Getting the Goods When You’re Shopping at Thrift Stores
We’ve all heard stories from thrift shop gurus who talk about finding really great, brand name clothing while shopping at the thrift shop. When you check out your favorite thrift shop, however, all you find are slightly worn versions of the same clothes you find at Wal-mart or Target. What are you doing wrong?
There is no fail-proof technique to finding high-end garments while you’re shopping at thrift stores, but there are a few schemes that may help you on your hunt. Try them out and, eventually, you will develop your own technique.
Visit thrift stores that are in or close to the more affluent neighborhoods near you. It stands to reason that donations of name brand clothing must come from people who could afford to buy these clothes at regular retail prices. So why wouldn’t you go to their neck of the woods to look for their cast-offs?
Check out a wide variety of stores. If you are on the prowl for a thrift store that regularly delivers high quality articles of clothing, you should check out many different stores. Explore the different stores throughout your city. Consider it a challenge to find something special each time you embark on your “thrifting” expedition.
Visit your favorite thrift stores frequently. Inventory at these stores changes very often. You’re likely to discover a new treasure at every visit. Take some time to look through special items that may be hidden among less attention-grabbing inventory.
Get to know the staff at your favorite shop. When you visit, be sure to talk to the friendly staff stocking the racks or helping you complete your purchases. They may prove to be a gold mine of information about when new items make their ways to the shelves. You may even become friendly enough to be able to ask them to hold something for you, if they come across something you’ve been looking for.
The real key to finding quality items at a thrift shop is to enjoy the hunt. You may not find exactly what you want at every outing, but if you’re open to finding unexpected gems you’ll have a great time anyway.
If you liked this article, please
Subscribe
[...] at Not Made Of Money shares her frugal shopping tactics in Getting the Goods When You’re Shopping at Thrift Stores. If you want designer names, Dana suggests hitting the thrift shops in affluent [...]
[...] Getting the Goods When You’re Shopping at Thrift Stores from Dana of Not Made of Money. I don’t visit thrift stores very often since I get even better deals from garage sales but these suggestions might make a visit to the thrift stores worthwhile. [...]
[...] Made Of Money has a post about getting the good stuff when you shop in thrift stores. Pretty much all of my clothes come from thrift stores, and pretty much all of them were very [...]
[...] Getting the Goods when you’re Shopping at Thrift Stores at Not Made of Money. I’m hopeless at finding great things in op shops (thrift stores), so this was a interesting read. [...]
Great post gave me a lot to think about trying.
[...] from Not Made of Money wrote about how to successfully shop at thrift stores. This is a great post, and if you love clothes as much as I do, you’ll love this post as much [...]