Thrift Stores: Do You Or Don’t You? Our Top 11 Thrift Store Shopping Tips

OK, if you are reading this post then it is pretty obvious you are clever about saving money and eager to find new deals and ways to protect your hard earned pennies.  We try really hard to present you with information like printable coupons, free sample offers and discounted shopping opportunities to help you do just that.

But couponing aside, we are curious to see what you think about going to thrift stores.  When is the last time you were in a thrift store and did you buy anything?

We’ll lay it on the line….up until we started becoming more money conscious and began selling items online for extra money (way, way back in 1999) we did not visit thrift stores.  Ever.  It wasn’t that we were opposed to them, but we just never ventured inside unless we needed something goofy for a Halloween costume (I think we’ve all done that … looking for the perfect retro piece to pull together the “look” for the Halloween party).

Once our eyes were opened to thrift stores we were really amazed at what you can find there, and the differences in the types of stores!  We’ve been in really nice thrift stores that are organized and clean;  they really feel somewhat like shopping in a department store.  We’ve also been to ones on the opposite end of that spectrum where they are grubby and things are not only in poor condition but the quality is bad and they are unorganized.  We definitely do not go back to those types of stores again!!  But the nicer ones are a real treat to shop at, and if you are not exploring the thrift stores around your area, you may be missing the boat on an excellent way to save money.

Just today I explored a new thrift store in detail, and you won’t believe the amazing haul of goodies I walked out of there with!  Just look at some of the items clothing (the jeans are already in the wash).   We scored jeans by Hollister (about 4 pairs), Abercrombie (5 pairs) , Lucky Brand, Jones New York and more.  Dresses by designers like Ann Taylor, Eileen Fisher, QVC brands, Hilo Hattie and shirts and jackets too!  Sweet sundresses for our 7 year old niece and more.  I am really, really picky about what I buy from a thrift store, but today we hit the mother load!  Granted, some of these items are for members of our family (it is so much fun shopping for our nieces and nephews) and some are to resell online for a profit, but quite a few are for ourselves.  50 items for just $53!!!

Want to know how to make thrift store shopping a fun and money saving adventure?  Here are our tips

Top 11 Thrift Store Shopping Tips

• Search online or in the phone book for your local thrift stores and don’t be afraid to drive a bit to find a better store.  More affluent areas tend to have more expendable money so the items donated to the thrift stores tend to be higher quality and originally more expensive.  It is often worth the drive(I drove over 40 miles to get to today’s super store).  Towns that have good retail shopping (large malls, department stores, etc) tend to have more items from those types of stores at their thrift stores too.
• National chain stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent DePaul, etc are often more organized and receive a higher volume of donations as opposed to smaller stores.  More donations means a faster turnover, so more new items are placed out on the racks/shelves
• Call ahead of time and ask the store if they have any sales running or sales coming up.  Stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army will often run a special “color sale” during the week where one color of price tag is discounted.  Our local stores usually offer a 50% discount on that color for the entire week.  Some stores run once a month sales or once a week sales where they reduce the items even further.  Today’s deal was achieved with the thrift store’s 5/$5 clothing sale.   One store we know of ran a sale where anything with a zipper was 50% off.  (That is how our nephew scored this awesome $2 golf bag).
• Take an item in to donate with you.  Some stores will give you an added discount if you donate something.  This can be one item or a box full–it is up to you.
• When shopping, formulate a game plan.  Are you most interested in clothing, or in dishes?  Knowing what you are trying to find makes it less overwhelming when you start to shop.  Visit that area first, and once you are finished if you still feel like browsing then you can go to a different department and explore.
• Watch for spots, tears, pilling of fabric, broken zippers, busted knobs, cracks in plastic or dishes, etc.  While we’d like to think people only donate usable clothing and housewares, that is not the case.  The employees at the thrift stores try and weed out the bad donations, but everyones threshold for quality it different.  Check what matters to you;  on shirts we always check the collar and the armpits for stains.  Are all the buttons there?  Does the zipper work?  etc….use common sense and a keen eye to spot items you shouldn’t waste your money on.
• If you are looking at a small appliance or an electric gadget, ask if they have somewhere you can plug it in at to see if it works.
• Try items on;  saving money isn’t saving when you get home and the pants you thought were a “great deal” don’t fit (for example).  Many stores have a final sale policy and do not take returns.
• Don’t buy items that are “dry clean only” unless you really love the item!  Why?  Because we recommend washing everything you bring home from the thrift store before you wear it and that gets costly when you have to pay for dry cleaning!  We call this “making it our own”;  our own washing machine and detergent seems to magically make the previous owner disappear.  Try it–it works!
• Be flexible;  just because you are trying to find new jeans doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at jackets too.  Inventory changes all the time, and it helps to keep your eyes open for new deals.
• Go early on the sale days!  With more and more people finding new ways to save money, thrift stores are hot places to shop.  When people get wind of a sale, the store tends to be extra busy.  It pays to be there early so that you can have the best selection (just like shopping at Walgreens or Rite-Aid on the first day of the new advertisement………the early bird gets the worm!!).

We hope this helps you feel more comfortable with thrift store shopping.  It’s not for everyone, but for those of us that enjoy it–it is a fun and inexpensive way to shop.