WHY THRIFTING MATTERS: 5 REASONS TO BUY SECONDHAND
I’ve been around thrifting all my life. Growing up, my mom never passed up a sweet deal from the secondhand store. She taught me to thrift shamelessly, and be proud of what I’ve been able to snag.
Now that I’m older, I’ve become very diligent in making sure that the majority of clothing and household items are obtained secondhand. Whether it’s from a thrift store in Panama City Beach, FL, online marketplace, family member, yard sale, or picked up off the side of the road, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of stuff is pre-loved.
But one of the most important things I’ve learned about thrifting is that it’s so much more than just saving money. There are several reasons why buying secondhand is the way to go, from the impact it has on the environment to the impact it has on your local community.
WHY THRIFTING MATTERS: 5 REASONS TO BUY SECONDHAND
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
1. LESS CLOTHING IN LANDFILLS
The U.S. alone throws out roughly 10 million tons of clothing each year, which can sit in landfills for up to 200 years. Donating used items drastically reduces waste, while buying secondhand helps to reduce demand.
2. LESS WATER CONSUMPTION
It takes approximately 2,700 gallons of water to produce a single cotton shirt, which is enough for one person to drink in 2 1/2 years. Cotton production places stress on surrounding ecosystems and requires the use of harmful pesticides.
PERSONAL IMPACT
3. CREATIVE EXPRESSION
Thrifting gives the opportunity to find some pretty fun and funky stuff. And because it’s less of a price commitment, there’s more wiggle room to pick and choose what trends and looks you want to try out.
4. ALL THE NOSTALGIA
If modern fashion isn’t really your thing, or you’re just looking to take a trip down Memory Lane, buying secondhand allows you to explore products from various different decades
5. THE HUNT FOR “BURIED TREASURE”
When thrifting, you never know what you’re gonna come across. There could be something super valuable tucked deep within a shelf or jammed between clothing racks just waiting to be discovered.
Why Wearing Secondhand Clothing Is One of the Best Eco-Friendly Actions You Can Take
The world’s landfills are already overflowing, but we still have to buy items—from clothing and decor to furniture and home improvement items. Thrifting is one of the best ways to lighten your impact as a consumer.
Every purchase you make supports ideals, practices, and companies. By thrifting, you make a vote for sustainability, fair working conditions, good prices, and great style.
For the Planet
While your clothing choices may seem innocuous and simple, what you choose to wear affects more than how you look in the mirror.
The fashion industry produces 10 percent of all humanity’s carbon emissions, is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply, and pollutes the oceans with microplastics.
The clothing supply chain, much like other consumer goods, can be a vicious cycle of excess production and mismanaged waste.
That’s why shopping ethically is so important. While there are some amazing brands that care about the environment and their workers, it can be hard to navigate fashion standards and expensive to shop new. According to Fast Company, “In 2018, 40 percent of consumers couldn’t name a socially responsible company.
29 percent admitted doing no homework to determine which companies were socially responsible. Those who did research were most likely to rely on product packaging to evaluate whether a company was doing good work.”
Insert thrifting. Buying secondhand is by far the most sustainable choice you can make. When you purchase items that already exist, less finite resources are needed. Thrifting also delays existing clothes and other products from ending up in the landfill.
For the People
Working conditions of fast fashion companies are often dismal, such as cases of sexual harassment and poor safety measures. Research from Remake estimates that 80 percent of garment workers around the world are women between the ages of 18 and 24 (many even younger), often earning less than $3 per day. These women find themselves simultaneously locked into poverty and dependent on the little wages they do earn.
Beyond the production process, treating raw materials can be hazardous not only for the end consumer, but especially for the worker. Pesticides, such as for high-volume, high-risk crops like cotton, can easily seep into our skin (which happens to be our largest organ). Leather goods have a history of being particularly hazardous, with the tanning process putting workers at a much greater risk of cancer.
On the other hand, thrift stores are often local small businesses, which boost economies and support communities. Fair wage enforcement is much easier because of local government oversight. Plus, the health risks of secondhand clothing and other items is much lower—even for synthetic fabrics and non-organic natural fibers—because the item has often been aired out and pre-washed.
Many thrift shops in Panama City Beach, FL even have a social good component. They hires and trains workers who face barriers to employment. Proceeds from Salvation Army Family Stores support centers for people struggling with drugs and alcohol addiction. This nonprofit revenue has a real impact on people living near these stores.
For the Savings
Zero-waste advocate Bea Johnson makes a good point about our current consumer culture: “Disposability is a modern concept, something that was invented by the manufacturers and their powerful marketers out of financial greed. They promise us time savings in our life, so we can be more productive, but don’t the products that they sell rather hinder efficiency? They need to be bought, discarded. What a waste of time and money!”
Clothes and home goods can be pricey, especially when you shop with transparent brands with air-tight supply chains. Make your wardrobe budget stretch farther by shopping secondhand. Every brand, size, style, and color under the sun can be thrifted. Shopping vintage or visiting a curated thrift shop may make a dent in your wallet, but the average thrift trip has cute finds at a fraction of the price.
For the Style
It can be intimidating to dig into the world of thrifting. Bloggers make it look so easy to pull off that thrift-store-ironic-chic style, meanwhile you either look like your 8-year-old self or a grandma. The good news is, it gets better with practice. The more you thrift, the easier it is to scan the racks and check all the best corners of the store or app. You can find some truly unique pieces when you shop secondhand, but you can also snag trendy items at a discounted price if that’s your vibe.
If you are unfamiliar with the term thrift shop, it is a shop that sells used items that include clothes, furniture, and books. Most often, thrift shops in Panama City Beach, FL run for charitable reasons.
However, many people, especially kids, get embarrassed when they visit thrift shops and buy items from there. Well, those people are mistaken, as thrift shopping has several benefits other than giving back to the community.
If you are still hesitant about visiting the nearest thrift shop in your area, we will help you learn more about how amazing thrift shopping can be for you, and for your kids, too! Read on as in this article, I will tell you why thrift shopping is awesome!
Saves Money
As a parent, you already have tons of financial responsibilities, and you try your best to make your kids have the best childhood as much as possible.
Buying all their clothes from established brands will take up a considerable amount of your budget. However, thrift shopping will help you save more money which you can spend later on, on fun trips, camps, toys, and gadgets for your kids, or even give yourself a treat by going to the spa or buying yourself something nice.
Therefore, although your kids might complain about having to wear used clothes, they will have so much fun when they get to travel more or get more toys
Waste Reduction
The process of manufacturing, packaging, producing, and distributing brand new clothes requires the consumption of a considerable amount of water and energy. Moreover, when people throw away their old clothes, this adds to the environmental pollution.
Thrift shopping is a great way to reduce waste as it doesn’t require all of these harmful processes. Shopping online is also beneficial nowadays, and one good reason for you to visit or purchase from an online thrift store is that you will not use any means of transportation, which means less pollution.
As you can see, thrift shopping can help reduce waste and save our environment in so many ways. So next time you feel embarrassed for going to a thrift shop, or your kids complain about it, remember that you are taking part in saving the earth, and you should educate your kids about how they will be contributing to cleaning our planet and reducing the amount of waste produced.
Good Quality for Low Price
Another reason why thrift stores are awesome is that you can still find high-quality items in good condition at a low price. Who said that items sold in thrift shops are of poor quality and broken?
There are great bargains in them that you can take advantage of. Thrift shopping means that you will be getting more for less. Moreover, even if you have found an item that you really like but has a dent on it, you can fix it later, and still, it will be cheaper than buying brand new, especially if it is a piece of furniture.
We mean, think about it! Any item you chose that still looks good is a used item that withstood the use of another person, and that should say something about the quality of that product!
Spread the Kindness
Shopping at thrift shops is an act of kindness since you help others by buying from them. It is not just about buying good quality products at a low price and saving money, as they support different causes and help out many people in need.
Purchasing through these shops is a great way to teach your kids the value of money, kindness, and that the important things in life are not material possessions. The world is going through a lot, and supporting your community will definitely make the world a little better. Although, in your own city, it will have a great impact.
As you can see, shopping at thrift stores is a very smart financial decision. You get to save money that you can spend later on other important things, or travel to a fun place during your vacation. Moreover, you get to have high-quality products without paying a fortune.
Their benefits are not limited to monetary value, as buying from them helps a lot in reducing waste and saving energy and water, so it is a great way to be part of saving our planet, especially if you decide to do online shopping and reduce the amount of carbon footprint that your vehicle will emit as you transport to and from the store.
Thrift shopping can teach your kids many important values in life, like the importance of charity and giving back to their community, as well as how to set their priorities, and the value of money.
Time and again, one of the most frequent questions I receive on Instagram is where I go thrift shopping. But here’s the thing, the whole idea of what constitutes a good thrift store is completely arbitrary.
Why? Because it all comes down to what you’re looking for. A good thrift shop in Destin, FL for furniture may be different than one for clothing, and what I deem “good” may be completely different than what the person asking considers good thrifting. So, it’s far more effective to focus on technique.
If you fine-tune your thrifting skills, you’ll be far more likely to find that thrift store unicorn than simply trying to find the “good” thrift stores. After all, their supply is completely dependent on what people donate – the selection changes constantly.
Just follow my tips for successful secondhand shopping:
When:
When is the best time to go thrift shopping? I mean, you could go to the thrift store on a Saturday, but you’ll be competing with everyone and their mother for the good stuff. To me, the ideal days of the week to go to a thrift store are Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.
If you think about it, people are usually spending their weekends cleaning out their attics, basements, closets, and garages and dropping off their donations on Saturdays or Sundays.
So, midweek you’re not only competing with fewer people, but the selection is usually better. Obviously, if you work a regular 9 to 5 job, it can be difficult – or near impossible- to make it to a store mid-week, so if that’s the case, try to shop early in the mornings on Saturday or Sunday.
Where:
Where are the best thrift stores? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve found some vintage gold in city thrift stores, but if you live in the city, chances are you’ve visited many a picked-over Goodwill or Salvation Army within city limits.
While these thrift stores aren’t completely without reward – they’re great if you don’t have a lot of free time to devote to thrifting – you’re competing with a lot of people to find the gold, including college students and high school kids looking for that perfect 90’s Night or Halloween costume.
And don’t forget to check out the smaller thrift stores within city limits, too. Goodwill and Salvos aren’t the only options out there.
Size (Sometimes) Doesn’t Matter – but shop mindfully:
I always look everywhere in the thrift store. Because women’s (and men’s) sizing has changed so drastically over the years, sticking to your exact sizing section alone is pretty pointless. Everything fits differently, so it’s worth skimming through the racks to see what you can find. Look beyond your size and you might find some hidden gems.
While you’re at it, look everywhere else too: The men’s section is great for vintage Levi’s and Dickies, flannels, button-ups, menswear coats and grandpa sweaters. Check out the children’s section for shrunken jackets, denim vests, school uniform separates (think solid sweaters and pleated skirts), and misplaced ‘90s minis, and check out housewares for vintage planters and vases.
I say shop mindfully because it’s important to remember that, if you’re on the smaller end of the spectrum, you innately have thin privilege. Because of the size I wear, I could shop a variety of sizes and either alter a piece to make it work or wear something loose. Our larger-sized thrifting pals often don’t have that privilege, so if you’re shopping, leave the plus-sized items for the plus-sized community.
Learn to Recognize Quality:
This is my favorite part of thrift shopping! Thrift shopping is a great way to add higher-end fabrics to your closet that you may not be able to justify purchasing new. Keep an eye out for silk, cashmere, linen, and good-quality leather.
Example? A vintage/second-hand sweater from Saks is typically going to have better quality dyes and fibers than the same style from Target from last year, compare and contrast, and eventually, you’ll be able to discern a quality piece without even picking it up off the rack.
While I’m not totally opposed to purchasing big box or fast fashion brands from a thrift store, I usually skip over them because the garment almost always looks tired and worn out (a reminder to limit those purchases in the first place).
But that’s just me, and as always there are exceptions. Case in point: I recently bought a like-new Zara blazer for $1. Hard to go wrong there and it goes with almost everything.
If there’s a specific brand you like, learn to recognize the markings of that brand. I used to thrift a lot of vintage Coach and Dooney & Bourke bags, and I know to look for a specific type of strap and style of clasp when scanning the purses section before checking for signs of authenticity. Honing a keen eye makes it easier to pick out any gems that may be hiding within the chaos.
Steer Clear of “The Challenge” – unless you’re really, really serious…
So, I used to have a big problem. I used to buy ridiculous things at the thrift store. I would find something that could be totally awesome (!!!)… if only the hem was shorter, the bust was taken in, the sleeves were cut off, and the collar replaced.All that left me with was one giant basket of “to be altered” clothing – that I never actually altered and eventually re-donated or gave away.
I fully support altering clothing, and I would love to think that I had the extra time or patience to actually alter all those things. But most of the time I don’t. Be honest with yourself when you’re thrifting, and if you know you’re never going to do the alterations, leave the item for someone else to enjoy.
There’s something wonderful about heading to a thrift store in Lebanon, TN and finding a unique piece of clothing that fits your style perfectly. The “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” saying is quite truthful. Now more than ever, people are donating clothing, home goods, electronics, and other objects that are in terrific condition.
Whether they’re clearing out clutter or making room for more stuff, this propensity to buy and buy has made thrifting an even more rewarding habit for your wallet. But apart from the personal advantages of shopping secondhand, thrifting is a great benefit for the environment.
Put the “reduce, reuse, recycle” slogan into even better practice—donate more and thrift often! Learn more about how thrifting is good for the planet below.
Keeps Clothes Out of Landfills
Think back to that reduce, reuse, recycle slogan we’ve all been taught since elementary school. When we were first taught this, it typically had to deal with plastics and paper.
Many people don’t realize that recycling incorporates more than the typical plastics and includes textile recycling as well. Just because you’re not putting your clothes in the blue bin and leaving them at the edge of the road doesn’t mean thrifting is not an important form of recycling.
One of thrifting’s biggest advantages for the planet is that it keeps clothes out of landfills. People now more than ever are recognizing that the clothes they no longer want will make much more of an impact when donated and brought to thrift stores, rather than tossed in the garbage. When clothes are thrown away, they sit in landfills for hundreds of years.
Especially now that a lot of clothing is made out of synthetic material that won’t degrade, these clothes tossed into landfills take up a vast amount of space and contribute to the greenhouse gases plaguing our planet. Even clothes made out of organic materials won’t biodegrade properly in landfills and will output methane gas.
When people donate clothes and shop secondhand, they’re playing a great role in keeping clothes out of landfills.
Contributes to Charities
Shopping secondhand also plays a role in boosting community development. Your money is typically used to help local charities and businesses, rather than multinational corporations that take advantage of the planet.
Better yet, these charities that the stores benefit will often help out community members in need or strive to help the planet. Think about it this way—when you shop secondhand, you’re supporting a business that strives to help others.
When we’re helping others, we’re helping the environment in some way as well. This contribution to charities can take the form of assisting those in need in the community and can help an organization that’s planting more trees or supporting third-world countries and their water sources.
Lowers Your Carbon Footprint
Another significant way thrifting is good for the planet is that it lowers your carbon footprint. This is another one of those phrases we were taught young—carbon footprint.
We often think that the only way we can do this is by biking to work instead of driving or by reducing our shower time. Though these are wonderful ways, thrifting is one of those steps to reducing our carbon footprint that doesn’t take much effort.
All it asks is that you head to a thrift store rather than engage in online or fast-fashion shopping! We mention fast fashion because now more than ever, a ton of energy goes into clothing manufacturing. The whole process—transportation of raw materials to the production processes and shipping to stores—takes up a plethora of energy and time.
The fashion industry is moving faster than ever, creating millions of clothing items every day to fill up the stores every week. When you buy secondhand, you’re preventing that massive waste of energy and resources on the production of new clothes.
Thrifting is an easy way to make a difference in your own carbon footprint and take the small steps to lower the world’s.
Helps Preserve Water
In a similar sense, thrifting helps preserve water. Like we’ve mentioned, clothing production is a process that takes up a lot of time and energy; it also uses a lot of water—water that we need dearly and are slowly running low on.
Water consumption is extremely high in every single stage of clothing production. Take a cotton T-shirt, for example. When made unsustainably, even simply growing one kilogram of cotton requires at least 10,000 liters of water.
That’s just the beginning of the production process. There’s wet processing and printing, packaging and transportation processes—all these steps add to the overall water consumption. When you shop secondhand, you’re playing a part in preserving water.
As we’ve stated, textile recycling is a part of the whole “reduce, reuse, recycle” mentality, and water preservation is just as important as that.
When you recycle clothing—either donating or buying secondhand—you’re preserving water. It’s just as important as driving less, eating green, and shutting off the faucet while you brush your teeth.
Reduces Chemical Pollution
Another great way that thrifting helps the planet is that it reduces the chemical pollution induced by creating and buying new clothes. Let’s think back to cotton—the production of cotton not only uses tons of water, but it’s also highly pesticide intensive.
This means that when cotton is produced and manufactured, it causes soil acidification and water contamination. And this is from material that many people consider sustainable. In general, textile-manufacturing processes involve the use of harmful dyes and crude oil by-products.
The process of creating and shipping new clothes contaminates surface and groundwater, pollutes the air, and so much more. Shopping secondhand begins to eliminate the constant chemical pollution that results from clothing production.
In general, when we take the time to shop the clothes that are readily available to us in secondhand and thrift stores, we’re not only finding those unique products that match our beautiful personalities, but we’re helping the planet as well.
There are so many wonderful benefits of thrift shopping, and when we take the time to visit and shop these special places, we’ll get to reap those rewards.
You might have seen trucks driving through neighborhoods, bins set up in shopping center parking lots to collect old clothes or athrift shop in Santa Rosa Beach, FL accepting old clothes. This indicates there’s importance associated to donating clothes versus simply throwing them away.
The best types of clothes to donate are ones that aren’t damaged; they are simply items you haven’t worn in 18 months or so. You can put them to better use than as closet fixtures. Don’t forget that you can deduct clothing donations to qualified organizations on your income tax return.
Helps People Who Can’t Afford Clothes
Thrift stores run by charitable organizations typically provide the only way the homeless and other disadvantaged people can afford clothes. The organizations you donate to could not afford to carry out their work without your donated clothing items.
Helps Disaster Victims
Though the Federal Emergency Management Agency prefers cash to help disaster relief efforts, clothing donations also help. Instead of donating directly to FEMA, choose a reputable organization that helps disaster survivors.
If you have clothes you wish to donate to help disaster survivors, call them or another trusted organization that collects clothing for this purpose. The organization typically will send a truck to your house to pick up the clothing; it will be sorted, packaged and distributed to disaster survivors.
Helps the Environment
If people buy used clothing instead of new, fewer new clothes need to be made. This saves the resources used to create new textiles. For example, the polyester fiber production process puts a strain on the environment. Recycling clothing helps the environment in a similar way as recycling bottles, paper and cans does.
Helps People with Disease
Donating clothes helps organizations that help fight certain diseases. The clothing you donate goes toward fundraising. The organization uses the money raised to fight kidney disease by setting up early screening and education programs.
Keeps Your House Organized
Living in a state of chaos and clutter, besides being a possible fire hazard, can be detrimental to your emotional health. If you are ever late getting to work because you can’t find a particular article of clothing, you likely have too much clothing clutter. A good rule of thumb when deciding what to donate is to keep the classic stuff — the clothes that stand the test of time — and donate the rest.
Overflowing wardrobe making you wonder where to sell old clothes ?
One can never have too many clothes. True that! However, sadly, most of us have limited storage space. Even before you know, your wardrobe starts overflowing leaving no place for the season’s new hottest buys!
Does that mean you stop indulging in further retail therapy? No! In fact, it calls for selling off your older collections to make place for even more shopping (spatially and financially). From this, arises the age-old question that has driven so many crazy — where to sell old clothes? Well, it’s your lucky day as we have the perfect answer, so get excited and read on!
Now you really don’t have to worry about where to sell old clothes and where you can get the maximum pay-outs for the same. There are amazing marketplaces today that will happily take your second-hand clothes off you and also help you fetch a few extra bucks. No, we’re not talking about garage sales and age-old vintage shops!
It’s time to go digital,where the scope of secondhand online fashion is steering the world.
Do you think it’s going to be a cumbersome process? Far from it. You can consign off the clothes you no longer need quicker and easier than ever before. Follow these simple steps to know where to sell old clothes in a jiffy and how:
• Collect all the garments that you would like to consign off.
You’ll be surprised at the sheer volume of clothes lying around uselessly when you rummage through your closet. Select clothes that are without stains and tears. Some websites encourageonly authentically branded products.
• Search for secondhand online retailers.
There are plenty of websites dealing in secondhand clothing today. Pick the one that promises the best facilities. If you would like a middle-party to handle all deliveries and hassles, you can search for specialized websites. These are more organized and usually limited to apparels only.
• Go to your chosen site and check the estimated pay-outs.
Usually they have a seller price estimator option where you can determine the price brackets of your pre-owned garments. The rates are determined as per the brand, condition and type of clothing you’re consigning off. Choose a website which promises the best income.
• Register
Once you’re happy with the price estimates and have found where to sell old clothes hassle-free, register and request a free pick-up (if available).
• Ask for exact rates
Usually the website will take your garments in-house and conduct a quality check.Once the garment is approved, your exact payout will be determined and shared for approval.
• See your garment’s image up on the website and collect the money on sale
Now doesn’t that sound like a plan? Create more space and money to buy that beautiful dress you’ve been waiting for! Dress ‘this season’ by getting rid of all your older outfits. Never wonder where to sell old clothes anymore — just jump the digital wagon and see the magic unfold!
Donate
For a good cause one should donate too. Thrift shops in Santa Rosa Beach, FLallow you to donate your old clothes. They are a non profit organization. Go for this good cause if you wish to.
What to look for when shopping for clothes at a thrift store
Many fashion conscious folks have great aspirations and desires to own trendy clothes or vintage apparel, but often find them heavy on their pocket. This is where shopping at a thrift shop in Santa Rosa Beach, FL comes in. Thrift shopping is a fantastic way to procure high-end clothes and accessories that are well below retail rates.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that when you have decided to buy pre-owned items, you have to carefully decide what you want to buy, where you want to buy it and the condition you’re ok with. There are several second-hand consignment stores you can visit to gauge quality.
But if you’re busy schedule does not permit a visit, then there are several internet portals where you can leisurely browse the collection without worrying about parking. Thrift shopping online is a great way to purchase second-hand clothes from the comfort of your home. All you need is a strong mobile data or Wi-Fi!
So when you’re shopping at a second-hand clothing store, what are some of the points to consider before making a purchase?
Stains
Unfortunately, this is something that you will have to watch out for in pre-owned clothes. Since they have been worn by others, it is possible that you will find some stains in the clothing. It is up to you to decide whether you’re ok with slightly stained clothes or not.
The price of the clothing will also depend on the condition and quality of clothes, and that includes stains. When it comes to thrift shopping online, carefully check the specifications of the clothes where the quality and condition of the clothes will be mentioned.
Fabric
Fabric in clothing is very important. When you’re shopping, be sure to check the fabric of the apparel that you’re buying. The fabric has to be comfortable and something that you can wear all day. If visiting the store, it is possible to touch the clothes and try them on. When you’re thrift shopping online, click on the old navy pants you’re planning to buy and check the specifications where the choice of fabric would be mentioned.
Washing Instructions
When looking to buy pre-owned clothes, do take a look at the washing instructions. If you’re at the store, check where the ‘washing instructions’ are mentioned or ask a staffer to help you out with it. If you’re thrift shopping online, check the website to see where the instructions for washing are mentioned for the specific clothing. Some clothing requires only dry cleaning, so if you’re not up for that, then maybe the particular attire may not be for you.
These are some of the points to consider when you decide to shop at a second-hand clothing store — online or otherwise.
If you’re looking for cheap thrills, thrifting is where it’s at. There is nothing quite like seeing the words Gucci inscribed on a pair of sunglasses for $2. On another day, I purchased a pair of vintage Ted Lapidus oversized sunglasses made in Paris.
HOT SHOPPING TREND
Thrifting is a hot and hip shopping trend. It’s especially popular with younger shoppers who like the value and sustainability of buying gently used goods. Even Macy’s and JC Penney are showcasing thrifty goods in department stores in new partnerships with ThredUp. If you need something, anything, you’ll find it at the thrift store sooner or later. A lot of stuff is brand new.
DON’T WAIT
If you like it, buy it. Items won’t be there for long because merchandise turns over quickly. Also, ask when new merchandise is stocked so you’ll know when to visit. Plus, the more often you visit, the more treasures you’ll find. Also, try to shop early, when stores first open for business to get the best selection.
SAVE MORE
Usually, most items are 50% off at least one day a week. Check your favorite thrift’s website to see when the best sale days will be held. Also, most thrifts have a color-coded ticket system. For instance red-tagged items may be 50% off on a certain day each week. Signs are usually posted as you enter stores, or just ask at the register. Don’t be afraid to ask for an extra discount if items are damaged.
KNOW LABELS
Vintage goods are not only cool, they are collectible and can be valuable, too.
WHERE TO LOOK
Windows, glass display cases and behind registers are the spots to focus your attention. Don’t be afraid to ask to see items. Check those back racks. Get down. Great finds can be hiding in low-lying bins or under piles of stuff. I have found a few beautiful vintage beaded evening bags mixed in with wallets piled on top of clothing racks. It takes time to go through stuff, so don’t be impatient. You will be rewarded.
AUTHENTICATE IT
Buyer beware: There are a lot of fake designer goods in thrift stores. Before you buy, compare logos and fonts on items you think may be authentic to see if they exactly match real designer versions. Details matter. Most high-end brands such as Chanel and Louis Vuitton have serial numbers and date codes. There are tons of YouTube tutorials that give tips on how to spot fakes.
Also, look for high-quality materials and leathers, heavy hardware, clasps and zippers. Search inside handbags and accessories for tags with holograms and serial numbers (my Fendi bag has both). Closely examine linings and stitching to see if they are secure; make sure they aren’t stained and ripped or they will be harder to sell on the resale market.
If the item is very inexpensive and you’re not sure if it’s real, I’d buy it and do the research later. There are professional authenticating services you can consult, too.
WHAT TO BRING
Your smartphone is your best friend. Use it to check items on the fly before you buy to see if a brand you aren’t familiar with is a treasure. Also, bring a magnifying glass or loop to spot teenie makers’ marks stamped on vintage costume jewelry (some brands can be quite valuable) or to read minuscule print on labels sewn deep inside handbags. A magnet is also useful; silver and gold are not magnetic.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
A store’s proximity to ritzy areas matters. Donations come from surrounding neighborhoods.
These shops carry used designer goods that people are trying to sell. You can save up to 50% to 75% on everything from used Louie Vuitton purses to Hermes scarves and Chanel suits. Consign your high-end thrift-store finds at these stores to make some money or trade for other goods. Most of these shops post items on Facebook to entice you to visit.
MOBILE MARKETPLACES
Looking to buy an exercise bike or a bedroom dresser? New app-based marketplaces use location services to hook up local buyers and sellers. They are catching on like wildfire, with millions of users.
If you’re new to thrift shopping, or simply haven’t been often, it can be a daunting experience. Shop with confidence at your local thrift shop with these helpful tips.
Find special deals
Thrift stores are known for discounted, gently-used clothing. However, many thrift stores offer specials and bargains on top of their already low prices.
Choose a thrift shop with a mission you believe in
Many thrift shops are a part of charities who offer social service operations, such as the big name Salvation Army and Goodwill. After expenses, all proceeds from the thrift shops in Panama City Beach, FL are used for charity.
It should be a relaxing experience
With Christian music in the background, customers can shop clothing for the whole family, shoes and accessories, housewares, and home decor.
Donate goods you no longer use to the same thrift shop
As you fill your closet with great deals on clothing, accessories, shoes, and household items from your favorite thrift shop, remember to give back. You can make room for the new by donating your gently used clothing, accessories, linens, and small household items, in good condition.
Steve Clark 