Tag: second

Nowadays, you don’t have to break the bank to buy cute clothes. Shopping at thrift stores in Destin, FL is a way to get super cheap second-hand clothes that are still cute! 

When I was younger, I used to cringe when my mom brought me to thrift stores because all I wanted were clothes from the mall. Now, I go to those same stores with my friends to buy my clothes.

There isn’t a right or a wrong way to thrift, but there are some tricks to finding the cutest clothes for cheap. My first tip is to be patient. You’re going to have to rummage through lots of ugly clothes before you find anything good, but you have to remember that you’re shopping people’s second-hand items, usually from the early 2000s, so you’re bound to come across some unfavorable items.

If you only stay in the thrift shop for 30 minutes, you’re not looking hard enough. I find a rack, push all the hangers to one side, and then go through each item individually. It’s time-consuming, but it helps to make sure I look at everything. 

Another tip is to alter your thrifted items. You can buy oversized tops and cut them, or take in pants that are too big. Don’t just count out clothes because they look like they won’t fit! 

You can also find a lot of good stuff in the men’s section. The men’s section is full of t-shirts and sweatshirts, as well as good-quality denim. All of the high-waisted Levi’s are in the men’s section; these usually retail for upwards of $50, but I’ve gotten a pair for $12 before.

However, if you don’t feel like investing the time or gas money, or if you just haven’t had any luck at physical thrift stores, you can always try out online thrifting.

Depop is an app that lets you shop second-hand, or sometimes brand-new, clothing, accessories, and more. People sell a lot of designer brands on Depop for way cheaper than what they retail for, and you can check the seller’s reviews/ratings to make sure you aren’t getting scammed. You can also private message sellers to ask questions or raise any concerns. On Depop, you can use filters to look specifically for certain items, brands, or sizes.Poshmark and Mercari are very similar to Depop, though I’ve only ever used Depop.

Aside from being financially-friendly, thrifting is sustainable! By buying second-hand clothes, you are reducing the amount of clothing that is mass-manufactured, which is extremely harmful to the environment. You are also inherently not contributing to the unethical practices of many mass-manufacturers including, but not limited to, unlivable wages and poor working conditions. 

Happy thrifting and remember to boycott fast fashion whenever you can!

There are so many items that people don’t realize they can donate. The fact is, you can donate your old jewelry on top of your clothes and home goods. Donating jewelry is the perfect way to give sentimental pieces a new life while helping those in need throughout the process.

Know What is Real and What isn’t

Not every piece of jewelry needs to be real to be useful, but it is good information to have for when you’re going to donate them. A real, rare gemstone in a ring or necklace could be worth far more and therefore make a bigger donation-as long as you can prove it is real. Getting the jewelry appraised before bringing it in is a good idea so you know exactly what you’re donating.

Keep Detailed Records

For tax purposes, you’re going to want to have a detailed list of every piece of jewelry you’ve donated over the last year. This can significantly affect how much you can report as charitable donations on your taxes. Just because you’re donating out of the kindness of your heart doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be afforded all the benefits of your donation.

Give Your Jewelry a Time Limit

For those with a lot of jewelry, it can be difficult to let go of it even for the purposes of a donation. One of the top tips for donating old jewelry is to think about the last time you wore the piece and then decide if that was long enough ago that you feel comfortable giving it up. Give yourself a limit of six months or so; if you haven’t worn a piece of jewelry in over six months, then you know it’s time to give it away for someone else to enjoy.

The thrift shops in Destin, FL welcome all jewelry donations, no matter how big or small. Every little bit goes a long way to helping the community. 

The best time to shop at thrift stores in Santa Rosa Beach, FL is naturally, when a huge new shipment of amazing merchandise arrives. (And is set out for the public.) Unfortunately, there’s no exact time or date for this to happen, so you’ll have to get creative to find the best bargains. Here are their recommendations for the best times to shop at thrift stores:

The Perfect Day

While there’s no “perfect” day to shop second hand stores, many regulars swear by shopping early on Monday and Tuesday. Homeowners tend to drop off garage sale leftovers on Sunday nights, making for new finds. Plus, the weekends are more crowded shopping days, so employees look to restock early in the week.

Shop Around Holidays

While holiday weekends tend to be busier shopping times, people also have more time to go through their closets and homes. Spring cleaning that’s been put off can easily get done on the 3-day Memorial Day weekend, which can mean more donations later that week.

Go on Sale Days

Thrift store employees put a little extra love into stocking shelves right before a sale day. Ideally, they want shoppers to have a wide range of well-organized goods to browse first thing on discount days.

Look for Specialty Discounts

Many thrift shops, offer special discount days for seniors, students, military members, or even teachers. If you or a family member fall into one of these categories, shop smart. Ask your local thrift shop which days you can shop on for less.

Visit During Spring Cleaning

The tradition of cleaning out your closets in spring is even more widespread in Phoenix, where summer temperatures make it too hot for people to host garage sales. February through April is prime yard sale time here. So, if you’re in the market for clothing or household goods, this is a great time to shop thrift stores.

No matter what time of day, week or year you shop at thrift stores, you’re bound to find something you need. With a little patience and shopping savvy, you can find bargains at any time. 

As kids begin to grow older, their bodies start changing and progressing into bigger sizes of clothing. It seems like as soon as a parent turns around, their child is outgrowing their clothing again. This can become expensive, especially for those individuals who have more than one child. This is why there are so many of us who buy used kids clothes for our children.

There isn’t a family out there who has recycled their clothes within their family and friends who have children who need clothes as well. If the used kid clothing fit the size of your child and are the right size, then there isn’t a single individual who deny these clothes. There are so many reasons as to families do this, and there are also many reasons why buying used kids clothing is better and more beneficial for families to look into.

Growing Quickly

When you are looking to purchase used kids clothes, when you buy them from a yard sale, or have them handed down to your child, you will be able to get clothing that are sized ahead and for the upcoming season. This is beneficial for you since you will not be over-spending on new clothing. When you are needing to replace your child’s wardrobe, instead of running out to the mall and spending way too much on clothes, shop smart and head to the thrift store instead.

This will allow for you to save money, and also return home with more clothing than you would at a regular warehouse store. A nice aspect of buying used clothing is that you will be able to pass them on to friends and family once your child has outgrown these clothes.

Variety Of Clothing

When shopping for used clothing, you will be able to find that there is much more of a variety in the clothes that you can purchase. Therefore, when it is picture day at your child’s school, you won’t have to worry about if another child has the same outfit, or the same shirt, in their classroom.

The thrift stores inventory of clothing is continuously changing, therefore, you will pass on a lot of the clothing and will also be able to find a lot of “gems” and outfits that your child will have as a favorite. Make sure when you are shopping for second hand clothes at thrift shops in Destin, FL, the styles that you pick are the “in” styles of the times. Just because you are shopping for used clothes does not mean that you can’t find clothing that is in style.

Stains

Everyone knows that children makes a lot of messes and their clothes will become dirty or ruined. When you shop for used clothing items, if your child wears the outfit for the first time and stains it or ruins it, you will not be as frustrated because you did not spend a lot of money on the outfit. So, if you buy your child used clothing it will not keep them from making those types of messes, however, it will be less frustrating for you if they ruin an outfit that you did not spend a lot of money on.

Recycling

There is another reason that is wonderful about buying used clothing, and it is that it is environmentally friendly. When you purchase your clothing from garage sales and thrift shops, you are keeping these very good items of clothing out of dumps and landfills, and it also decreases the demand for more manufacturing of new items of clothing. Therefore, when you are buying recycled clothing for your kids, you are actually helping our environment in a very big way.

Cheaper Option

When it comes to all of these thrift shops, garage sales, swaps and much more, there are plenty of ways for you to find really cheap clothing and also being able to find free clothes. If you take a look at the price of shoes and jeans these days, you will see just how expensive clothes are starting to be. However, if you shop for used jeans, you can easily purchase more pairs of jeans, and for the same price as one new pair.

Same thing applies when you look for used shoes for sale. The number one reason to buy used clothing is that it saves you money. Instead of unloading your money on brand new clothes, when you purchase used kids clothes you are able to save so much more money for you and your family.

Used Kids Clothes Are Good Alternative

In conclusion, when it comes to used clothing, there are so many individuals who would benefit in a great way if they choose this road. When you purchase clothing from consignment shops, swaps, thrift stores, and garage sales, you are allowing for your pockets to stay full and not wasting all of your money on new clothing.

It is not only beneficial to you for you budget, but you are also helping to keep our environment safe. There are so many people who shop for used clothing, so they can save money, help other family members by passing them down, helping our environment, and ending up having a large variety of clothing that your children can be satisfied with.

Thrift Store Shopping Has become a Way of Life for Many People

The average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing every year. Many consider “shop ‘til you drop” a philosophy of life but that lifestyle comes at a high cost.

By the end of the 1990s – the golden years of shopping – shoppers were scooping up about 65 garments per person annually. Who doesn’t love a good sale?

Changing trends, new manufacturing technologies and low prices prompted many American to indulge in “fast fashion” and over-consume clothing, but then the tide turned. Two recessions led many people to rethink their need for a closet full of new clothes.

For some, conscious consumerism had supplanted the philosophy of overconsumption and many people started shopping less. Not everyone curbed their over consumptive fashionable ways, though. Eighteen years later and on average, consumers purchase 60 percent more items of clothing  than they did in 2000, however, each garment is kept half as long.

Many used garments end up in landfills – the average American throws away about 70 pounds of clothing each year – this is roughly the equivalent of 191 t-shirts per person – and they recycle or donate only about 15 percent of their used clothing. That’s too bad, because thrifting – buying clothes at a thrift store – is definitely having a moment that doesn’t show signs of ending soon.

Thrift store shopping has many benefits for people and the planet – here are five reasons why you should consider thrifting for both recycling and buying your clothes.

Thrifting Reduces Water Footprints and Uses Fewer Chemicals

Water is involved in almost every stage of clothing production. It takes water to grow cotton: it takes up to 2,700 liters (713 gallons) of water to grow the cotton needed to make one t-shirt; a pair of jeans takes over 8,000 liters of water.

In addition, cotton is an extremely pesticide-intensive crop. The pesticides can often contaminate ground and surface water.  Extensive pesticide usage leads to soil acidification and agricultural run-off, which causes hypoxia in nearby surface waters and subsequently disrupts ecosystems.

Decreasing demand for new cotton decreases the need for pesticides.

Thrifting Uses Less Energy

It takes energy to transport cotton from farms to textile manufacturing facilities, to retailers and ultimately to consumers. Within the manufacturing process, a lot of energy consumption occurs during washing, de-sizing, bleaching, rinsing, dyeing, printing and finishing processes. It also takes water to produce the electricity used to power all these processes.

Throwing clothes in a landfill also requires energy. Buying secondhand from a thrift store in Destin, FL, keeps clothes out of landfills which saves energy. In fact, a 2007 study found that recycling or reusing cotton clothing uses just 2.6 percent of the energy required to manufacture a garment from virgin materials.

Finally, as use of cotton in garments has slowed, use of polyester has jumped. Polyester has its origins in both natural and synthetic (think ‘oil and gas’) sources. Experts estimate that 98 percent of future fabrics will be synthetic and 95 percent of those synthetics will be polyester. As demand for clothing increases, demand for synthetic polyester fabric will increase and that brings with it all the environmental issues associated with oil and gas.

Thrifting Creates More Thoughtful Consumption

According to the EPA Office of Solid Waste, Americans threw away about 65 pounds of clothing per person in 2015. That adds up to about 16 million tons of clothing and textiles every year.

Shopping at thrift shops can help consumers make more thoughtful purchases. They can ask themselves, “Will I actually wear this? Will it go out of style? Do I truly need it?”

Thrifting is Cheaper

The average American consumer spends $1,000 to $2,000 each year on clothing, but wears only about twenty percent of what’s in their closet. While thrifting generally takes more time and consideration, it saves money, as long as people don’t “bargain overload” and don’t buy unnecessary pieces.

Thrifting Gives Back to the Community

National thrift stores like Goodwill provide career support for the disabled. Here is a national directory of charity-driven thrift stores, and a list of thrift shops around the United States to check out. Consignment stores, flea markets and vintage shops also sell recycled clothing.

Every entrepreneur knows the value of research, just as every entrepreneur appreciates the value of a strong gut instinct. If you want to launch a new small business, it’s no wonder that both forces are pulling at you to open a consignment store.

As you discuss the idea with people – and especially bankers or investors – it’s important that you be specific about your intentions and careful with your word choices. Other people may use “consignment store” and its word cousins interchangeably, but you may wish to set people straight – and set the best example.

See Through ‘The Heap’

Encourage your audience to be patient because the following delineation remains thorny for only a short time: If you were viewing the nomenclature of this retail segment as a tall heap of clothing, “secondhand” would be at the top. As the Leo Hamel Boutique says, “all second-hand stores have something in common: they make it possible for buyers to save money.” Next in the heap would be “resale shops,” followed by “consignment shops” and “thrift stores.”

You still may see a random sign in front of a “secondhand” or “resale” store, but the terms have largely fallen out of favor. This leaves two distinguishable categories: consignment and thrift shops.

Old habits die hard, so expect to hear some people invoke all four terms as if they mean the same thing. But you won’t, especially after you’re clear on the differences in how these two entities operate and what they sell.

The Meaning of ‘Thrift Shop’

Thrift shops in Destin, FL are usually operated by and for a charity or nonprofit organization.

Thrift stores depend on donations to raise money and are most likely to accept clothing, furniture, home décor items, small kitchen appliances, plates, glasses and dishes, electronics, books, movies, baby products and toys to stock their shelves. Thrift stores aren’t known for being choosy and usually accept every donation offered to them since ultimately, the tagged price is meant to reflect the condition of the merchandise.

Thrift stores aim to turn over their stock quickly and so are known to offer bargains: Men’s dress shirts for, say, $3.99 each and four hardcover books or two DVDs for $1, Pocket Sense says.

For shoppers, the thrift store dynamic can be a literal mixed bag and almost entirely a matter of luck and good timing: You can leave with a shopping cart filled with dazzling products boasting designer labels – or nothing but the water bottle you came with.

Consignment Shops Are No Thrift Shop Synonym

In truth, the same scenario could unfold at a consignment shop. But if you’re leaning toward opening a business, a consignment shop is probably what you have in mind. Unlike thrift stores, consignment shops usually have high selection standards, meaning that an item must be in nearly perfect condition and manufactured by a top company.

Or as Leo Hamel puts it, the shops will accept only “pre-owned luxury goods that are in mint condition.” If they’re not, the items are politely declined. If they’re accepted, and they sell, the person who brought the item to the shop shares in a percentage of the sale.

Consignment shops tend to emphasize women’s clothing, shoes and jewelry – a niche that is growing and may look particularly appealing against the sad backdrop of the many retail giants that are filing for bankruptcy or closing.

Ironically, at least two of these giants – Macy’s and J.C. Penney – are poised to bring “used” clothing into their brick-and-mortar stores, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. You can surmise your own theories about why such experienced retailers would want “pre-owned” clothing competing virtually alongside their brand-new offerings. But this development ought to tell you something – while probably confirming your already-strong gut instinct.

There’s nothing like cleaning out your closet to help you feel organized and refreshed. If it’s been a while since you decluttered, the change of seasons is a great time to purge your wardrobe and sort through items to decide what to keep and what to donate.

But before you drop off a bag of gently-used clothing at your local thrift store, keep in mind that not all thrift stores are the same. It’s important to research in advance so you can make an informed and educated decision about where and how you choose to donate. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself to make sure your donations have the most impact:

Am I donating to a non-profit charity organization or a for-profit company?

Not all thrift stores are operated for charitable causes. Some thrift stores are owned by for-profit companies and solicit donations on behalf of charity organizations, but they might only give a minimal percentage of their proceeds to the actual charity.

And unfortunately, some for-profit stores even use charity-sounding names when they have no connection to a charity at all. If you want to make sure your donations provide the most benefit to people in need, it’s wise to do some research to find out if a valid non-profit organization operates the thrift store.

Unlike for-profit firms, which operate with the goal of generating revenue for stockholders, non-profits are solely motivated to support their mission. You can use online non-profit databases like GuideStar to find out if a charity is a legitimate, trusted nonprofit organization.

What’s the mission of the organization? Does it align with your values?

If a non-profit organization operates the thrift store, take some time to learn about their charitable mission. What does the organization support? Does it match your values?

The dollars raised from the sale of donated goods in our stores go on to help fund job training and employment services for people with disabilities, our nation’s veterans, and others facing challenges to finding employment.

What happens to your donation?

Finally, it’s important to find out how the thrift stores in Destin, FL will use your donation. What happens after you donate?

Your donations make a difference! Find the donation site nearest you and be sure to view the list of items that can and cannot be accepted before you donate.