t cheap, I compare it to a newly minted print and a new framing job by a professional, one I bought a few weeks later. That bill was $600.00.
I now have certain frames on my thrift store shopping list.
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Most recent street-store find: a free but banged up patio table from a neighbors move-out pile. 2 cans of rust-oleum ($20--when did paint get so expensive???) and one set of plastic hardware ($15?), and I have the turquoise table I had been fantasizing about.
Poshmark is hit-or-miss for me. I sold a pair of slightly-too-small Frye boots (sigh, having 2 kids made my feet grow) and got back nearly what I paid for them. I bought one Eileen Fisher wool cardigan that was absolutely gorgeous, but so soaked in someone else's perfume that no amount of handwashing would get rid of the smell. I sent it to ThredUp along with a few other items, and now I have a $50 credit for a replacement.
I'm a big fan of ThredUp these days, because thrift stores in my area are not great, and I do not have the time to sift through the piles looking for gems. ThredUp at least lets me set up filters so I can find exactly what I need.
My best ThredUp find was like-new suiting, which I used for job interviews last winter and this spring. I got a black wool Banana Republic suit jacket and pants for $24 total. They fit beautifully, and wearing them, I got a new job that pays about 40% more than my previous job. That was by far my baddest-ass score.
I've never heard of ThredUp, would you say that Poshmark or Thredup is better for selling? I've got a whole pile of sell worthy clothes some name brands are quite pricy so I was thinking Poshmark, but saw your post and thought I'd ask your opinion about selling on both of these platforms.
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Most recent street-store find: a free but banged up patio table from a neighbors move-out pile. 2 cans of rust-oleum ($20--when did paint get so expensive???) and one set of plastic hardware ($15?), and I have the turquoise table I had been fantasizing about.
Poshmark is hit-or-miss for me. I sold a pair of slightly-too-small Frye boots (sigh, having 2 kids made my feet grow) and got back nearly what I paid for them. I bought one Eileen Fisher wool cardigan that was absolutely gorgeous, but so soaked in someone else's perfume that no amount of handwashing would get rid of the smell. I sent it to ThredUp along with a few other items, and now I have a $50 credit for a replacement.
I'm a big fan of ThredUp these days, because thrift stores in my area are not great, and I do not have the time to sift through the piles looking for gems. ThredUp at least lets me set up filters so I can find exactly what I need.
My best ThredUp find was like-new suiting, which I used for job interviews last winter and this spring. I got a black wool Banana Republic suit jacket and pants for $24 total. They fit beautifully, and wearing them, I got a new job that pays about 40% more than my previous job. That was by far my baddest-ass score.
I've never heard of ThredUp, would you say that Poshmark or Thredup is better for selling? I've got a whole pile of sell worthy clothes some name brands are quite pricy so I was thinking Poshmark, but saw your post and thought I'd ask your opinion about selling on both of these platforms.
I feel like Postmark is a bit more for trendy brands than ThredUp, but if it's designer stuff look at RealReal?
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Yesterday I scored a whole set of red cookware, matching my Big Chill red stove. These pants are really a nice condition, they are not bent or worn in any way. I was standing in the aisle when they were putting the sat out on the shelves so boy was I there at the right time.
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Most recent street-store find: a free but banged up patio table from a neighbors move-out pile. 2 cans of rust-oleum ($20--when did paint get so expensive???) and one set of plastic hardware ($15?), and I have the turquoise table I had been fantasizing about.
Poshmark is hit-or-miss for me. I sold a pair of slightly-too-small Frye boots (sigh, having 2 kids made my feet grow) and got back nearly what I paid for them. I bought one Eileen Fisher wool cardigan that was absolutely gorgeous, but so soaked in someone else's perfume that no amount of handwashing would get rid of the smell. I sent it to ThredUp along with a few other items, and now I have a $50 credit for a replacement.
I'm a big fan of ThredUp these days, because thrift stores in my area are not great, and I do not have the time to sift through the piles looking for gems. ThredUp at least lets me set up filters so I can find exactly what I need.
My best ThredUp find was like-new suiting, which I used for job interviews last winter and this spring. I got a black wool Banana Republic suit jacket and pants for $24 total. They fit beautifully, and wearing them, I got a new job that pays about 40% more than my previous job. That was by far my baddest-ass score.
I've never heard of ThredUp, would you say that Poshmark or Thredup is better for selling? I've got a whole pile of sell worthy clothes some name brands are quite pricy so I was thinking Poshmark, but saw your post and thought I'd ask your opinion about selling on both of these platforms.
I feel like Postmark is a bit more for trendy brands than ThredUp, but if it's designer stuff look at RealReal?
Oh thank you, I've heard of that one I'll check it out!
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With ThredUp, you send your items in blind. They take what they can consign and when they sell, a small percentage of the sale price goes into your account. You can use it as store credit or cash out. They post the clothes to the site and shoppers buy from ThredUp and ThredUp ships them out. If they decide your clothes aren't worth selling, you have to pay to get them back. There's no way to find out what they will sell for.
Poshmark is more of a direct sale site. You take pictures and set your price and the shopper buys from you. You ship the item.
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I found a new with tags collared shirt for my son at the thrift store for $1.50.... on a half-off day, so I paid $0.75. It has little bicycles all over it and when I brought it home he loved it! It was a little too big. He decided it was going to be his school picture day shirt.
That was 10 years ago... and he wore it for EVERY school picture since... it became a running joke! He just had his high school senior pictures done (now he is 6'1" and around 200lbs..., so a little bit bigger than when he was 8 years old!), and he squeezed into it one last time! It looked fantastic :) That was a good thrift store find for sure! Now I want to pack It away in the event he has kids in the future I could pass it down :)
He's a very funny kid :)
Except that I don't want it to end, I would declare this post the winner of the thread. Love it!
This Senior Mustachian, with the authority vested in me by [somethingsomething] officially confers upon him the honorific of "Bad Ass Badass". It's a very prestigious award, usually conferred by a dragon with a car, but he's busy right now, so I'll happily do the honors.
Fantastic...all of it--the shirt, photos and then topped off with a Bad Ass Badass award-ceremony--doesn't get much better :)
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My DD and I volunteer at a thrift store, and one of the perks is that we can buy clothing and shoes for 50 cents a piece. This past week DD scored a brand new pair of beautiful leather Merrell shoes. 50 cents!
It was serendipity because she was starting a new job and really needed a nice looking pair of shoes.
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My dh has season tickets to the college football games. Last year, they sat in a "white" section so his game shirts are white. This year they're in a "red" section. Yesterday I solved his game shirt issue by picking up both a long sleeved and short sleeved shirt in the *right* colors. I didn't even wait for them to be half price!
Licensed team stuff is so expensive...
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My DD and I volunteer at a thrift store, and one of the perks is that we can buy clothing and shoes for 50 cents a piece. This past week DD scored a brand new pair of beautiful leather Merrell shoes. 50 cents!
It was serendipity because she was starting a new job and really needed a nice looking pair of shoes.
That’s crazy, the “thrift” stores around here are notoriously overpriced, like when you see a dollar store item that has been donated to them they will literally slap their (larger) pricing sticker of say $4.99 over the $1 price tag from the dollar store down the street. $5 shirt new from Walmart that’s now used? Yup, it’s $8.99 on the rack at the “thrift” store, suckers.
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My DD and I volunteer at a thrift store, and one of the perks is that we can buy clothing and shoes for 50 cents a piece. This past week DD scored a brand new pair of beautiful leather Merrell shoes. 50 cents!
It was serendipity because she was starting a new job and really needed a nice looking pair of shoes.
That’s crazy, the “thrift” stores around here are notoriously overpriced, like when you see a dollar store item that has been donated to them they will literally slap their (larger) pricing sticker of say $4.99 over the $1 price tag from the dollar store down the street. $5 shirt new from Walmart that’s now used? Yup, it’s $8.99 on the rack at the “thrift” store, suckers.
Oof, I feel that way at Goodwill. Even though there's one extremely close, pass it every day close, I rarely darken their door. If I do it's usually to donate something "my" thrift shop doesn't need/can't sell.
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My DD and I volunteer at a thrift store, and one of the perks is that we can buy clothing and shoes for 50 cents a piece. This past week DD scored a brand new pair of beautiful leather Merrell shoes. 50 cents!
It was serendipity because she was starting a new job and really needed a nice looking pair of shoes.
Sweet!
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It finally happened to me! I’ve been walking to my local thrift store for years (about two miles from my house) flipping through the artwork hoping to find a gem. My town is pretty affluent and so I always knew there was a chance something good would show up.
I’d pretty much given up on finding artwork, and I went yesterday just to get my steps in and maybe sift through the silverware for a moment and also see if there were any classic novels. I hit up the artwork, which is usually just crap from Target and TJ Max. But then, flipping through a bunch of large frames, I saw something incredible. A framed impressionist watercolor painting of Paris. I looked at the back and noticed it was custom framed by a local company. I googled the artist name and realized immediately that I had something good. After getting home and doing a few more hours of web sleuthing, I think the painting and its frame (only the slightest damage to the frame, hardly noticeable) is worth at least $400. I paid $5.34 including sales tax.
So excited. Although, now all I can think about is visiting more thrift stores.
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That's fantastic @CheapScholar! Congrats!
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With ThredUp, you send your items in blind. They take what they can consign and when they sell, a small percentage of the sale price goes into your account. You can use it as store credit or cash out. They post the clothes to the site and shoppers buy from ThredUp and ThredUp ships them out. If they decide your clothes aren't worth selling, you have to pay to get them back. There's no way to find out what they will sell for.
Poshmark is more of a direct sale site. You take pictures and set your price and the shopper buys from you. You ship the item.
Yep. For me, ThredUp has turned out to be worth it. I tried to sell a bunch of my items on Poshmark and got few takers. It was taking time for me to manage the listings, and shipping was a drag. Time is my most limited resource these days, and I was not willing to put more into the site. My local resale shop stopped accepting donations during the pandemic. So, for me, it made sense to just drop a big bundle in the mail to ThredUp. I made very little money with my first bundle, but that wasn't really my aim. With my second bundle, I made enough to pay for like-new Banana Republic wool interview suiting.
As a shopper, the great thing about ThredUp for me was being able to find the exact item I wanted in the exact size and condition. As a seller, it's a mixed bag, but worth it if you don't want to actively manage listings.
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My DD and I volunteer at a thrift store, and one of the perks is that we can buy clothing and shoes for 50 cents a piece. This past week DD scored a brand new pair of beautiful leather Merrell shoes. 50 cents!
It was serendipity because she was starting a new job and really needed a nice looking pair of shoes.
That’s crazy, the “thrift” stores around here are notoriously overpriced, like when you see a dollar store item that has been donated to them they will literally slap their (larger) pricing sticker of say $4.99 over the $1 price tag from the dollar store down the street. $5 shirt new from Walmart that’s now used? Yup, it’s $8.99 on the rack at the “thrift” store, suckers.
Oof, I feel that way at Goodwill. Even though there's one extremely close, pass it every day close, I rarely darken their door. If I do it's usually to donate something "my" thrift shop doesn't need/can't sell.
Same. Plus I got burned by their "return" policy. Returns are not actually allowed. Only EXCHANGES. Huge difference. I ended up buying some overpriced disposable tupperware just to get the new purchase total over the cost of the exchanged item. I am much more cautious about that store these days.
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Unfortunately the thrift store closest to my house removed all the changing rooms 'due to COVID.' I still go there for kids' clothes and non-clothing items, but I'm really frustrated that I can't try on clothes for myself.
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My DD and I volunteer at a thrift store, and one of the perks is that we can buy clothing and shoes for 50 cents a piece. This past week DD scored a brand new pair of beautiful leather Merrell shoes. 50 cents!
It was serendipity because she was starting a new job and really needed a nice looking pair of shoes.
That’s crazy, the “thrift” stores around here are notoriously overpriced, like when you see a dollar store item that has been donated to them they will literally slap their (larger) pricing sticker of say $4.99 over the $1 price tag from the dollar store down the street. $5 shirt new from Walmart that’s now used? Yup, it’s $8.99 on the rack at the “thrift” store, suckers.
That's no good at all.
At our (small local) thrift store all clothes and shoes are a flat price of $3. (There are a few exceptions, like for something really valuable or unusual -- a wedding dress or a fancy handbag for example -- but 99% of everything is just $3). It saves on the volunteers having to price the clothing and shoes and it keeps everything simple. As a shopper it's fun because there are some real gems to be found once in a while. And because we're volunteers we get to see all the stuff first, so -- cha ching.
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Goodwill has raised its prices because such a large percentage of its sales are to resellers these days, and Goodwill has such a high volume.
If you have a GW clearance center/bins, that's where the bargains are.
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Goodwill was already sending all of the "good" stuff to their online auction.
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Unfortunately the thrift store closest to my house removed all the changing rooms 'due to COVID.' I still go there for kids' clothes and non-clothing items, but I'm really frustrated that I can't try on clothes for myself.
My GW is the same. No fitting rooms + no returns = No Dicey.
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This must vary, because my GW has had the dressing rooms open for at least a year.
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Unfortunately the thrift store closest to my house removed all the changing rooms 'due to COVID.' I still go there for kids' clothes and non-clothing items, but I'm really frustrated that I can't try on clothes for myself.
My GW is the same. No fitting rooms + no returns = No Dicey.
Ditto my local VV - they've even rearranged the store since then and completely removed the stalls. Total crap, they've basically realized they haven't lost any sales since taking them out and so they don't give a shit.
I keep threatening to show up to shop in a sports bra and spandex shorts and just try stuff on in the aisles but haven't quite gotten up the nerve to do so yet.
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I keep threatening to show up to shop in a sports bra and spandex shorts and just try stuff on in the aisles but haven't quite gotten up the nerve to do so yet.
All joking/exaggeration aside, this is actually a really good idea. Thanks!
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This must vary, because my GW has had the dressing rooms open for at least a year.
Same here. Goodwill is a corporation and though the name is consistent, they are managed by different people in different structures. My region is part of the chicago suburbs up into southern wisconsin, I believe. We've got fitting rooms and I am very appreciative!
Our other "chain" thrift store removed fitting rooms, changed their returns policy to exchanges only, and now I won't go there. Not worth my time to "guess" if things might fit or hope that if something doesn't, there'll be another possible option when it's time to exchange the items.
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I was just at Value Village today. Their prices are totally insane. There was a silver plated teapot that’s exactly the same as my grandmother’s that a few weeks ago was priced at $9.99, which was fairly reasonable, but has now been repriced at $39.99! A woven basket that was nice, but nothing really special that I miiiiight have paid $4 for was $12.99. Probably more than it was brand new.
Also, all but one of the check outs is now self serve, which I avoid like the plague. There was one person using one of the 4 self serves, and 5 people in line at the staffed one.
They haven’t accepted returns for years and you have to exchange in your next visit. No credit allowed.
I’ve pretty much given up looking for deals here and likely won’t go back for a very long time.
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Popped into St. Vinny's yesterday after our tai chi class, and their prices are dramatically better than Goodwill's, though they don't have the volume. I did pick up several things for grandboy.
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Goodwill was already sending all of the "good" stuff to their online auction.
I've noticed this too. GW hasn't been good in years.
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I just scored a really good haul from my local Buy Nothing group. I got a big tote bag full of cute, barely used, brand-name clothing in just my size:
- A warm jacket
- A puffer vest
- Two knitted beanies
- A baseball cap
- Two running shorts
- A t-shirt
- Seven sports bras
- A swimsuit (even has the plastic crotch liner on it)
- And a new fabric tote perfect for grocery runs
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It’s not exciting but I got 13 HVAc filters. We have cats so we change it monthly. I had just made an order to stock up because they are really hard to find locally, so now we have almost two years of filters in the basement, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Our goodwill has fitting rooms and has some good stuff. They have a rack in the front for nicer items at higher prices but everything else in the store ranges from $1.99 - $5.99. They sometimes mark up duds and they sometimes miss treasures. It’s just part of the game.
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I was just at Value Village today. Their prices are totally insane. There was a silver plated teapot that’s exactly the same as my grandmother’s that a few weeks ago was priced at $9.99, which was fairly reasonable, but has now been repriced at $39.99! A woven basket that was nice, but nothing really special that I miiiiight have paid $4 for was $12.99. Probably more than it was brand new.
Also, all but one of the check outs is now self serve, which I avoid like the plague. There was one person using one of the 4 self serves, and 5 people in line at the staffed one.
They haven’t accepted returns for years and you have to exchange in your next visit. No credit allowed.
I’ve pretty much given up looking for deals here and likely won’t go back for a very long time.
If they could get $9.99 for that silver plate teapot that would’ve been good so somebody doesn’t know their merchandise.
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Goodwill has raised its prices because such a large percentage of its sales are to resellers these days, and Goodwill has such a high volume.
If you have a GW clearance center/bins, that's where the bargains are.
Recently I went to our Goodwill clearance store calked Last .chance after being away for several years. Oh my God it has gone downhill so much, it’s so depressing. There’s absolutely nothing that makes me want to paw through huge rolling carts full of jumbled crap. They have no kitchen ware anymore, no dishes no glasses. That is what I went in for.
I used go there with some regularity and got a couple nice things plus got several things that I didn’t need and were especially nice but were useful at the time. One of the nice things I picked up there was a beautiful vintage velvet coat that is just lush and beautiful. To this day I don’t know how it found its way there it should’ve been snapped up long before. I like it so much that I took it with me to my current house even though I got rid of most everything else like it.
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Just stopped by my local thrift store, saw a cool bench. Price tag: $200!
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Found a Talbot's blouse for $6 at the Goodwill in a nicer neighborhood. I wanted one for an event with a particular theme. I got several compliments on it.
Also found two board games in great shape and an LL Bean flannel shirt.
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Found a 1000 piece puzzle for $3.00 and a 750 piece one for $2.00 at my favorite thrift. Best of all, both are brand new and still shrink wrapped. They're in the present closet, just waiting to turn into gifts, yippee! Also, it's not from a thrift store, but we made a Winco pilgrimage on the way home from our Magical Moab Meetup Adventure. I found a cute inlaid bamboo cutting board for someone on my list who's very hard to shop for. It was $15.95, which I'm calling a win.
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Pair of fleece lined low ll bean rubber boots, appear to have seen very little to no use, perfect for outside tasks, $20!
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I went to Coat Day at the Dig & Save, which was amazing, and I got my dh a heavy winter coat from Duluth Trading for $1.
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We were lamenting our grungy towels so I specifically went to the towel section in the thrift store today. Three brand new towels (DKNY) $1 each. And a new bathmat too.
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Love seeing these thrift store finds!
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Yesterday I found a copy of Office 2007 for $2.
For my family, I found the entire 9 seasons of 'The Walton's plus the movies for $10.
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Not quite thrifting but I didn’t want to start a new topic.
We’ve lived in relatively new apartment buildings for the past three years. The amount of near-new condition furniture and general household items that gets thrown out is wild.
We’ve made a habit of driving past the trash disposal each time we go for a drive, just to see what has been left next to it. Our running joke is that we just have to wait for the universe to manifest whatever we ask for.
Below is a grid of my phone pics of just one trip past the dumpster yesterday...a floor lamp, a really nice table that matches our drinks cart that we also found next to the dumpster, plants, an outdoor table, bar stools and outdoor chairs.
There’s been so much stuff that we’ve even started taking things to the local thrift store so it doesn’t go into landfill.
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Not quite thrifting but I didn’t want to start a new topic.
We’ve lived in relatively new apartment buildings for the past three years. The amount of near-new condition furniture and general household items that gets thrown out is wild.
We’ve made a habit of driving past the trash disposal each time we go for a drive, just to see what has been left next to it. Our running joke is that we just have to wait for the universe to manifest whatever we ask for.
Below is a grid of my phone pics of just one trip past the dumpster yesterday...a floor lamp, a really nice table that matches our drinks cart that we also found next to the dumpster, plants, an outdoor table, bar stools and outdoor chairs.
There’s been so much stuff that we’ve even started taking things to the local thrift store so it doesn’t go into landfill.
Wow, that's quite the haul! I wish my neighbourhood was so pickable! I would be tempted to take everything of good quality and sell things if I didn't want them myself. Do others help themselves or does a lot of it actually go to the garbage truck?
I actually found a few things at my local store - 2 medium size seashells for .50 and 1.00, a few books for .50 each and a gorgeous, heavy, modern mirror for $20.00. I think I might be stopping by there more often.
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This weekend at our thrift store I found a zippered canvas blanket storage pouch with cedar inside for $2.
I'm looking forward to storing our down alternative comforter in there during the summer. Right now it just sits on a shelf in the closet and gets dusty.
I also bought a nice large bath towel for $5. I'm jealous of the people who are finding them for $1 or $2.
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Our downtown "boutique-y" thrift store did 50% off all weekend. I purchased 8 silver-plate napkin rings for 50¢ each, 6 nice quality place mats for $3 each, a large linen souvenir towel for $6 (I like the really large linen towels for bread), and a vintage aluminum pitcher for $7 (perfect for the van). I also got a set of silver-plate flatware (76 pieces) in a great condition anti-tarnish box for $40. We've been hosting our small group a lot more often lately, and I don't like to bring out the sterling just for teaspoons and dessert forks. (The sterling was a badass find a couple of decades ago -- I paid $300 for it because the seller didn't want to bother to polish it clean before selling and sold it for melt value, which was super low back then.) I've been on the lookout for silver-plate teaspoons at a decent price since the local antique store charges $6 per piece of flatware for mixed patterns. This set has 15 teaspoons, so it's perfect.
None of the thrift stores near me sell bath towels for under $6.
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Our thrift shop was open for the last day before Thanksgiving on Tues (Closed Weds, Thur, Fri). We ran a 40% off everything in the store sale. We were only open 4 hours and took in nearly $5k. That's a lot of bargain shopping happening!
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Annual spring sale for a local charity - got everything on my list for about $30. Pair of corduroy pants, florists frogs (three, all they had, plus some other floral supplies - a friend uses them for her small biz and they are pricey new), work-appropriate dress, puzzle for the kid, half a box of holiday cards (I need a few every year but not many), and a thicker yoga mat for my old knees.
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Not sure it's that badass, but with the death of DVD, and Netflix's decision to stop doing movies by mail, I've been on the lookout for thrift shop DVD and VHS copies of films that almost never stream, so in the past couple months I've spent about $15 to get 4 Tarantino films I love, The Sound of Music, Eternal Sunshine, It Happened One Night, and T2. I have a decent Goodwill store near my house that has a constantly refreshing DVD section. Not bad when online movie rental averages around $4, and the library doesn't necessarily have playable copies. I've also picked up a couple gently used Sony DVD players for $10 each to have a spare, and to use one as a CD player with my powered speakers.
Side note: Man, it bums me out that DVD by mail is going away. There's so much non-streaming essential film, and the Netflix DVD catalog was good for discovering classics.
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I got four Calvin Klein dresses, brand new, for $12 each. I needed professional clothing and these dresses are a dream. <3
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I got four Calvin Klein dresses, brand new, for $12 each. I needed professional clothing and these dresses are a dream. <3
Nice!!
I got a secondhand Fossil wallet from ThredUp for $22. After a lifetime of cheap wallets, I finally got something that looks and feels premium, for a steal.
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Pretty pleased with this. 25¢.
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I was going to make a custom frame for a piece of art we were gifted. Went to the thrift store instead and found a frame that'll work with some matting for $15. Custom frame probably would have been $30 minimum of newly manufactured materials.
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Hit goodwill yesterday for jean shorts for my daughter. She found five pairs, plus a good pair of tennis shorts. I found three new kleen kanteen water bottles. $50.
We did not find a good graduation dress.
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I was going to make a custom frame for a piece of art we were gifted. Went to the thrift store instead and found a frame that'll work with some matting for $15. Custom frame probably would have been $30 minimum of newly manufactured materials.
For a lot of the art in my house I start with a frame from the thrift store, then go to one of several online print sources to find something to fit it. You usually get a choice of size for a chosen print.
I also buy original art and have snagged more than one thrift store frame to fit.
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I don't have a ton of free time lately, with small kids and a full time job, so I don't always have the time to go to the local goodwill. But last week I did have time to go on thredup and pick out some lovely stuff that I can't wait to try on, for a fraction of the original price. It is a little more expensive than the local shop, but it is a really great option for me right now.
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It's been tough to find decent deals for the last few months. The Goodwills have been increasing their prices. TV series are now anywhere from $5-8. I saw the Firefly series at one and they wanted $13 for it!
We did recently score an actual deal on a couple of cabinets(?). They were someone's woodworking project and were constructed from plywood and 2x4s. Pretty decent work but not worth the $40 each they were asking. They didn't sell and I was able to grab both of them on $1 day.
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We picked up a fancy backpack kid carrier for $5. Granted… we already have one that we bought off marketplace for $50 (also a good deal) but once we started using it we started to develop an idea of what we actually want in a backpack and the $5 one had those features and at $5 it was an easy buy.
We’re also still loving our thrifted $14.99 jogging stroller. It’s faded and shabby and I have to activate my stoicism sometimes when we use it… but it rolls so smoothly. Husband runs with baby several times a week, and I take her grocery shopping and we never have to worry about anyone stealing it.
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We’re also still loving our thrifted $14.99 jogging stroller. It’s faded and shabby and I have to activate my stoicism sometimes when we use it…
You can spray Rit dye for synthetics onto stroller fabric. The results can be amazing! Not that you have to. Stoicism is also great. I just like dyeing things.
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We’re also still loving our thrifted $14.99 jogging stroller. It’s faded and shabby and I have to activate my stoicism sometimes when we use it…
You can spray Rit dye for synthetics onto stroller fabric. The results can be amazing! Not that you have to. Stoicism is also great. I just like dyeing things.
This reminds me that I'd love to watch a TV show where people repurpose and refresh items from the thrift store. I know there's various YouTube channels where talented people can refashion old out-of-style clothing into something modern, but I'm thinking of those who can do that with all sorts of things.
One example: I see lots of those knife storage butcher block sets in thrift stores. Just recently I saw a clip on the internet where a woman had repurposed one to contain crayons and markers for her kids which I thought was clever. Wonder if it could be an academic extra credit for students in art or woodworking or other classes to go to a thrift store and buy a random item and see how you can remake for re-use?
I think it could also spark an interest in the budding frugalistas out there that makes DIY look fun and interesting vs. tedious and miserly.
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This reminds me that I'd love to watch a TV show where people repurpose and refresh items from the thrift store. I know there's various YouTube channels where talented people can refashion old out-of-style clothing into something modern, but I'm thinking of those who can do that with all sorts of things.
I'd watch the hell out of that show.
There used to be a magazine called "Readymade" that was all stuff like that. It never quite reached its full potential, but it had a little bit of a cult following. It basically didn't survive the transition to the digital age.
There also used to be a home makeover show called "Freestyle" where they just rearranged all your stuff instead of buying new stuff. I was so hooked on it! I think it only went a season or two.
I miss the 2000 - 2006-ish "maker revolution." There was some fun stuff getting made for a minute there.
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This reminds me that I'd love to watch a TV show where people repurpose and refresh items from the thrift store. I know there's various YouTube channels where talented people can refashion old out-of-style clothing into something modern, but I'm thinking of those who can do that with all sorts of things.
I'd watch the hell out of that show.
There used to be a magazine called "Readymade" that was all stuff like that. It never quite reached its full potential, but it had a little bit of a cult following. It basically didn't survive the transition to the digital age.
There also used to be a home makeover show called "Freestyle" where they just rearranged all your stuff instead of buying new stuff. I was so hooked on it! I think it only went a season or two.
I miss the 2000 - 2006-ish "maker revolution." There was some fun stuff getting made for a minute there.
There is. It's called "Flea Market Flip" and Lara Spencer hosts it. It's all in reruns now, but still fun to watch.
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Yep, I remember Flea Market Flip. That show was fun but of course the "winners" were those who paid the least $ and sold it for the most $$.
I'd like to take the monetization out of the equation, or even any judging for winners or losers, and just show creative and interesting art pieces, or normal everyday stuff that's been made attractive and usable.
I'd love to see a teacher assign students to go into a thrift store and pick 3 random items like I see all the time: an old trophy, a DVD, an old baseball cap, puzzle with missing pieces, fancy high heels, 3-ring binders, old clocks, a Live/Love/Laugh sign, cordless drills without the batteries, plastic spatulas - you get the idea. Then have fun either breaking everything apart to make a wild art piece or figure out how to combine and repurpose things.
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We’re also still loving our thrifted $14.99 jogging stroller. It’s faded and shabby and I have to activate my stoicism sometimes when we use it…
You can spray Rit dye for synthetics onto stroller fabric. The results can be amazing! Not that you have to. Stoicism is also great. I just like dyeing things.
That is a good idea. I do fantasize about painting over the bits of rust on the wheels. I’m hesitant to start spending money on it though. Those kinds of projects tend to balloon. But I might keep that idea in mind just in case.
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Sturdy & roomy backpack for $7, to replace an over-shoulder bag I've been using to go to the gym. It's heavy! And my one shoulder aches after carrying it, especially if I've taken the bus. This also will allow me to ride my bike instead of take the bus. Payback: less than 2 round trips!
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I’ve purchased so many garden tools and supplies at thrift and the Habitat store — especially t-posts, chicken wire, used wood (for gates)… the list goes on. Also, I purchase lots of clothes at thrift. Have people not heard of washing machines? I live in a university town that has a big community sale each summer when the student leases turn over. I’ve purchased lots of kitchen stuff, including a fancy toaster and an unused upright cart (for taking on the bus). I buy almost all of my crafting and gift wrapping supplies at thrift.
And when I’m done with something that’s in decent shape, I quickly move it right out the door, back to thrift.
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Free desks! Once again the trash area at our apartment complex has manifested perfectly good furniture to decorate our house with. These retail for $440 new. There were actually four there, we kept the best two and we are going to donate one. We left the other one there as it was wobbly.
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Nice desks! What a score!
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I used a buy $50 save 30% coupon to purchase 5 dresses at my local Savers…. These dresses rang up as summer dresses and all were way overpriced without the coupon. They had more visible security than normal also….not a good sign.
I donated a vase and some knickknack gifts on my way inside.
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I haven't done much thrifting lately, but I did find 8 placemats for $5 (our table needs placemats to protect the wood), and then on vacation I bought a tea pot and cookie jar in the pattern of my holiday dishes for $15 total, which is a pretty cheap "souvenir". I didn't need a t-shirt or coffee mug, but I will always think of this trip when I bring out the holiday dishes.
I also bought a set of vintage ironstone dishes for $75 from Facebook Marketplace. I'd been scouring the local thrift stores and either they didn't have anything I liked, or what they did have was overpriced and incomplete. This is service for 16 with dinner plates, salad/dessert plates, coupe soup bowls, cups and saucers, plus two each of serving platters, serving bowls, butter dishes with lids, salt and pepper shakers, sugar bowls with lids, creamers, gravy boats with saucers, and tea pots with lids. With over 100 pieces, it was less than 75¢ per piece, which my local thrift stores can't touch. Even if I'd gone the mix and match route at the thrift store, I wouldn't have gotten these kind of prices.
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After looking for several months I finally found a cot with adapters for our old stroller for 60 CHF including delivery instead of the new price of 160 CHF. It still looks very new, I am very pleased with this purchase.
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This one's kind of accidental. We happened to be close to the new Saver's store yesterday. We tried to visit last time we were in the area, but it was a Saturday there was zero parking. This time there was parking and a donation bin in front. I had something in my car that was earmarked for Goodwill, so I put it in their bin just to save a trip to GW. Once inside, I noticed a sign that offered a 20% discount if you bring in a donation. Sweet!
I was looking for something else (no luck), but passed by a nice selection of puzzles. I found two that were germane to the upcoming Magical Moab Meetup. Despite being the same brand, artist, and number of pieces, one was 2.49, the other was 4.49. Still more were 3.49. I asked the cashier tending the self-service kiosks and they said to simply scan the lower price puzzle twice and then the coupon. Uh, okay.
Two 500 piece Dowdle puzzles in great condition came to $4.36.
Despite this score, I doubt I will visit there often. Savers is NOT a non-profit, and their presence in the community is siphoning donations away from thrifts who are. Further, because contributing to a cause is not their primary goal, they can spend a LOT more on rent for a huge building and fancy inventory tracking systems. Because they have a paid staff, they are also open more hours. Bah.
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Strollers can take a lot of wear and tear, but there are a myriad of reasons you should purchase a new one when you have a baby. The biggest concern is safety, as items may have been recalled or outdated and without the manual you'd never know.
Don't you just hate it when you're reading the manual to your brand new stroller and it tells you it has been recalled and you need to return it for a refund? Ugh, such bad journalism.
Yea, that one was pretty dumb, especially in this day and age. We had 2 strollers:
1) Freebie from an acquaintance. Great condition, but it did have a recall - which was super easy to find out about. Emailed the manufacturer, they sent the free extra padding piece to prevent a potential pinch injury. Worked great until we no longer needed it.
2) Trash-picked a jogging stroller. Condition wasn't as great - it looked like it had sat outside for awhile and sun faded. No recalls, worked great until we no longer needed it. Pretty sure I sold it for $20.
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I assume that the recall thing is more of an issue with that whole "travel system" thing that makes it so that the kid never have to be taken out of the baby pod from house to car to stroller. We never had one of those, so I never worried about whether the umbrella stroller that I paid $15 for had been recalled (to be fair, the consignment sale that I bought it from is fairly thorough with their recall checks). I wore him until he was almost three so our stroller usage was fairly minimal anyway.
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We're going to Colorado and the forecast is pretty chilly for us CA sissies. Found a cute Lululemon vest at the thrift shop for $7.00. Layering score!
Also scored a brand new Uno deck for $2.00. Cheap grandkid fun!
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We're going to Colorado and the forecast is pretty chilly for us CA sissies. Found a cute Lululemon vest at the thrift shop for $7.00. Layering score!
Also scored a brand new Uno deck for $2.00. Cheap grandkid fun!
Feel free to make up additional rules that amuse the players!
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We're going to Colorado and the forecast is pretty chilly for us CA sissies. Found a cute Lululemon vest at the thrift shop for $7.00. Layering score!
Also scored a brand new Uno deck for $2.00. Cheap grandkid fun!
Feel free to make up additional rules that amuse the players!
The two-year-old will be an easy mark. The almost seven-year- old is much savvier. This is where old age and treachery come into play.
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Found a jacket for $10. Went to pay and discovered that it was 75% off. Paid $2.50 Canadian for an awesome jacket to replace the one I’ve been wearing, which my husband found while hiking 13 years ago.
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Found a jacket for $10. Went to pay and discovered that it was 75% off. Paid $2.50 Canadian for an awesome jacket to replace the one I’ve been wearing, which my husband found while hiking 13 years ago.
We call that kind of clothing "roadkill", whether or not it's literally picked up on the side of the road!
I went into a local place to drop some stuff off yesterday, and checked for sweaters for me (nothing I liked) and non-icky-colored shirts for the DH. (somehow, all his collared shirts have become ugly brown, or grey, or brown-grey...). Came out with 4 lovely shirts (2 polos in actual colors, two short-sleeved button ups: he'll wear both kinds) for $13.04. Even if one is too small, that's still a decent win.
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We're going to Colorado and the forecast is pretty chilly for us CA sissies. Found a cute Lululemon vest at the thrift shop for $7.00. Layering score!
Also scored a brand new Uno deck for $2.00. Cheap grandkid fun!
After this post, when in CO, we discovered a place in Pitkin County called The Motherlode Mercantile. It's literally at the dump. People drop off good stuff and then its sold for super cheap. Our Son-in-Law leases a ranch and has an outfitting business. We scored so much great stuff there for very little money and had a complete blast doing so. I think we went five times in eight days. The woman who runs it (Natalie ❤️) is totally cool and prices everything to move, move, move!
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Found 3 aquatic themed pillow covers for .50 each. Regular price online is supposedly $66 each, but on sale for $26. They’re nice, but not $26 of nice. I might have gone up to a buck apiece.
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Two pairs of Columbia quick dry shorts for $5 each. Also got a tank top for $3. DD found a pair of quick dry shorts for $1.
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Thanks for the link, Dicey. I love thrift shopping. It's so cheap that I often have more clothes than I need, and spend much less on stain removers since I can just retire clothing into car-work-rags, and move on to newer clothing.
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Ptf
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Thanks for the link, Dicey. I love thrift shopping. It's so cheap that I often have more clothes than I need, and spend much less on stain removers since I can just retire clothing into car-work-rags, and move on to newer clothing.
Funny, I found a spendy brand t-shirt in a pretty light green color just before the last trip. I washed and dryed it in a commercial machine mid-trip and the armpits turned black! I brought it home and soaked it in The Frugal Girl's pit stain remover and it's good to go again. Whew!
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Amazing what you find at a thrift store.
Last month I found wool dryer balls in the original bag/packaging. Looked unused, so I'm using them.
Classic fishing reels for cheaper than ebay. Not that I need more classic reels, I got the nicer ones and they will be used.
Hooks and organizers are cheaper than new. I'm always on the look out.
Best deal is still the German Kitchen knives. I doubt I would have tried them if not for the thrift store.
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The local kids consignment shop is having their semi-annual sale. A number of clothes, shoes and toys are marked down to $1, and this weekend will be further marked down to 2 for $1. It's literally cheaper than the Goodwill in the same shopping center.
So this is a friendly reminder that there's good deals to be found at consignment-type and other stores that are not chain thrift stores.
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Not thrift store buys, but I recently got two items through Buy Nothing and wasn't sure where to share them.
1) Vintage metal made in USA fan -- totally unsafe for use around children or curious cats with the metal blades and huge openings, but it fits the house and I plan to mount it in the kitchen -- we've been talking about putting a fan up in one corner for several years now.
2) Large 48x76" teak veneer bookcase, mid century, made in Denmark. It's in great shape except someone made a hole for a cord to go through, and not a nice round hole, but no one will ever see it. Oldest kid needed a bookcase, and getting a nice one for free is a bonus.
I've been staying out of thrift stores as my goal has been for far more things to leave the house then come in.
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Do the various "[Amazon/etc] returns outlet" stores count as thrift? If so, DW pulled a $100+ air purifier for under $10, even after buying a new dust-sock for it. Happy about that given more expected Canadian wildfire smoke this summer. :-/
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I would say it counts - good score!
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Yesterday I dragged DH to REI while we were in the area. He needs some hiking shoes/boots to fit his post-surgical, extra wide feet. While we waited our turn, I checked their website. Surprise, they have a wide mid-height boot in their own brand, and it was on clearance for 50% off, and they had his size. When it was our turn I whispered to the clerk that price was no issue, I just wanted DH to find boots that fit. He only had two styles in extra wide width, and one of them was the clearance boots, which actually fit, yippee! I also found a pair for me for half price. The hard part was not buying anything else while we were on a roll, but we did it.
Today was my volunteer day at the thrift shop. I found three brand-new looking L/S t-shirts. Two Land's End Super T's for DH and a Lululemon tee for me. It was Senior Day, so they were $3 each. I succumbed to the Siren Call of a 1,000 PC. White Mountain puzzle for $3 as well. It's stilling the original, unopened box, so it could become a gift.
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This is pretty badass, because someone put the word out for Life Vests for the Magical Moab Meetup, and the Thrift Shop Gods (fake TM) served up these two beauties, on sale for about $7.00 each.
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After finding a one pint sauce pan and 2 quart Le Creuset dutch oven in enameled cast iron, in red (why red?) I was hoping to find a larger one. I did! complete with crack down the side and passed on it, also in red.
Finally found a 5.5 quart Tramontina enameled cast iron dutch oven in excellent condition for $10 versus $50+ for a new one. In deep, dark red. I left the cast iron skillet for the next person. I have a complete collection and this one is recent make.
The white enameled 5 quart I've had for a decade is chipping on the inside in a couple of spots. Not overheated (unless the kids did it) and the brand is Olive & Thyme. Made in China and found at a discount store, so I'm not heart broken.
What is there to do with chipped, enameled dutch ovens? Planters? I have enough decorations.
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After finding a one pint sauce pan and 2 quart Le Creuset dutch oven in enameled cast iron, in red (why red?) I was hoping to find a larger one. I did! complete with crack down the side and passed on it, also in red.
Finally found a 5.5 quart Tramontina enameled cast iron dutch oven in excellent condition for $10 versus $50+ for a new one. In deep, dark red. I left the cast iron skillet for the next person. I have a complete collection and this one is recent make.
The white enameled 5 quart I've had for a decade is chipping on the inside in a couple of spots. Not overheated (unless the kids did it) and the brand is Olive & Thyme. Made in China and found at a discount store, so I'm not heart broken.
What is there to do with chipped, enameled dutch ovens? Planters? I have enough decorations.
If it's still serviceable, maybe give it to the thrift store?
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What is there to do with chipped, enameled dutch ovens? Planters? I have enough decorations.
If it's still serviceable, maybe give it to the thrift store?
I'm still using it, so yes. I don't want to find chips in my food though and don't trust it or scrape the bottom while serving. I inspect it closely. Giving to thrift may help someone.
Rice doesn't stick as bad to the enamel as the regular dutch ovens. But it still sticks.
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What is there to do with chipped, enameled dutch ovens? Planters? I have enough decorations.
If it's still serviceable, maybe give it to the thrift store?
I'm still using it, so yes. I don't want to find chips in my food though and don't trust it or scrape the bottom while serving. I inspect it closely. Giving to thrift may help someone.
Rice doesn't stick as bad to the enamel as the regular dutch ovens. But it still sticks.
Yeah, I made some in the IP yesterday. The rice turned out perfectly, which means it's stuck all over the liner and still soaking in the kitchen sink.
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Yeah, I made some in the IP yesterday. The rice turned out perfectly, which means it's stuck all over the liner and still soaking in the kitchen sink.
Which means you should make soup right after the rice is done. LOL.
My family hates when I do that. They say I'm cooking in a dirty pot. In truth, I'm highly efficient and the soup needs rice anyway.
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Yeah, I made some in the IP yesterday. The rice turned out perfectly, which means it's stuck all over the liner and still soaking in the kitchen sink.
Which means you should make soup right after the rice is done. LOL.
My family hates when I do that. They say I'm cooking in a dirty pot. In truth, I'm highly efficient and the soup needs rice anyway.
Ha, I was using up leftover broth from an event I hosted on Friday.
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Our bread maker, which was used 1-2x every week, died. We’ve been on the lookout for a new used bread maker. One was posted yesterday, and we snagged it for approx. $25. Looked it up online - it goes for about $100 new.
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I forgot to post about this when it happened, but a couple of weeks ago I stopped by a thrift store I don't usually go to in a town where I was picking something else up for DD. I had recently ordered a camp chair from REI at a somewhat ridiculous price. So I popped over to the camping gear section and found at least 10 camp chairs to choose from. I worked my way through the pile until I found the one that was both cheap ($5.99 + tax) and comfortable. Saved myself over $50!
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Badass!
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My old bag literally fell apart after 22.5 years of faithful service. I went to the thrift shop for a replacement. Saw a bag. "Oh, that's pretty! I love the color and its the perfect size!" Check the tag inside the purse. "Tommy Hilfiger? Somebody paid a lot of money for this." Wasn't me though. I paid $9.
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Stopped by the thrift store today and bought two Calvin Klein dresses for $10.50 each, and a 99 cent little gift for a coworker. <3
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Sturdy & roomy backpack for $7, to replace an over-shoulder bag I've been using to go to the gym. It's heavy! And my one shoulder aches after carrying it, especially if I've taken the bus. This also will allow me to ride my bike instead of take the bus. Payback: less than 2 round trips!
Womp-womp. The backpack was probably stored for a long time. It looked good, but recently the fabric had been deteriorating (flaking off) and three holes have opened up. I've found a similar bag online for only $40 all in. It only needs to last 2 years and 5 months to be the same price per use as the used bag
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I discovered that a wedding I'm going to in two weeks is black tie formal, so all of my knee length symphony dresses (which were also thrifted) aren't going to work. To the thrift shops in the uber-wealthy neighborhood! I found a full length black gown that fits me perfectly for $18. Retail $290. I'll need to get it hemmed for probably $40. Definitely worth it.
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I just found a ton of under armor, Nike, Columbia, and Kuhl clothes - 6 pants, 2 coats, and 4 sweatshirts this week…all 40% extra off. I left with enough clothes to keep my son outfitted and looking decent for another year…for under $50 total. I love it when I get there and it looks like someone just donated their kids’ fancy wardrobe in just the right size! It all matches and fits.
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I just found a ton of under armor, Nike, Columbia, and Kuhl clothes - 6 pants, 2 coats, and 4 sweatshirts this week…all 40% extra off. I left with enough clothes to keep my son outfitted and looking decent for another year…for under $50 total. I love it when I get there and it looks like someone just donated their kids’ fancy wardrobe in just the right size! It all matches and fits.
Wow!
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A cute red 3-shelf metal cart, perfect condition, $5 with senior discount.
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Let's see if this will attach. First dump run yielded a Longaberger basket, a Bagalini bag, and various other stuff. All for FREE!
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Second dump run: mostly stuff for the CanadianThanksgiving dinner celebration at the Moab Meetup. This score, including the HH vest in the background, set me back a mere $10.
Y'all know I'm not trash picking. The Motherlode Mercantile is conveniently located at the Pitkin County Solid Waste Center, aka The Aspen Dump.
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wow, those items look pristine.
I wish our city dump had a similar setup where beautiful reusable items like this could be set in front for pickup vs. everything being trashed.
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Sturdy & roomy backpack for $7, to replace an over-shoulder bag I've been using to go to the gym. It's heavy! And my one shoulder aches after carrying it, especially if I've taken the bus. This also will allow me to ride my bike instead of take the bus. Payback: less than 2 round trips!
Womp-womp. The backpack was probably stored for a long time. It looked good, but recently the fabric had been deteriorating (flaking off) and three holes have opened up. I've found a similar bag online for only $40 all in. It only needs to last 2 years and 5 months to be the same price per use as the used bag
Despite recent thrifted backback regret, I made another attempt today. Score! Found a brand new with tags Blender Bottle (I'd dropped & cracked mine on Friday) and a 1 quart saucepan with matching lid, which I've been looking for a long time. Altogether, $7. I'd expected to pay $7-$10 just for the bottle at the discount grocery store. Luckily, there were none in stock there.
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At the Thrift Store of the Curb, we collected a round black metal table and 2 chairs for our front porch. They look brand new.
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At the Thrift Store of the Curb, we collected a round black metal table and 2 chairs for our front porch. They look brand new.
I love the Thrift Store of the Curb! Got our one and only couch that way. It was in near-perfect condition when we found it.
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This is fairly ridiculous, but we decided to add another set of ski equipment to our quiver. (We're looking down actually retiring, or at least scaling back, in the next year or three, and skiing with friends in Europe is a candidate activity. For which we both need to be able to ski on regular alpine ski gear -- DH has never done anything but cross country/telemark skiing, and it's been three decades since I skied with my heels locked down). DH spent last year learning to ski on Alpine Touring equipment (basically, Alpine gear that can be adjusted so you can go uphill on it) and I told him I'd join him this year.
At a used equipment/outdoor gear store here in the fancy outdoor equipment capital of the USA last weekend, someone brought in a used pair of skies with Alpine Touring bindings on them while we were standing there that were about my size and a reasonable(ish) cost. Today I wandered into the other used equipment store in town (a Play It Again) and they had multiple pairs of corresponding ski boots in my size, along with skins (which one needs to attach to the bottoms of the skis to go uphill). I tried them all on, then purchased my favorites (which happened to be the least expensive, but that wasn't driving the decision.)
Short version: this kind of equipment is stupidly expensive, but I just fully equipped myself for about the cost of buying a pair of new skis. Without the bindings. We already "invested" (haha) in ski passes at a small local area that's a reasonable drive away (if you're not going on the weekend) and committed to going skiing every Wednesday morning.
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I love our new local Goodwill. It is right next door to a JC Penny store ( yes! There are still some of those around) and when I popped my head in recently to see the anomaly that is a live JCPenney store, it was a ghost town. But the Goodwill thrift store was crowded and buzzing with shoppers.
Our new Goodwill store has new, gender-less bathrooms where each one of three is an individual unit with a locked door. All the merchandise is bright and shiny, nothing is dusty or dirty. They do not have dressing rooms, though, but I think that’s the standard now in thrift stores because the ones in the big city took away their dressing rooms.
And then, in the location where this Goodwill store used to be, a for-profit thrift store moved in so now we have two good options for thrift stores.
80% of my clothes are from thrift stores and have been for decades. For household furnishings, I buy used, thrift, or antique whenever possible. I always have a running list of possible purchases on eBay, used items, of course.
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Dropped off an Eddy Bauer full length black leather coat at a consignment shop. Had to go online and fill out a form.
They are asking $80 for it, and I'll get $40 if it sells at that price.
I don't think I would have even had any inquiries if I had put it on Facebook or Craigslist. This way I have a chance to get some moolah for it. And minimal hassle.
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I went to the coat sale at St. Vinny’s this morning. It’s an annual event and it is *packed*. I waited to get in, and I spent a full hour in the checkout line.
But I bought 11 super nice kids coats and snow pants to donate to the school coat bank, @ $1/ item.
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Went to the thrift store on Saturday for their 20% off Veterans day sale. The Christmas stuff is out, including a rack of Christmas pajamas, some of which were brand new. Looks like some store dumped last year's leftovers. I found three matching (actually identical) sets in the correct sizes for the three kids who still get pajamas, $8 each.
When I got home I realized there was a tagging error and I had two smalls and a medium, instead of one small and two mediums. D'oh!
Today I went back and there was another medium in the same pattern, so I was able to make the exchange!
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Went to the thrift store on Saturday for their 20% off Veterans day sale. The Christmas stuff is out, including a rack of Christmas pajamas, some of which were brand new. Looks like some store dumped last year's leftovers. I found three matching (actually identical) sets in the correct sizes for the three kids who still get pajamas, $8 each.
When I got home I realized there was a tagging error and I had two smalls and a medium, instead of one small and two mediums. D'oh!
Today I went back and there was another medium in the same pattern, so I was able to make the exchange!
That is amazing!
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Backpack recently shredded itself somehow, possibly involving getting caught in a car door and possibly involving a manufacturing defect.
Went to a set of thrift stores, and found a series of irrelevant but awesome things (a bookshelf as my apartment slowly accumulates them, hand weights as I start up strength training again) and one thing relevant:
Under some suitcases, an Italian leather briefcase/laptop bag with two corners coming apart for ten bucks. Bought it instantly. Turns out similar bags are selling on Ebay for over a hundred bucks. Spent fifteen more bucks on a leather upholstery kit and sealed up everything good, now I have an all but waterproof way of carrying around my electronics and notebooks and papers to my research job!
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Backpack recently shredded itself somehow, possibly involving getting caught in a car door and possibly involving a manufacturing defect.
Went to a set of thrift stores, and found a series of irrelevant but awesome things (a bookshelf as my apartment slowly accumulates them, hand weights as I start up strength training again) and one thing relevant:
Under some suitcases, an Italian leather briefcase/laptop bag with two corners coming apart for ten bucks. Bought it instantly. Turns out similar bags are selling on Ebay for over a hundred bucks. Spent fifteen more bucks on a leather upholstery kit and sealed up everything good, now I have an all but waterproof way of carrying around my electronics and notebooks and papers to my research job!
Yay! Thanks for reviving this thread.
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Over the last week, I have fallen down a deep rabbit hole of thrift resellers/ebay sellers. I always had this huge block about reselling our clothes and stuff…it seemed so difficult and frustrating. But, after watching these videos, I feel much more confident. I have a pile of my own clothes to list and I will see how it goes.
But, the last time I was at the thrift store, I got a little wild. I found a pair of sorel Xt glacier boots in new condition for $16. They were marked as size 7 womens, which is too small for me and too big for DD. I decided I would buy them. I could list them and see if they sold and if they didn’t DD could wear them in a year or two. When I got them home, I realized they didn’t look small. Turns out they are a size 7 MENS boot…which is the size DS wears AND my size! They are super comfy and will be keeping our feet warm for years!
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the size DS wears AND my size!
Either you're really lucky that you can wear each other's stuff, or you're gonna fight over whose turn it is! :-)
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the size DS wears AND my size!
Either you're really lucky that you can wear each other's stuff, or you're gonna fight over whose turn it is! :-)
Thankfully, he will probably only stay my size for half a second. I don’t mind wearing men’s technical snow boots, but as a middle school boy he’ll not be caught dead in my stuff!
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Thankfully, he will probably only stay my size for half a second. I don’t mind wearing men’s technical snow boots, but as a middle school boy he’ll not be caught dead in my stuff!
Yeah, I suspect most growing-male/adult-female clothing borrowabilities skew in one direction!
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I'm currently wearing two pairs of my kid's shoes that he's outgrown. Last year when we were buying appropriate clothing for snow, I almost bought two pairs of snow boots for me and let him choose one to wear. But, in the end I found a pair of lightly used Sorrells for me and a sufficient-for-three-days pair for him.
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Husband was at the habitat store today picking up a new couch i bought a few days ago and they let him have a patio table for free because it was "rusty" and they were going to throw it out. We were prepared to paint it but then I took a closer look when he got it home and the "rust" was yellow pollen that wiped right off. Looks like it was only used for a couple years. He also got a free shelving unit with some actual surface rust that we can paint or just use in the shed.
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I love thrift stores, and I shop em all the time. This deal surprised even me. Went to a local outlet store last Tuesday (government run btw). There was a mint Herman Miller Aeron Chair, priced at $10, but wait. All chairs were half off. I walked away with it for $5. Put it on FB marketplace Wednesday, Sold it for $300 yesterday (Sunday). I need more of those deals in my life :)
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Our son-in-law is a fly fisherman and outfitter. He absolutely loves Simms Bugstopper Hoodies. I think they cost about $60. I found one today at my favorite thrift store on Senior Day for $4.50. Christmas present completed!
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Our son-in-law is a fly fisherman and outfitter. He absolutely loves Simms Bugstopper Hoodies. I think they cost about $60. I found one today at my favorite thrift store on Senior Day for $4.50. Christmas present completed!
We do a lot of Christmas shopping at the thrift store, too. Some relatives think it's weird or sort of icky, so if I am shopping for them I make sure you can't tell the item came from a thrift store ;-)
I once ran into the wife of the president of DH's employer at the thrift store. She has a bunch of grandkids and her shopping cart was full of Christmas pajamas and velvet dresses.
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I do some of the "usual" bargain finds at Goodwill, who seems to have random, unadvertised sales all the time. "What? These 3 $2 T shirts today cost $1.35 in total? Ok." I shop Savers only on Tuesday, senior 30% off day. Recently, I went into Habitat for Humanity ReStore and they had all CD's and DVDs and other media on sale for 10 cents each. I did the decluttr app and scanned CDs till I filled a box. Get the mailing label and off it went. Awaiting the ACH into my account.
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I went to the thrift shop today for cleaning rags. For $7 I bought 2 large towels and 2 hand towels. All thick solid cotton.
I flipped through the clearance rack where everything is 20c an item and found a nautical polo shirt, new, 100% cotton for my partner to wear to work. He’s newly in person and needs no a few more nice but comfortable options. Then I found him 2 tshirts both look new, one is especially nice, thick, high quality 100% cotton, and in one of his favorite colors. It is a size bigger than he usually wears. I’ll wash it and dry it then let him try it on for fit. If needed I’ll alter it. It’s easily in my skill set to do a professional job on it, and worth it to do for a high quality 20c shirt. I’d easily spend $25 on the fabric to make it and more buying it new of the rack.
Oh, I also picked up a pack of swim diapers. That might have felt a little skeevy if I didn’t have a pack of swim diapers from last year that are too small for my kid. I’ll be donated them and glad to find these just in time for the splash pad to open!
Eta. Then I stopped at goodwill where I bought my partner a brand new pair of swimming trunks and a Jos a bank cashmere sweater. I may save the cashmere for a birthday gift. His birthday is in deep fall and about the time he’ll be excited to add another wool sweater to his wardrobe.
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Our son-in-law is a fly fisherman and outfitter. He absolutely loves Simms Bugstopper Hoodies. I think they cost about $60. I found one today at my favorite thrift store on Senior Day for $4.50. Christmas present completed!
We do a lot of Christmas shopping at the thrift store, too. Some relatives think it's weird or sort of icky, so if I am shopping for them I make sure you can't tell the item came from a thrift store ;-)
I once ran into the wife of the president of DH's employer at the thrift store. She has a bunch of grandkids and her shopping cart was full of Christmas pajamas and velvet dresses.
Since they're both gone now, I'm okay using their names...
Mrs. Ken Bering was a regular at the thrift where I volunteer. She continued to come in after Ken had passed. She even continued coming when she needed caregivers to get her there. Toward the end, she wasn't really buying much, but it was obvious that she still loved the thrill of the hunt. It's noteworthy that there are quite a few other thrifts closer to her estate than ours, so we got a tickle of that.
It's a fun rabbit hole, if you want to Google them. Or, you can just oogle their home, currently listed for a cool $25M. Their museum is also a fun excursion if you're in the region.
https://www.behringestateblackhawk.com/
https://blackhawkmuseum.org/
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A couple of my grandkids knocked over the standing lamp in the living room and the glass shade was smashed. I looked up replacement shades and they cost $50 and up.
Today I went to our local building resale store and found a perfect match for $2.
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@AMandM I thought my $2 water bottle that retails for $18 was a great deal, but you beat that by a mile.
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I just had one of my biggest thrift store scores! Our best local thrift store sells almost all adult clothing for $4 a piece, to keep things simple. Last week I got a bunch of Patagonia clothes for my husband, all in new condition: two pair of hiking pants, two flannel shirts, and one short sleeved technical shirt. Retail for that stuff is over $400 total, and we got it for $20 ka-ching.
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Our Goodwill was marvelous when it first opened. Now the word is out and you either get something when it first hit the floor or the person behind you does.
I am looking for Le Creuset cast iron and starting to find All Clad pots. The last pot looked like a wine bottle ice bucket with a strainer. For $10, I took a chance and now own an asparagus steamer. I never knew they made these things. It is going to be great for boiling small batches of shrimp or eggs. We don't eat enough asparagus to need a dedicated pot.
Even better were the two pair of heavy canvas pants in my size for $7 each. Good work pants normally $100 a pair. Didn't look used at all.
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This one's a variation on the theme. I volunteer at a Thrift shop. We were invited to come the day after an estate sale and take whatever we wanted for the shop. I borrowed DH's truck and loaded it up with bags, boxes, moving blankets. I'm responsible for supplies at the shop. Processing the plastic bags is boring and tedious, so I usually take them home to do. On impulse, I brought along a sack of processed bags I had at home to give to the estate sale person who had invited us. She was over the moon.
The house was a large tri-level. My friend who does Arts and Collectibles (A&C) took the upstairs, and I headed below. I scooped up all the leftover sewing stuff (Buttons! Wooden spools of thread! Notions!). The true motherlode was in the office. I found price tags, a ticket gun, scores of Avery labels, card stock, staplers, tape dispensers, and oodles of cash register tape. There were several baskets and wooden trays. In the garage, I found a huge pile of hangers on the floor, which were "trash". Of course, I poked at it and discovered a lot of the primary hangers we use in the shop. Since we're very low on them, I scrounged through the pile and found sixty perfectly usable hangers - score!! I looked up from that task to see scrappers loading a metal "full sheet"* sign onto their truck. We could use one at the store, so I sweet talked them, saying it wasn't ready for the scrapyard yet, and they gave it to me off the truck!
At the end, I was chatting up the Estate Sale business owner. At the shop, I have a supply of bags that we don't use. I offered them to her and she flipped. She's going to pick them up at my house this weekend. A win-win for both of us. (Of course, this is strategic. We want to be invited to do this again and again.)
My A&C friend found lots of good things upstairs. The truck cab and shell were packed full of great stuff. It took most of the day to pick/pack up and half of the next to unload, but we had a blast.
*A full sheet sign is the free-standing kind you see outside of stores. It holds a full sheet of poster board. We're going to put a whiteboard in it, so we can show what's featured each day as customers enter the store.
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Our Goodwill was marvelous when it first opened. Now the word is out and you either get something when it first hit the floor or the person behind you does.
I am looking for Le Creuset cast iron and starting to find All Clad pots. The last pot looked like a wine bottle ice bucket with a strainer. For $10, I took a chance and now own an asparagus steamer. I never knew they made these things. It is going to be great for boiling small batches of shrimp or eggs. We don't eat enough asparagus to need a dedicated pot.
Even better were the two pair of heavy canvas pants in my size for $7 each. Good work pants normally $100 a pair. Didn't look used at all.
Those pots are also good for steaming artichokes (can usually hold 2) and water-bath canning small jars of stuff (so you can do small-batch canning of, say, jam. Or fruit. Or tomatoes...) I'm surprised by how much we use ours...
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At our local Value Village, certain brands are regularly priced low, presumably because the staff at this location don't know they are valuable. A couple of weeks ago my daughter found a kids' bike in a hard-to-find size that costs $400 new , priced at $20. Yesterday she scored a pair of Plae brand kids' shoes for $6. They cost $70 new and are worth it because they adjust to a wide range of foot shapes and they are practically indestructible: she has a pair that has been worn by four children and is still going strong.
I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
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I posted some of this elsewhere, but I made five trips to the Motherlode Mercantile at the Pitkin County (CO) Dump while visiting family in the area. On the last trip, I found an extremely good quality rolling rack, new in box. Best of all, SIL found a bunch of other stuff, including a Webber moveable fire pit in excellent condition, so he paid for the whole pile of stuff we scored. Free to me, yippee!
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I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
Those dresses are insanely expensive! I wonder how they ended up there.
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I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
Those dresses are insanely expensive! I wonder how they ended up there.
Because (and I have experience with other specialized stuff, not this) you purchased it (for whatever reason), and now it's damaged and/or the kid has moved on to different interests. What do you do with it now? How much time are you going to invest in getting it to the "perfect" new home?
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I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
Those dresses are insanely expensive! I wonder how they ended up there.
Because (and I have experience with other specialized stuff, not this) you purchased it (for whatever reason), and now it's damaged and/or the kid has moved on to different interests. What do you do with it now? How much time are you going to invest in getting it to the "perfect" new home?
I had a good friend who’s girls did Irish step dancing, and there’s a big market for used gear because it’s so amazingly expensive.
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I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
Those dresses are insanely expensive! I wonder how they ended up there.
Because (and I have experience with other specialized stuff, not this) you purchased it (for whatever reason), and now it's damaged and/or the kid has moved on to different interests. What do you do with it now? How much time are you going to invest in getting it to the "perfect" new home?
I had a good friend who’s girls did Irish step dancing, and there’s a big market for used gear because it’s so amazingly expensive.
Sure, but when it's damaged?
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I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
Those dresses are insanely expensive! I wonder how they ended up there.
Because (and I have experience with other specialized stuff, not this) you purchased it (for whatever reason), and now it's damaged and/or the kid has moved on to different interests. What do you do with it now? How much time are you going to invest in getting it to the "perfect" new home?
I had a good friend who’s girls did Irish step dancing, and there’s a big market for used gear because it’s so amazingly expensive.
Sure, but when it's damaged?
This is where having some skills is beneficial. My DD can do what the original owner presumably can't, that is mend the dress and acquire the increased resale value.
Of course, it might have ended up at teh thrift store because someone died and whoever handled it didn't know it could be valuable.
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I found her an Irish dancing dress, needing some mending, priced at $15. My granddaughter has been doing Irish dance for a couple of years and DD, who is a skilled seamstress, has been hoping to learn how to sew dresses for her because they are crazy expensive. Taking this dress apart could be a good way to understand the construction. Then she looked up the label and decided she might mend the dress instead and sell it. It comes from a custom seamstress in Ireland, whose terms are "£300 deposit when dress is ordered, £300 six weeks before delivery, and balance upon delivery."
Those dresses are insanely expensive! I wonder how they ended up there.
Because (and I have experience with other specialized stuff, not this) you purchased it (for whatever reason), and now it's damaged and/or the kid has moved on to different interests. What do you do with it now? How much time are you going to invest in getting it to the "perfect" new home?
I had a good friend who’s girls did Irish step dancing, and there’s a big market for used gear because it’s so amazingly expensive.
Sure, but when it's damaged?
I suspect that given the extreme expense of new gear, even damaged stuff has some value. We have people turning up with stuff that needs repair at our knitting group (we don’t do repairs), like the special socks for Scottish dancing. They’re willing to pay for repairs because the originals cost a lot. Stuff like that stays in circulation for a long time.
So my guess is that either someone cleaned out who didn’t realize the value of the item, or someone had ferried kids to dance class for many years and was sick and tired of the whole thing.
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I keep saying this, but the thrift shops in my area are absolute trash. I do love the garage sales here though, so far this year I’ve gone out a few Saturday mornings and found a brand new set of Nokian winter tires for $150 that will fit our car, a box full of old coins for $50 that had $300 worth of silver alone in it, a few good tools I can use for cheap, and a Yeti cup for $1 that I’m currently sipping coffee out of. Going to be a big community sale in my area this weekend as well, so I’m gearing up for that.
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I donate things to thrift stores even when they are somewhat valuable. Like a boat, a car, lots of nice furniture. I don’t enjoy selling things and since I choose thrift stores with missions I care about, I consider it a form of charitable giving.
Plus I have a vision of a river of goods that flows past us: sometimes I pull something amazing out of the river, sometimes I put something back in. Giving valuable things away is part of my belief in material abundance.
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I donate things to thrift stores even when they are somewhat valuable. Like a boat, a car, lots of nice furniture. I don’t enjoy selling things and since I choose thrift stores with missions I care about, I consider it a form of charitable giving.
Plus I have a vision of a river of goods that flows past us: sometimes I pull something amazing out of the river, sometimes I put something back in. Giving valuable things away is part of my belief in material abundance.
It totally is charitable giving.
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I donate things to thrift stores even when they are somewhat valuable. Like a boat, a car, lots of nice furniture. I don’t enjoy selling things and since I choose thrift stores with missions I care about, I consider it a form of charitable giving.
Plus I have a vision of a river of goods that flows past us: sometimes I pull something amazing out of the river, sometimes I put something back in. Giving valuable things away is part of my belief in material abundance.
It totally is charitable giving.
We use the same metaphor, except in our version it’s a river circling our town. If you’re done with something, put it in. If you need something, pull it out.
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We’ve done pretty well with our thrift store shopping lately. I turned DH on to half price days and 10¢ books and records days, so we go more often than when I was going alone.
DH found a subwoofer and two speakers for $150, but it was half price day so they were $75. I think he said the subwoofer — which works perfectly — was over $1000. He used the speakers to add to what we already have so he can watch movies in Atmos.
I found a new in box soy milk maker marked at $24 on a half price day, so $12. It’s a little older model but still sells for $200. I am now making organic soy milk for my oldest at a cost of 65¢ per batch (cost of soy beans, salt and sweetener, and few extra pennies for electricity), which is 1.5 quarts, or 87¢ per 2 quarts, which is the size Silk organic soy milk comes in. The lowest price I can find on Silk organic soy milk is $4.12 at Walmart.
Back in March I bought 3 older All Clad pots from the D3 Stainless line: a 3 QT saucepan with a steamer insert and lid, a saute pan with lid (I think about 5 quarts), and an 8 quart stockpot with lid. All made in the USA, all nice and thick, all in good shape. Retail on the pieces individually is $900, which isn’t likely what anyone would actually pay, but these are still pricey pans. I paid $50, and it wasn’t even a half price day.
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Wow! That’s amazing! I used to make my own soy milk. My favorite flavor was actually a blend of soybeans, rice and soaked almonds.
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Wow! That’s amazing! I used to make my own soy milk. My favorite flavor was actually a blend of soybeans, rice and soaked almonds.
I’ve made various non dairy milks over the years (rice, almond, cashew, oat), but now that my son has returned to plant based eating he’s looking for all the protein he can get. The great things about the soy milk maker (which can also make mils from nuts and grains) is that the soy milk doesn’t separate in the fridge, which has been a big turnoff for him and DH in the past. Flavor wise, I’m a fan of rice milk or almond milk, but I’ve developed a tree nut allergy so almond milk is out. I’ve yet to make rice milk in the soy milk maker, but plan to try it soon.
I’d actually researched soy milk makers over the years but couldn’t bring myself to buy one new, not when I have a vitamix. But this is much easier than soaking, blending, straining, and then having to boil the soy milk on the stove. I just never could bring myself to do all that when almond milk is so much easier. This is better though, since organic soy is much less expensive that almonds, and the soy milk has more protein.
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Used bookstores are a blessing. There's one in my city that is run by the Friends of the Library. Clean, good selection, well-organized. I bought a bunch of Fr. Andrew Greeley novels recently. $2 for hardbacks, $1 for paperbacks.
They also gave me a punch card, so after I make 5 purchases I get a free book. ^.^
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Used bookstores are a blessing. There's one in my city that is run by the Friends of the Library. Clean, good selection, well-organized. I bought a bunch of Fr. Andrew Greeley novels recently. $2 for hardbacks, $1 for paperbacks.
They also gave me a punch card, so after I make 5 purchases I get a free book. ^.^
I'm the President of a Friends of the Library group. Does yours have clearance events? Do they operate with volunteers? Our volunteers get first choice, and our books are only $1. (We don't have room to carry anything over, so it HAS to go at our quarterly events.) Best of all, volunteers who help with takedown can keep any leftovers they want for free!
To anyone who loves libraries/books/reading: If your library has a Friends Group, support them!
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They do have clearance events and the store is staffed largely by volunteers. It seems very well run, and I will be going back.
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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.
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We recently moved to Spain and needed to acquire all "new" kitchen supplies, i.e. pots, pans, silverware, etc.
One place had a three different Le Creuset pots/pans, one of which had a lid that fit two of them. At 58 euros total it seemed a little expensive until you consider the retail value and that these are lifetime guaranteed iron pots.
That was our best deal, but we've gotten a lot of our stuff second hand.
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Got one of these small C-shaped sofa tables for $3, they usually go for $30.
Looks like this:
https://www.amazon.com/VASAGLE-C-Shaped-Industrial-Bedroom-ULET354B01/dp/B0B58PQX2S/ref=asc_df_B0B58PQX2S?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333198738458&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932719654212&psc=1
It's turned out to be a movable play table for the grandkids and convenient for guests to hold a drink or tablet.
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I bought some yarn yesterday, including a sweater’s worth of MadTosh wool for $25. This thrift store is run by the group that does hospice, and I assume that they get a lot of clean outs from dead people. They always have great craft stuff.
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I bought some yarn yesterday, including a sweater’s worth of MadTosh wool for $25. This thrift store is run by the group that does hospice, and I assume that they get a lot of clean outs from dead people. They always have great craft stuff.
Wow, that is an amazing score!!!!
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I really liked this video by A to Zen Living about her thrift shop tips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZLYOhoQ69M (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZLYOhoQ69M)
The tip that surprised me was that she recommends covering the items in your cart while you're shopping, because thrifters can be ruthless and will just take stuff from your cart if you're not looking. Wow. I've never experienced that.
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.
As long as I'm here, talking about how scammy Goodwill feels to me lately, here's a massive digression about thoughts I've been having on the topic of consumer goods in America currently:
My kids and I like to watch classic episodes of The Price is Right. It's streaming on Roku. We're talking 70's/80's Bob Barker Price is Right. Tell you what, the show is a trip. The fashion/hairstyles! The games!
But the craziest part is the price of many products...so many prices are basically the same now as they were thirty/forty years ago. I think I saw a washer/dryer set on there that was $900. You can buy a washer/dryer set NOW for ~$900. It'll be a barebones model, but still. And tvs! And furniture! It's like inflation just never happened...which makes me realize that actually consumer goods back when I was a kid were really, really expensive. People must have had to save up for ages to buy their stuff. Having to buy a new washer/dryer must have seemed catastrophic for a lower/middle class family back then. Whereas for me, if my dryer craps out, we buy another one and don't even have to go into savings for it.
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.
Want more of a digression? This has led me to better understand an interesting phenomenon I've been noticing for years among the boomer parents of me and my friends. The boomers so frequently have a completely different relationship to clothes and stuff than the attitude among my (Gen X/Millennial) cohort.
Until last summer, when she finally brought herself to downsize into a 2 bedroom apartment, my mom had an attic full of stuff that she could hardly bring herself to even consider letting go of. Lots of it was antiques from the 19th century. Slowly but surely she was able to sell some of it to dealers and on ebay, which I was proud of her for, because so many of my friends' parents can't even do that much. My friend's mom still has all the carseats/pack n plays from when my friend was a baby! My friend is 39 years old!!!
Meanwhile I'm over here decluttering things the SECOND my kids give me the okay. Sometimes I actually pay my kids to donate their toys. My mom watches me and is horrified. "What if you want another kid?" she'll ask, while I ruthlessly donated strollers and onesies and all the clutter of babies/toddlers. "I bought all this stuff at the kids consignment sale or my friends gave it to me and I could probably replace all of it for under $200 if I needed to. Out it goes!" And my mom is like..."You just don't seem to get attached to stuff..." She's kind of horrified by me. I think it feels really wasteful to her.
And I think that's because stuff used to be so much more expensive, people felt way more precious about their stuff. And now as a culture we're absolutely awash in stuff. It's now actually more of a flex to have a simplified, organized, minimalist home.
Anyway I mostly avoid thrift shops (and don't even get me started on things like Ross or TJMaxx--thrift shop quality for ridiculously high prices) because I'd rather save money by buying as little as possible, and what I do buy, I buy new of the highest quality I can find so I don't have to replace it for as long as possible. Although I do still love the kids' consignment sales.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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/
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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.
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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. 😬
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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IIRC, the problem with lead in glassware occurs when libations are stored in them for long periods of time.
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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.)
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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.
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I look for interesting pottery: pitchers, platters, and so on. Have found some nice earthenware.
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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...
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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My second hand bookstore had 20 of the first 28 Magic Tree House books in almost brand new quality for $2 each. They were so nice the owner had put them separately so they didn't get messed up. I have a five year old niece who loves reading and is really into dinosaurs (the first book is Dinosaurs Before Dark). I probably jumped the gun because she isn't reading full chapter books yet, but I just couldn't pass it up. Her sixth birthday is in May. Fingers crossed this is the year she'll appreciate them.
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I’ve used the same gift bags very year at Christmas for ages, and I’m clearly not getting them all back anymore because my stock was very low.
I made the rounds of the thrift stores yesterday and picked up a bunch of them on clearance, and even a package of tissue paper, so I am all set for next year!
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My second hand bookstore had 20 of the first 28 Magic Tree House books in almost brand new quality for $2 each. They were so nice the owner had put them separately so they didn't get messed up. I have a five year old niece who loves reading and is really into dinosaurs (the first book is Dinosaurs Before Dark). I probably jumped the gun because she isn't reading full chapter books yet, but I just couldn't pass it up. Her sixth birthday is in May. Fingers crossed this is the year she'll appreciate them.
Update: Found three missing ones in a Lending Library.
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My second hand bookstore had 20 of the first 28 Magic Tree House books in almost brand new quality for $2 each. They were so nice the owner had put them separately so they didn't get messed up. I have a five year old niece who loves reading and is really into dinosaurs (the first book is Dinosaurs Before Dark). I probably jumped the gun because she isn't reading full chapter books yet, but I just couldn't pass it up. Her sixth birthday is in May. Fingers crossed this is the year she'll appreciate them.
This is awesome! We used to be able to get kids’ books for 50¢ at our Goodwill bookstore way back in the mid aughts, and my kids got most of their Magic Treehouse books that way. But they weren’t in nearly new condition, and these days Goodwill wants a lot more for books.
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DH and went to a couple of thrift stores this week after staying away for months. He bought a Yamaha amplifier for $50, which he says was a very good deal. I was more impressed with the copy of Man of La Mancha we found on vinyl, which was $5 but played absolutely beautifully after he cleaned it. It would have been cheaper if it were still there January 29th for the end of month sale, but I didn’t think it would be and didn’t begrudge the price since it’s a charity shop.
I bought a pair of size 7 Clover bamboo knitting needles for 50¢ — I always grab this size when I see them cheap, since I teach friends to knit dishcloths with size 7s, and it’s nice to send them home with the needles to finish their work. I bought two vintage PSX rubber stamps and two DOTS vintage rubber stamps for $3 total, and a really cute large printed embroidery sampler for $1. At Goodwill I found a knitting book I’d been interested in for $2, which was honestly a great price for Goodwill.
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Yesterday DH and I went to Goodwill to exchange a $12 Luigi backpack I’d purchased for one of the young adults that I didn’t realize had a broken zipper inside. DH found a ramp for our small dog, who wakes me up nightly in cold weather because he wants to snuggle and get warm but refuses to jump onto the bed in the dark (and also would not use the $3 yard sale stairs I bought a couple of years ago). The ramp is in perfect condition, and was made of hardwood in Canada, so I made the exchange, paying an additional $3. Googled it in the car and it is this $225 Doggo ramp, without the optional rails. Pup is already learning to put paws on the ramp using treats, although he so far has only gone down it, not up it, which is what we need. I would never have spent $225 for a dog ramp, but for $15 I’m happy to have a ramp that will last the rest of our lives and then some.
https://doggoramps.com/products/couch-ramp-for-dogs
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I’ve been thrifting twice this week. First was Goodwill, where I bought a 100% cashmere sweater for $7 and a 50% merino 50% cotton Abercrombie sweater for $10. I guess it’s a little older Abercrombie as it has a moose logo on it — I really know nothing about the brand, have never bought it before, and have never been in their stores. I don’t love things with logos but I’m trying to buy warm layers since we have the thermostat even lower this winter and if I’m too cold in the house my Raynaud’s acts up. I wasn’t even sure $10 was a good deal, but I put my hands on more than 100 sweaters and that was the only one with more than a token amount of wool.
We dropped off some dishes at Assistance League, so I checked out the craft section. I got another set of knitting needles for 50¢, 3 British cross stitch kits for 95¢ each, and about 4 yards of nice upholstery fabrics for $12. At checkout I got asked if I qualify for their senior discount, and I do, so that was another 10% off. I didn’t even know they had a senior discount.
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This is my tool tip. If you find yourself in the fancy neck of town. Check out their goodwill. I often find cast offs from high net worths to be nicer than the stuff I own anyway. Cheers.
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A variation on the previous post, when on vacation and visiting expensive places, check out the local thrift shops. We visited Telluride CO and made a really nice haul at the local thrift shop. Lots of high end outdoor and ski stuff.
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A variation on the previous post, when on vacation and visiting expensive places, check out the local thrift shops. We visited Telluride CO and made a really nice haul at the local thrift shop. Lots of high end outdoor and ski stuff.
HaHaHa. Our kids live in Aspen. There is a great thrift store in town, right next to the Fire (FIRE?) Station. Even better, the county dump has a thrift store called Motherlode Mercantile, and it's even closer to their new house.
A couple of years ago, we were planning to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving at the Magical Moab Meetup. I figured the hostel wouldn't have enough kitchen stuff for our large group, so I hit up the MM. I got tons of great stuff for less than $50. Pots & pans, serving ware, utensils, etc. After our event, we left most of it at the hostel, where it will get lots of use by future guests.
One year, our kids met us in Moab after a MMMeetup. DSD and I hit up the best thrift store in town (WabiSabi) a couple of times. A whole grocery bag of kids clothing was only $3.00, and they have three kids. We had a blast shopping together.
If this sounds familiar, I've mentioned it in my journal and on the MMMeetup thread.
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It’s been too cold to do anything outside, so we’ve made the rounds of the thrifts. I splurged on a pair of black Chaco boots that I don’t think had ever been worn ($15), and a leather crossbody bag as my winter purse has reached the end of its life, I fear. I needed jeans and found two pairs of my favorites, one NWT.
Yesterday we went to a free clothing swap. I didn’t take anything home but my daughters did. I sort of regret not picking up a cashmere dress. It was too big but I could have made it into something. Oh, well.
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Forgot to post about this when I got them:
Grabbed a pair of Chuck Taylors (my first since high school!) and some garden clogs. Not incredibly cheap at $15 each, but they would have cost more than that new. The Chuck Taylors do appear new, or only very lightly worn.
Also got a hard wood cutting board for $5
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Related: I pulled a pair of Vans out of the "go-away" box at the thrift shop where I volunteer. For reference, here's a new pair on eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166398872120
Someone had decided they were too dirty to put out for sale. I took them home, soaked and cleaned them while I was doing laundry anyway and now they look great. I'll take them back to the shop and price them for $20, which someone will gladly pay.
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I got a brand new pair of character shoes- still in the box- from our free store! They might be a half size too big, but they were free and I only need character shoes for about 15 nights a year right now.
I made my last pair last 20 years but the sole came flopping off during a production I was in in October. I was flopping across the stage like a lunatic when it happened :)
Snagged several pairs of Talbots jeans from the "pass on" box, as well as some j crew sweaters and a madewell button down from the "purge" pile (if no one takes them after a couple of weeks we pass them on to other free stores).
I continue to be increasingly well dressed with this new job.
Also- y'all! The purses that come in as donations! Someone tossed a vintage Chanel Camelia bag and a quilted Dior satchel in our donate box last month. I'm going to start a 501c3 ebay account because we could keep the lights on for two months with what I get for those purses!
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SVDP had all Christmas items free. I picked up a gift card gift box and a bunch of glass ornaments for my front porch tree.
Goodwill - found an elusive Tall XL Eddie Bauer pullover for DH. $10. Best part is I figured out what company in my area does Goodwill mystery shops so it was reimbursed and I got paid! Also found 2 women's shirts at the other Goodwill and was paid back for those too. New (to me) wardrobe here I come!
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Saturday I purchased a woolly men's shawl-neck sweater, a Chico's blazer with roomy pockets, and 2 Susan Graver branded three-quarter sleeve tops with the tags still on for $35. Prices have definitely gone up at my usual spot.
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The local Goodwill is having a 50% off sale on everything in the store on Monday President's Day 2/17.
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SVDP had all Christmas items free. I picked up a gift card gift box and a bunch of glass ornaments for my front porch tree.
Goodwill - found an elusive Tall XL Eddie Bauer pullover for DH. $10. Best part is I figured out what company in my area does Goodwill mystery shops so it was reimbursed and I got paid! Also found 2 women's shirts at the other Goodwill and was paid back for those too. New (to me) wardrobe here I come!
Wait what? You get paid to do the mystery shop, you get reimbursed for the goods, AND you get to keep what you bought?
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SVDP had all Christmas items free. I picked up a gift card gift box and a bunch of glass ornaments for my front porch tree.
Goodwill - found an elusive Tall XL Eddie Bauer pullover for DH. $10. Best part is I figured out what company in my area does Goodwill mystery shops so it was reimbursed and I got paid! Also found 2 women's shirts at the other Goodwill and was paid back for those too. New (to me) wardrobe here I come!
Wait what? You get paid to do the mystery shop, you get reimbursed for the goods, AND you get to keep what you bought?
HECK YEAH!
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SVDP had all Christmas items free. I picked up a gift card gift box and a bunch of glass ornaments for my front porch tree.
Goodwill - found an elusive Tall XL Eddie Bauer pullover for DH. $10. Best part is I figured out what company in my area does Goodwill mystery shops so it was reimbursed and I got paid! Also found 2 women's shirts at the other Goodwill and was paid back for those too. New (to me) wardrobe here I come!
Wait what? You get paid to do the mystery shop, you get reimbursed for the goods, AND you get to keep what you bought?
HECK YEAH!
This is like the frugal person's equivalent of winning the Triple Crown -- well done!
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This is like the frugal person's equivalent of winning the Triple Crown -- well done!
They have them in your area if you'd be interested in doing them
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They have them in your area if you'd be interested in doing them
How do you find out which company evaluates the store you actually go to? And do they require you to shop with some minimum frequency?
https://imgflip.com/i/9kvuk1
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They have them in your area if you'd be interested in doing them
How do you find out which company evaluates the store you actually go to? And do they require you to shop with some minimum frequency?
https://imgflip.com/i/9kvuk1
I called a friend that works in management. She said Goodwill stopped mystery shopping in my area. Killed that idea. But after an internet search, I see companies that are doing it in the area. I just need to find one that does my stores. This looks like an adventure.
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They have them in your area if you'd be interested in doing them
How do you find out which company evaluates the store you actually go to? And do they require you to shop with some minimum frequency?
https://imgflip.com/i/9kvuk1
Its always a big freaking secret. No one wants to talk about it ever publicly, it seems to be a violation of a code of conduct or something.
Basically you just keep signing up for more and more companies, just to see what they have. Then you get 25 emails a day. Or someone tells you secretly. Try looking on the mystery shopping reddit, it gives a glimpse of how hard it is to figure out. So much is regional too...
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Friends of mine are having a baby. I found an Ariel the Little Mermaid plush doll and book, along with another book on the ocean at the local thrift store. $3.50 total!
I'll probably make a donation to the kid's 529.
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The thrift shop where I volunteer has a relationship with a company that runs estate sales. On the final day of the sale (today) we cruise through to see what might be offered to us when the sale's over and how many people/vehicles we will need. It's always a guessing game, because you never know what will sell when everything is 50% off. While I was there, I found three dinosaur Beanie Babies for $2.50 each. I know the BB fad is long over, but my grandkids love them. They will go into the Christmas box.
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The thrift shop where I volunteer has most clothes priced at $4 across the board. Recently they got in a pair of seemingly brand-new Kühl women's hiking pants in my size. The zipper pull tab was broken off, so they sold them to me for half price ($2). I took them home and replaced the pull tab with one from my sewing kit.
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The thrift shop where I volunteer has most clothes priced at $4 across the board. Recently they got in a pair of seemingly brand-new Kühl women's hiking pants in my size. The zipper pull tab was broken off, so they sold them to me for half price ($2). I took them home and replaced the pull tab with one from my sewing kit.
That's badass!
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Found a new-with-tag name brand swimsuit in my size and color (black) at the thrift store today. Original price CAD$65. I paid ~$8.
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I've lost some weight, so stopped by the thrift store to pick up a pair or two of jeans. I miss the days when I could get boot cut jeans because they were no longer fashionable. Now, it's all skinny jeans. Boo.
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Have been slowly accumulating cushions (from patio furniture) for my dog from the local thrift store.
I've built two dog beds out of these and have fixed also the car so that she won't fall in the space behind the front seats.
A coworker brought a few bags of clothing into work and I snagged two free shirts..one is an amazing waffle layer which I'm currently wearing.
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Have been slowly accumulating cushions (from patio furniture) for my dog from the local thrift store.
I've built two dog beds out of these
That is such a great idea!
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Have been slowly accumulating cushions (from patio furniture) for my dog from the local thrift store.
I've built two dog beds out of these
That is such a great idea!
Yeah, it’s been great to have options on sizing.
Made a long thin one for on the stair landing and then a larger, cushier one for the end of the bed. I had also read about pet beds off-gassing so it was one way to avoid that concern.
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Bought a brand new pair of sneakers for $9.63. Wore them on a hike this Saturday. :3
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DH buys his super-duper wide shoes via the internet. One pair arrived recently with slashes through the laces. He contacted the vendor. They only offered a credit of $5.50 so he could purchase his own laces locally. Oof.
The next day, I was at a Goodwill. I found a grab bag of colorful shoelaces, beads, feathers, balloons, and ribbons for $2.49. I knew our granddaughter would love it. I figured we could use them to make party favors for her next birthday. Tonight I was sorting through and organizing everything. I was pleased to discover a pair of laces that fit DH's shoes perfectly.
We're $3.01 to the good and still have at least 24 pair of laces, plus all the other fun stuff.
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The grab bags are fun to go through.
I picked up two plastic storage boxes of tools for $30. While a lot of the stuff was lower quality, all of it is usable and there were two nice sets of pliers and an almost complete set of sockets with three ratchets. I'm putting a tool box together for graduating grandson and these will be great.
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I’ve had a few thrift store wins lately, after taking a break from thrifting. One of our thrift stores sells donated fabric in a careful manner, they measure and note the size and sell pieces individually, rather than than the fabric grab bags at another store and our Goodwill not bothering with fabric at all. I chose several high quality quilting cottons (quilt shop quality), vintage from the 1990s, for $3 per yard. I also bought a Baby Lock Embellisher 12 needle felting machine for $35 — they sell for $200 and up used. I’ll play with it and decide if I want to keep it or sell it. It could be fun to use to add designs to felted bags.
The same store had a dollar rack out front. I picked up a 100% cotton sweater (Tommy Bahama and I was surprised at what they sell for used online), a 1990s vintage 100% wool skirt, and a set of 3 heavy placemats ($1 for all 3).
At the big local thrift I bought a stainless steel 1 cup measuring cup for 99¢, a set of stainless steel measuring spoons for 1.98 (which I mostly wanted for the 1 tablespoon), a 12 ounce Hydro Flask with coffee lid for $2.97, and a Starbucks insulated ceramic tumbler for $3.98. I always grab the Starbucks ceramic tumblers, as they are DH’s preferred cup for making loose tea, and they do get broken every now and then. The Hydroflask needed a good clean — I found myself wondering if someone donated it just because they didn’t know how to get the coffee residue out, which is an absolute shame. The interior is gleaming now, and the only part still stained is the silicone ring, but it’s in good shape. We did realize we probably need to order some generic silicone rings since we have a quite a few thrifted Hydro Flasks.
As for grab bags, I bought 3 large yarn grab bags last week at $6 each, only to be slightly disappointed over all, as I ended up wanting less than 1/3 of the yarn. The shop had split 6 matching skeins of organic cotton yarn that I did want between the 3 bags, which was rather tricky I think. The person who donated the yarn had wound most of it into cakes, and the fiber content was uncertain until I could actually get my hands on it. Whoever wound the yarn had put the labels in the middle of the cakes, so after I bought the grab bags I realized the cakes were all synthetic yarn, despite the organic cotton yarn in the bags, which had led me to think maybe the previous owner had liked using natural fibers. One bag did have some super bulky 85% wool yarn I can use to try out the needle felting machines. Luckily I have a friend who was happy to take the yarn I didn’t want.
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I went to the Dig and Save which is Vinny’s pay by the pound bin store. I spent $14 but got $2 back by returning a milk bottle. It’s the same brand that we buy and I can’t think why someone didnt just return the bottle rather than donating it.
I got a plastic organizer basket, a Yankee candle, some notebook paper, a pair of lands end pj pants for dh and a linen sheet to cut up for sewing.
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I’ve had a specific game, the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, on my toddler’s birthday wishlist. Today at the thrift I thought “oh! I should start checking the game shelf to see if they have that squirrel game.” I turned my head… and there it was. All pieces intact and with the box in good shape. Boom boom boom. $4.99 vs $20.