5 Tips for Shopping Second-Hand
If you haven’t been paying attention to trends lately, listen up: thrifting is cool. Gone are the days when most people assumed that Goodwill and the Salvation Army only sold broken toys and ripped sweatpants–those in-the-know have been finding hot deals on amazing clothes and home goods for years at second-hand shops, but now the general public is catching up.
This, of course, is a double-edged sword. While the stigma of thrift shopping has been mostly erased, this also means that competition for the best items these stores have to offer has never been more fierce. But that doesn’t mean you can’t score some great finds; you just need to be more shrewd than ever before. Here are 5 tips to help you get amazing additions to your life for seriously low prices:
- Your thrifting location makes all the difference
The simple truth is that not all thrift shops are created equal, and the ones you go to truly matter in terms of price and quality. Some shops may specialize in particular categories of goods–the one by your house may have tons of DVDs but very little kitchen items, while one on the other side of town may have a massive collection of toys or shoes or whatever!
Even different neighborhoods can make a difference. For example, a second-hand shop in a ritzier part of town may see all sorts of high-quality, nearly-new donations, but they may price them higher and dedicated thrifters may know to frequent those stores, meaning items clear out faster. On the other end of the spectrum, a Goodwill warehouse store might sell all the unsold merchandise from other Goodwill stores–that means low, low prices, but you’ll have to dedicate yourself to sifting through the dregs of other stores to find the true gems. Fortunately, our increasingly-connected world means that you can figure out the best thrift stores for your needs more easily than ever before.
- Timing matters, always
Seasoned thrift shop pros will be the first to tell you that timing is absolutely everything when it comes to scoring the best second-hand goods, and this is true both on the macro and the micro scale. Time of year will matter a lot–think about how much stuff gets donated after the holidays, or during spring cleaning season. Or think about items seasonally–you have better odds of snagging great winter boots in May after everything thaws than you would in October when everyone is searching for their next pair.
But it isn’t just a matter of thinking month-to-month; you also need to think down to the hour and the minute. Different stores will restock their shelves at different times of day or different days of the week, and if you can figure out a store’s shelving schedule, you can plan to arrive right on time to have your choice of all the best goods before the shelves are picked over.
- Learn to discern
There’s no getting around it: no matter how popular thrifting becomes, thrift shops will always have a certain percentage of, well, let’s just say less than desirable merchandise. Everything is useful to somebody, but odds are that most stuff in the store won’t fit your needs or fit your tastes. It’s crucial to enter a store with a sense of 1) what you’re looking for and 2) how to identify it.
For example, knowing how to read labels on clothing can help you find the true values in the store. This doesn’t just mean knowing what the Louis Vuitton logo looks like; knowing how to read materials lists can mean the difference between walking out with a genuine leather jacket for peanuts rather than over-paying for a ratty piece of falling-apart vinyl.
- Try before you buy, whenever possible
When you’re walking around the store and spotting cool finds with tiny price tags, it’s easy to just snag something off the shelf or rack and justify heading straight to the cash register, but you still want to try before you buy, if you can.
For clothing, that means trying something on quickly before rushing to check out. Most larger thrift stores now have changing rooms, but this isn’t universally true, so where something over which you can try on clothing, if possible. For electronics, ask a staff member if there’s an outlet you can plug into, just to ensure it starts up as intended. Even if an item is cheap, you don’t want to risk wasting that money on a total lemon!
- Embrace imperfection
One of the best ways to score the greatest thrift shop finds is to think creatively and be willing to look past some imperfections. That cool shirt is just slightly too big, but can you spend a couple bucks to get it tailored? That vintage armoire may look shabby, but if the bones are good, a new finish or fresh coat of paint can make it a true statement piece. Even simple electronics can often be repaired if you’re handy with a tool kit. While you want to avoid buying something truly dreadful, embracing the off-kilter and the imperfect can be the path to finding absolutely killer deals on the coolest 2nd-hand finds.
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