On A Budget::Thrift Shops, Part II
>> Friday, January 29, 2010 –
the snowball project
I met Simone through blogging, and then had the chance to meet her in person. She is fabulous! Really, I wish you all could meet her. Heck, I wish I could meet all of you for myself! In person. But that's a post for another day.
Today is part two of thrifting tips, and today I'm sharing tips from Simone.
This is Simone. Beautiful, huh?
I hope you enjoy her thrifting tips just as much as I did!
Simone's Top Five Tips (and one bonus tip)
I find that shopping at a thrift store is like going on a treasure hunt. Seriously, you never know what diamond in the rough you might find. For instance, my son in law loves percussion instruments and one day, I found a large rain stick. It was beautifully crafted. It was $8.00. I saw rain sticks at World Market but they were little and $18.00.
1) Be a frequent shopper so that you not only get to know the staff but know when new items are being put out. At times, when there isn't a price on an item, the staff will give me a discount on it just because I've been in there quite a few times before.
2) Watch for sales. If there is a certain tag that is 50% off, look for those tags first. You would be surprised at the name brands that are highly discounted.
3) Be open to creativity. I know of someone who buys clothing that may not be in good condition but has beautiful buttons that she uses for pillows and other adornments.
4) Make your own fashion statements from the fashions you find. Sometimes, it's not about the designer label but how it's paired that makes it work.
5) Thrifting is not just for clothes. I have found many great books that were recently published and sometimes, advanced copies before publishing. A majority of the books that I own are thrift store finds.
I have to give one more tip...I have literally bought a piece of art glass (an ashtray and I don't smoke) for 2.98 and sold it on ebay for $72.00. If you are looking at doing something similar, know what the item is worth. Also, don't exclaim out loud, "I can get LOTS of money for this" because then the thrift store will up the costs on any other items that are similar.
Great advice from my brilliant friend! Thanks, Simone! To read more brilliance from Simone, check out her blog, Chocolate Covered Daydreams.
A couple of weeks back, I ventured out to do some semi-thrifting at a consignment shop around the corner from my house. Here's what I bought:
I love the details, but at $13 I think the pros would say I spent too much. Live and learn!
Thanks so much to Ina and Simone for their wonderful tips, and to you for reading along! Leave a comment telling me your best thrifting purchase ever! And for those who may be wondering...consignment stores semi-count as thrifting, and "thrifting" is my own personal made up word.
Happy weekend, everyone!
I remember when my daughters were all small my father-in-law came to visit and gave me some money to go buy the girls some clothes. Off to GoodWill I went. I came home with bags and bags of clothes for them. He had a fit!! He expected me to go to the mall to shop. Not so for me. The girls have adopted my love for thrift stores and sales, GoodWill and the Salvation Army. There's some great tips here. Thanks.
Thank you so much for your head swelling compliments *blush*. I love thrifting! My mom used to go to thrift stores when we were kids so we learned from her to have a good eye for different items.
When my sis and I went out to visit her in NC, we did what we love...went thrifting.
Thank you again for featuring me.
I want to go thrifting with Simone! That art glass sounds like quite a find!
I've gotten so many kitchen items from thrift stores, they are always great deals. The best deal, though, is something my husband found. It wasn't at a thrift store, it was at the local salvage yard. He had taken some old metal items to dump and spotted a go-cart frame near the office. He asked one of the guys about it and they said he could have it for something like $20. He had planned to bring it home and fix it up for our son, but then we found out it was a rare, vintage model. We sold it on ebay for $1,200! We were practically jumping up and down as we watched the bids go higher and higher in the last minutes of the auction. It was a real rush!
Dee - I think your jacket is wonderful. And I don't think you paid too much. Consignment Shops usually have a better quality of product and that is worth it.
Can't wait to see you wear it!
I love Simone ♥ and I love you ♥!!
These tips are excellent...especially not saying anything about something "fab" being under priced!!! :)
Love the jacket you bought and I don't think you paid too much either. Consignment will be a little more than thrift and knowing a product line and how much it generally sells for helps.
I was thrifting yesterday...I needed a pair of pants to wear to a party -- an open house I'd be at for about 40 minutes. Found a great pair for $7.99; a blouse for $7.99 and a Sunny Choi blazer which I didn't really need but will go with anything and everything for dress up or down for $9.99!!! Very impressed was I by that.
Ah, a lady after my own inner "scout" of not only thrifty finds but each time I fall in love with a find, I feel as if I am giving it a new home. My best was a tufted settee and my upholsterer told me that they do not make them like that, she thought I paid in the thousands and it was not even a hundred dollars.
One tip is to go to the shop and help to move things and cause several shoppers to fight over finds. I think there is something special about eyeing something that the next person is holding. It happens more than you think.
Barter and Bargain with cash or a service is key.
My hint for thrifting is to check the other size racks and also the men's. Sometimes folks will re stock an item in the wrong place and it will hide there waiting for you!
I love, love, love thrift shopping -- we will have to go sometime...I know all the best places in town! Half my wardrobe from last summer was from the thrift shops downtown. Anyway, thanks for the tips...thrift shopping always gives me a mega shopping/bargain-hunting high!
BTW -- love your super cute "new" jacket! You are going to look so cute in that!
We discovered the joys of Good Will this past year. We've found some really cute things for the house, and I've found some great clothing. It is such fun!! Of course we also give our share of things to Good Will. Makes me feel better about shopping there and getting so much for so little.
I love the jacket and the brooch. You got some terrific buys.
These are wonderful tips! I try to go pretty often to thrift stores when I'm looking for something in particular, but it gets difficult with three little ones and my thrifting has to be done on the weekends now.
That jacket is fabulous!
Great tips! I haven't been out to the thrift stores in our area in a while. My sister and my best friend and I usually the three of us will get what clothes we don't want any more from our closets and swap between the three of us. This is a great way to get something new and save money.
Very cool blog! I will be back for more
Great tips from Simone. I agree, she is one special lady!! Thanks for sharing your consignment find! Great jacket and love the embellishments!! xoxo
Love thrift shopping. Great tips.
I came over from Joye's blog.
I am a thrift shopper too, but only of things I can scrub really well. I find that if I buy books I sneeze every time I open one.
Hi Deidra! I'm enjoying these posts and wish we had more thrifty stores nearby...
In the spring/summer/fall there are plenty of garage sales... but some of our consignments shops around here have their prices set to about the same as a good dept. store sale.
I like the jacket you found ! Love the buttons!
I recently saw a GORGEOUS pillow (on one of those metamorphosis Monday memes ... It was made from an old -but still nice/just outdated- ecru knit sweater found at good will. I thought that was a fabulous idea!
Thanks for all the tips!
blessings, always ~ Maria
Hi Deidra, I remember when my kids were younger we shopped at a couple thrift stores in the area pretty often. Especially for my son I found some really good bargain clothes and we got lots of nice toys as well for both kids.
I really haven't shopped in any of them recently but I am a big coupon shopper. I absolutely love coupons and I save so much on all kinds of items.
Lovely post. thanks to Simone for her tips.
Blessings,
Vickie
Have only been to three thrift shops in my life - zeroed in on the designer labels immediately. Should do more...will do more...
Love your finds!
Wow -- looks like a lot of fun!
I think thrift shops are so wonderful. My husband buys most of his clothes there. A ministry at our church recently opened up a thrift store, and it's been so encouraging to see how many people have donated to it, and how it is helping other people have steady employment by working there. God is good!
I think I shop more at thrift store than mainstream stores. My most accessible thrift store is Goodwill. We have one just around the corner from our neighborhood and another a short drive away. You really have to dig at Goodwill, though, and they've gotten savvier. I think they have someone who looks up stuff on eBay to see what it's going for, because I used to find really great treasures at rock bottom prices. These days, if I happen to come across a treasure, it's probably marked accordingly.
It's a lot of fun, though, to find something that I was kind of hoping for, but didn't want to buy full price.
Thanks for sharing your friends' tips along with your own, Deidra!
I really only started thrifting about 3 years ago. I used to go to garage sale when I was a child, but for myself, this love affair began 3 years ago. Hard to say what my best thifty find is...I got a great piece for my fireplace (which is round and in the corner with no mantel and very hard to "decorate") for $15.00 at the dump (our dump actually has a thrift store as part of it) and I still love it! I have also purchased tons of designer (like as in $70 a pop) outfits for my little girl for $2.25 at Goodwill...tags still on them.
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