Today's Thrift Shop Finds

[Disney Ontario]

At my local thrift store today, I found a huge Mickey blanket for $6.99 ,like new and never been washed yet. Then a matching plastic standing Mickey(looks like a piggy bank) $1.99. All for my new Disney/spare/scrapbooking room.

 

[swilshire]

Our Goodwill stinks.

Same here. I walk through once in a while and watch for the 1/2 price sales, where some things are almost reasonable. Usually, they charge almost retail for the junk they get. Seldom a good find.

I look for thrift stores when I travel, though. I've bought WONDERFUL stuff at the Goodwill in Cambridge MA. Had to mail some of it home I bought so much.

I was out in San Diego a month or so ago and ask at the desk of the hotel if there was a thrift store around. The youngster I ask just gave me a funny look, but luckily one of her co-workers overheard and sent me to a wonderful area. It was like a thrift store mall. Must have been a dozen of them, mostly affiliated with different churches. My kids loved the odd t-shirts I found there and my luggage was almost overloaded coming home.

Very few yard sales here this weekend, but last weekend, tons of them. Particularly church sales. We spent $60 at one, but you wouldn't believe all of the clothes I found for my sons.

Sheila

 

[TinkInPink]

About the not keeping her away from the mall, me and my friends, all in 8th grade LOVE the thrift shops. We would prefere the thrift store over the mall anyday. The one thing we like is that we can go and get twice as much stuff for half as much money.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Just got back from the local GW and loaded up! DD and I found 2 Disney frames (1 Mickey and 1 Tigger) for .99 each. DD picked out a gorgeous semi-formal dress for me (it was my size and fits great too!) to wear to an awards show in Vegas next month for $5.99 (last year my dress was over $200). We found lots of Limited Too for both girls and even some smocked dresses for me to sell on ebay.

Great day thrifting here too! I never would have gone but I saw this thread earlier and decided to give ours a shot. Glad I did but I don't think DH is nearly as thrilled as I am!

 

[Julia M]

I haven't been overly impressed with our thrift stores, either.

I can get just as good of deals at Old Navy or Kohls on clearance. Luckily my kids aren't into brand name stuff (of course, that may change!)

Julia

 

[sandraB]

Same here. I walk through once in a while and watch for the 1/2 price sales, where some things are almost reasonable. Usually, they charge almost retail for the junk they get. Seldom a good find.

I look for thrift stores when I travel, though. I've bought WONDERFUL stuff at the Goodwill in Cambridge MA. Had to mail some of it home I bought so much.

I was out in San Diego a month or so ago and ask at the desk of the hotel if there was a thrift store around. The youngster I ask just gave me a funny look, but luckily one of her co-workers overheard and sent me to a wonderful area. It was like a thrift store mall. Must have been a dozen of them, mostly affiliated with different churches. My kids loved the odd t-shirts I found there and my luggage was almost overloaded coming home.

Very few yard sales here this weekend, but last weekend, tons of them. Particularly church sales. We spent $60 at one, but you wouldn't believe all of the clothes I found for my sons.

Sheila

Sheila,

I used to live in Clinton, and there was this great discount store, I cant remember the name!! I used to get liz claiborn shorts there, and tons of nice clothes....they had home stuff too...right downtown???

The good old days.....we live in atlantic canada now, and we have a used clothing place called Frenchy's, they buy used clothes from places like goodwill, in the states....most of our stuff comes from boston area....(we can tell from tshirts...etc...)

Anyway, the us has great discount places...we really have to dig here!!! I tend to shop in the states mostly.

sandi

 

[C.Ann]

When I was in Vero Beach last year my brother's GF (who literally is a millionaire a few times over) took me to the most amazing thrift stores.. She refuses to go to the "expensive" ones, but the ones she took my sister and I to were AWESOME.. Where else can you buy name brand clothes for 25 cents to a dollar - many of which still have the tags on them? She also scours thrift shops and such for furniture, decorating accessories, etc.. Can any of you figure out why she has so much money? She's been like this all her life - and her occupation before retiring was a high school physical education teacher!

Right now I'm on the hunt for a couple of dressers for here at the lake and quite frankly, I don't care where they come from: thrift shop; Salvation Army; garage sale; or alongside the road for spring clean-up.. A good cleaning, a coat of paint - maybe some rub-on decals if I'm feeling extra creative - and I'm good to go! So if you see one, let me know!!

 

[swilshire]

Sheila,

I used to live in Clinton, and there was this great discount store, I cant remember the name!! I used to get liz claiborn shorts there, and tons of nice clothes....they had home stuff too...right downtown???

You're no doubt thinking of Hammers. It's family owned, and the owners are still in the store lots of times when I go there. Hammers survives, but is much different now.

30 years ago when I started shopping there, they bought a lot of burned out stores and other one time deals. Prices were dirt cheap. I remember once they had refrigerated trailers outside the store and were selling frozen food off the back. They still get closeout things sometimes. I've seen a lot of Rite-Aid stuff there lately.

Mostly, though, it's just a small Kmart type store now. There are three of them, one on the road to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for the tourists.

Sale prices can be good, but mostly they sell clothing at prices you could get anywhere. They do have good specials. "Sheet wars" are always a favorite, where they sell name-brand sheets quite cheaply. Some are in the packages, but many are just loose. People gather around the tables, the workers dump out big boxes and the fights start. Some people help each other find what they need, but there is a lot of grabbing and pulling.

They also have towels cheap on some days. Many of them are damaged or seconds, but they always seem to be a hit as well.

I shop there, but it's not the treasure hunt that it used to be.

Sheila

 

[crisi]

I wouldn't shop charitible thrift stores, like Goodwill. They are set up as charities, and I don't need charity. I'd rather leave their inventory for people who do need it. A friend of mine works for such a place, they only make enough to cover their costs - and he rants endlessly about the people who make good money coming in to pick over the inventory so there is nothing left for the actual poor people they intend to serve. Especially since the advent of eBay, the store isn't really accomplishing its mission. This isn't judging anyone here, there are certainly no rules against it, it just isn't something I would do.

I do shop, on occation, consignment. And I got a $230 jacket at Nordstrom Rack this weekend for $14.

 

[HaleyB]

We have great thrift stores.

I have not gone looking for ebay stuff in a long time because I have so much on hand right now. But my kids love to shop thrift stores and used book stores. They are much more fun to look through, we can spend hours.

 

[OhMari]

Time will tell. Actually, when she was younger, DW would buy stuff for her at the thrift shop and just bring it home. Then we went through a phase where she didn't want stuff that DW picked out but also didn't want to comb through the racks at the thrift shops herself. In the past year, she's gotten to the point where she really appreciates the advantages of going to the thrift shop - great selection, great prices, jeans already broken in, etc. Now she actually asks to go there. Hopefully, that will last. I think the label recognition is important. She loves going to Limited Too but knows it is generally too expensive and we rarely buy anthing there unless its on clearance. But today she got a nice pair of Limited Too shorts for $1.50. And a pair of Jordache jeans for $3.99. And a Roots Team USA Olympic beret hat for $2.00. She understands that she never would have gotten any of those things for regular price.

Somehow I have a feeling that she will be taking her friends to the thrift shops in a few years. One can only hope

My dd in college has 2 friends that buy all their clothes at Thrift stores. In the winter they have a "Super Sweet Sweater Party" they all buy sweaters that are so outragious and funny for like a quarter and wear them for the party. My biggest score was a $65 tv stand for my dd's apartment that I got for $9.00. I cleaned it up and washed the glass doors and it looks brand new. My dd lives and goes to school in Marquette MI and they have really cool thrift stores.

 

[HaleyB]

Oh and c. ann check Craigslist.org for furniture. We get fixer up stuff for free sometimes even.

 

[cami89]

I wouldn't shop charitible thrift stores, like Goodwill. They are set up as charities, and I don't need charity. I'd rather leave their inventory for people who do need it. A friend of mine works for such a place, they only make enough to cover their costs - and he rants endlessly about the people who make good money coming in to pick over the inventory so there is nothing left for the actual poor people they intend to serve. Especially since the advent of eBay, the store isn't really accomplishing its mission. This isn't judging anyone here, there are certainly no rules against it, it just isn't something I would do.

I do shop, on occation, consignment. And I got a $230 jacket at Nordstrom Rack this weekend for $14.

I don't feel badly buying from Goodwill and I don't feel like I'm taking away from someone else and/or accepting charity by spending my money there. I don't think they care who buys their merchandise - I pay what they ask for it, so what is the problem? My store offers a discount to military and law enforcement personnel - based on that, it doesn't seem like they are discouraging folks to buy from them, no?

 

[Tantor]

My DD 10 loves going to Goodwill. For me it's a challenge to see what name brands I can get. We get lots of Gap, Old Navy, Mary Kate and Ashley stuff.
IT is just amazing. We have quite afew Goodwills with in a 20 mile radius.

 

[Alexsma]

I wouldn't shop charitible thrift stores, like Goodwill. They are set up as charities, and I don't need charity. I'd rather leave their inventory for people who do need it. A friend of mine works for such a place, they only make enough to cover their costs - and he rants endlessly about the people who make good money coming in to pick over the inventory so there is nothing left for the actual poor people they intend to serve. Especially since the advent of eBay, the store isn't really accomplishing its mission. This isn't judging anyone here, there are certainly no rules against it, it just isn't something I would do.

I do shop, on occation, consignment. And I got a $230 jacket at Nordstrom Rack this weekend for $14.

The purpose of these charitible thrift stores is that they sell donated items to make money to fund their charities! The money that everyone spends in the stores actually allows that charity to help more people.

 

[welovedis]

We have a number of thifts and I go to them on a regular basis both to purchase for myself & my family and to sell on eBay. I wear a lot of Ann Taylor and Coldwater Creek clothing & can usually find at least 1-2 pieces at each store I visit. These are items that would retail for at least $50 each (pants, blazer, even tailored shirts) and I get them for less than $3 usually. Sometimes items have store tags on them, other times they don't but I do look things over carefully before buying.

I'm happy to say that people are typically shocked to hear that I've never bought anything at an Ann Taylor store, and only occasionally buy from CCreek (only if there is a great sale in the outlet) and still have 95% of my wardrobe from those 2 places.

I think that many people feel there is some type of stigma associated with shopping at a thift store & that's fine with me. I'll be happy to not that to share my eBay profit-makers with anyone, lol!

anewvance--not sure about the other poster, but I recognize your info from the eBay boards.

 

[sweet maxine]

How's this?

Got a cute blouse from Goodwill two weeks ago (Casual Corner brand), and wore it with a new skirt (on sale 70% off) to church for Easter today. Looked really nice if I say so myself!

BTW, no one was able to detect my wearing of a thrift store blouse today.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I wouldn't shop charitible thrift stores, like Goodwill. They are set up as charities, and I don't need charity. I'd rather leave their inventory for people who do need it. A friend of mine works for such a place, they only make enough to cover their costs - and he rants endlessly about the people who make good money coming in to pick over the inventory so there is nothing left for the actual poor people they intend to serve. Especially since the advent of eBay, the store isn't really accomplishing its mission. This isn't judging anyone here, there are certainly no rules against it, it just isn't something I would do.

Actually our Goodwill stores would never survive without the dollars brought in from "regular" shoppers. The poor here get vouchers for clothes and don't actually spend cash for their purchases. How does that help the overhead??

We have about a dozen Goodwills in the area and they are all marketed towards people looking for bargain shopping, not for the poor or indigent. Goodwill has TV, radio and newspaper advertising on a regular basis. I hardly think they spend all that money on marketing to the poor. I took my daughter to Goodwill yesterday. Sure there were some things I bought to resell on ebay but we paid the price Goodwill was asking so where is the problem in doing that? I also bought a dress for myself and clothes for both daughters. I would rather pay $2.99 for their dresses then $30 at Limited Too.

I don't see that I am taking clothing away from the poor by shopping at Goodwill. There is plenty to go around - the stores are always packed with stuff. We just did our Spring Cleaning and took in 3 pickup truck loads of clothes, toys, furniture and household items to the very Goodwill that we shopped at.

If you dont want to shop at thrift stores then no one is going to force you. Leave the bargains for the rest of us!

 

[Julia M]

I'm envious........our Goodwills don't seem to carry nicer labels (and they should, we are in a very affluent area) or maybe I just have poor luck in the clothes area.

I also think the prices are high.....like $7.99 for a pair of jeans. I bought dd a pair of Arizona brand jeans from Penny's......2 for $21.99 (B1G1F)

I do get paperback books all the time.

I do hope, since they have "fancy dresses" that as dd gets old enough to go to formal dances, that I can find prom dresses there...........listening to my friends, that's a big expense.

What are the popular brands for teen age boys and girls? Oldest ds is starting high school in the fall, and maybe I can be on the lookout this summer for some trendy shirts (he hasn't cared so far...Old Navy is his style, but you never know!)

Julia

 

[babiesX2]

I wouldn't shop charitible thrift stores, like Goodwill. They are set up as charities, and I don't need charity. I'd rather leave their inventory for people who do need it. A friend of mine works for such a place, they only make enough to cover their costs - and he rants endlessly about the people who make good money coming in to pick over the inventory so there is nothing left for the actual poor people they intend to serve. Especially since the advent of eBay, the store isn't really accomplishing its mission. This isn't judging anyone here, there are certainly no rules against it, it just isn't something I would do.

I do shop, on occation, consignment. And I got a $230 jacket at Nordstrom Rack this weekend for $14.

Your stance is interesting. Most of the poor people I know laugh at buying things second hand.