Do you shop at thrift/consignment stores?

[mamamary]

Twice a year I visit my local consignment shop. They only take higher end children's items. They are very particular. Anyway, twice a year they have a dollar sale to clear out their summer/winter clothes. I show up the day of the sale and I usually spend about $50. I get a ton of clothes for my daughter - some with tags still. I usually find Gap, Ltd 2, Disney clothes etc.

 

[megthewonderful]

I constantly go to a local children's consignment shop to consign my kid's old clothes and find deals on new ones. They usually have a lot of clothes that still have the tags on, which is crazy. They go through the clothes meticulously, so anything stained, faded, pilled, or smelly is not accepted for consignment. This summer I have purchased a lot of jeans for the fall since my kids seem to rip holes in the knees of all of their jeans and some tops and have spent around $30 and have also earned over $100.
I used to shop at consignment shops while in college since I was broke. I haven't even tried to consign any of my clothes lately, although it might be a good way to clean out my closet!

 

[SydneyBristow]

We have a great store here called Plato's Closet.

That's a great store, we have one too.

I love thrift stores, I've found so many great things there.

 

[Cindy B]

I've bought all kinds of things there. When my kids were younger I used to buy clothes all the time. ..

Now that they are getting older (teens), my son has found the goodwill has concert Tshirts, skateboard/snowboarding company shirts as well as some older army style jackets.. all of which he has worn. His middle school is brand name heaven so he's already bucking the trend.

I've found Abercrombie, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Justice and LTD2 for my daughter. I'd rather pay $2-3 for an Abercrombie top there instead of god knows what in the store.

I've bought work clothes there as well. DH has bought some shorts and the occasional Tshirt.

 

[pooh4evr]

We have gotten GREAT stuff at Once Upon A Child- clothes, toys, strollers- and twice a yr there is a huge consignment sale near us (I am taking a ton of baby stuff this yr) that we have gotten good stuff at too! (train table, outdoor climbing little tykes stuff, doll house still in box new) most kids stuff in these types of stores is in really good shape because usually the kids outgrow before they wear out!

 

[ckay87]

At Halloween, DS wanted to dress up like an old woman, so I took him to Goodwill to find an ugly granny dress. It was tough....most everything was just too nice.

A little OT, but there was an Amish family in there...the Amish families around here generally love sorting through the second-hand stuff. My son was there holding skirts up to himself and trying on high heels. The stares we got were unreal! Understandably...it was pretty embarassing.

I would buy second hand for myself, but as other posters have said, it's just too much work.

 

[1PrincessMomma1]

.

 

[luvmy3]

Thrift stores and garage sales.. I absolutely hate paying the ridiculous prices I see in the stores.. The only things I won't buy used are under garments, socks, and swim suits..

Do people really sell used undergarments at trift stores and garage sales

I shop at Goodwill from time to time because they get all of Targets clearanced out merchandise. Its all new but they do get the salvaged stuff thats damaged so you have to be careful.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Nope never have never will. I don't need other peoples crap. I would also never want my kids to go to school in something that perhaps belonged to fellow classmate. That would be humiliating. We buy everything new and of high quality no use buying cheap stuff to fall apart quickly. Even when we were very strapped for cash we invested in our clothing as it makes more sense.

This is one of the most crazy posts I've ever read on the Dis. Do you seriously think that a child would walk up to another child at school and say---Hey, that's my shirt!! Unless you personally hand make every one of your piece of clothing, I'm willing to bet someone, somewhere has the exact same thing your child does.

I have to believe this post is a joke.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

Oh! And I'm the "white tank top stealer" from the other thread. (gotta read the thread to know the whole story!)

So you guys KNOW I have no problem wearing other peoples clothes.

My best find at a thrift store..........my CUTE Lily Pulitzer sundress, $7. Looks brand new!!

 

[My2Cinderellas]

The Salvation army stores around here do sell used bras/panties. skeeves me big time! especially when you see some guy going through the rack looking for a very specific type of old fashioned underwear.

Now, I am guilty of selling used kids undies at a garage sale. A few years ago, my neighbor and I were setting up a sale and we both had like new toddler size undies. We slapped a $.25 tag on each pair and figured we'd be donating them at the end of the sale. We were shocked to see they were among the first things sold!!!! So we've continued to sell them (I do check for stains, and those go straight into the garbage). I can tell you that up to about size 6 sells well, after that, no deal. People who bought them were making comments about potty training, and extra pairs for at grandma's and such. It helped that they were character undies too.

I don't shop thrifts for myself, I might be able to find a shirt or sweater, but have a hard time finding pant/shorts. I concentrate on finding stuff for the girls, I've found a lot of neat stuff over the years. I don't go often enough to fully stock their closet, but usually get cute tops and play jeans there.

 

[ChrizJen]

I replied "Sometimes", but it's soon going to be "All the time"!
We're getting the house ready for a home visit to be re-licensed for foster care. (We're technically still licensed...Well, Jen's licensed. Since we're same-sex, we can't both be. But that's another story )
...Anyhow, since we moved, we need to have a home visit at our new house to revise our homestudy.

So my point after all of that is that we'll be doing LOTS of shopping at the thrift stores for kid clothes. Now THERE is where you find the best bargains!! Kids usually grow out of their things before they have a chance to wear them out, so it makes NO sense to buy them brand new. We'll be thrift store shopping fools!!

-Christal

 

[Rock'n Robin]

When my teen daughters need jeans we go to Plato's closet first. They can find some brand names usually for cheap--AE, aero, a&f--that I won't buy them in the stores because I won't spend the money. I"ll spend $20 on jeans but not $80!
Most of the shirts there seem to have shrunk, though, or are faded. We rarely find decent shirts.
Robin M.

 

[jimmalru80]

No, I don't shop there. No particular reason.

 

[BelleBoo&AmisMum]

Nope never have never will. I don't need other peoples crap. I would also never want my kids to go to school in something that perhaps belonged to fellow classmate. That would be humiliating. We buy everything new and of high quality no use buying cheap stuff to fall apart quickly. Even when we were very strapped for cash we invested in our clothing as it makes more sense.

Are you serious? Have you ever stepped foot in a consignment store?

I live in a high income area and we have some really nice consignment stores, I've bought a lot of high quality stuff for a fraction of retail. Our last find was a new with tags French boutique brand dress for $3.50.

I can afford to buy new but I don't like to since they grow out of it so fast! We buy a lot of stuff from the outlet mall too.

 

[MinnieMe87]

I love them! In fact, I'm going to one today after I get off work to take a peek around!

 

[wall*e2008]

No - other reasons

I don't find the prices worth it. I can get brand new for the same price or better by just shopping sales.

I rarely find anything that I like and need there.

I do get used books from the library book sales.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

I only shop occasionally and just for shoes and bags and such...being a plus size girl, I find it really hard to find cute clothes for myself at consignment stores...I'd shop there more if I was skinnier!

 

[Todd&Copper]

This is one of the most crazy posts I've ever read on the Dis. Do you seriously think that a child would walk up to another child at school and say---Hey, that's my shirt!! Unless you personally hand make every one of your piece of clothing, I'm willing to bet someone, somewhere has the exact same thing your child does.

I have to believe this post is a joke.

Apparently it has happened to at least one reader of the Pathetic Geek Stories website:

http://www.patheticgeekstories.com/archives/page5/christmasdress.html

 

[Todd&Copper]

Are you serious? Have you ever stepped foot in a consignment store?

I live in a high income area and we have some really nice consignment stores, I've bought a lot of high quality stuff for a fraction of retail. Our last find was a new with tags French boutique brand dress for $3.50.

I can afford to buy new but I don't like to since they grow out of it so fast! We buy a lot of stuff from the outlet mall too.

You know, I live in a wealthy area too and all of my thrift stores and consignment stores sell utter crap, so it appears to not really follow the affluence of the community (or the people who work the Goodwill are thieves and the folks who give stuff for consignment are as delusional as the ladies are at the start of What Not To Wear in thinking thier clothes are nice). I just won't bother sifting thru a pile of Mom jeans and Blossom dresses only to find more of the same (or things even worse).