My husband and I and only been married for a few months when one day while we were out running errands, he spotted a Goodwill and said, “Have you ever been to a Goodwill??? Let’s go.” I was appalled that he wanted me to go in and dig through racks of other peoples’ unwanted items and then <gasp> buy them and take them home! I didn’t do much that day besides wander around and follow him as he looked through the racks of men’s clothes. But a few years later, as I wanted to find a way to make some money while I stayed home with our new daughter, I started to look at thrift stores very differently.
I started reselling my daughters outgrown items on eBay and soon realized I could find other items at the thrift store that I could also flip for a profit. And so my reselling business began. I started with kids clothes but quickly expanded to womens and mens clothes and then toys. It wasn’t long after that, that I began to notice that sometimes stores had some pretty cool housewares items too. AND sometimes I found awesome vintage pieces! (I’m a sucker for anything from the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s!) So here we are now, almost married for 28 years and whenever I have a chunk of free time, you better believe you can find me at Goodwill (or any other thrift store)! LOL
So….as a 25+ year thrifter, here are my best tips for those of you that are new to thrifting (whether you are shopping for yourself or you are wanting to start a resell side hustle like I did!):
- Dress comfortably and plan on giving yourself plenty of time to look through all of the sections at the thrift store. I like to have at least an hour or two to thoroughly shop a store based on its size and amount of items.
- If you find something that catches your eye, but aren’t sure whether you want to purchase it or not, put it in your cart!! (*Make sure you get a cart when you enter the store so you have somewhere to put all the treasures you are going to find!) There have been a few times where I have been on the fence about an item, left it on the shelf and when I went back to pick it up, it was gone. So, fill your cart with anything you think you might want to buy and then before you check out you can sort through and select the items you definitely want to purchase.
- Look over items carefully for stains, holes, cracks etc. And then check again. It’s super easy to be so excited about the awesome items you are finding that you miss a flaw. Find a well lit corner in the store, and take each item and look it over carefully before you check out. Missing buttons, holes in sweaters, broken zippers, chips and cracks in glassware are all things that you need to take time to look for before you purchase. There are some stores that allow returns, and if they do, it is typically a short window of time and only for store credit. I never have trouble finding something else to use store credit on, but if you are shopping in an area that you don’t frequent very often, returns and/or having store credit would be difficult.
- Check stores websites and social media sites for loyalty programs and sales. For example, one store in my area has a certain color price tag that is 99 cents each week. They have a large section of vintage clothes and housewares. Therefore, I typically try to go to that store on Mondays just for the simple fact that since Monday is the first day of the weeks new tag color, I want to get as many items for 99 cents as I possibly can! 🙂 Another store in my area has a points system where you earn points for each dollar you spend and then those can be redeemed for a percent off a future purchase. Check if stores have some way of communicating upcoming sales and deals. There are a few stores near me that send out texts of sales. It’s a great way to know when you may want to shop a store.
- Familiarize yourself with fabrics and materials. This is a good way to filter through racks of clothing or shelves of items quickly. The more familiar you are with good quality fabrics and materials the easier it will be to quickly spot them at the thrift store.
- Find something that looks vintage…cool…interesting…maybe worth a lot of money? Know how to use your phone to look up items. Whether it’s on eBay or another online selling site…or knowing how to reverse image search on google. These can be valuable tools to help you know if you’ve found an amazing, original, high dollar piece or a Target dupe.
I hope you enjoy these tips but most importantly…..Have fun!! Don’t worry if the first time you go to a thrift store you feel overwhelmed or like you don’t know where to start. I felt the same way the first time I went thrifting too! Just start with one rack or group of shelves and start looking and you’ll be a thrift store pro in no time!