Thrift stores really a good deal? (sell, sale, items, best)
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I remember when the local Goodwills used to have a good amount of vintage stuff. I loved it then. Now, they cull them out for the "Vintage Shoppe" and that stuff really isn't so great most of the time. I wonder if the stuff just isn't around any more, or if people are just selling it on ebay.
It was so much fun finding old FiestaWare, Homer-Loughlin restaurant dishes, 50s eyeglass frames. Oh well.
If's fine with me if anyone doesn't like shopping at thrift shops. My experiences with such places is great and I've bought many top notch bargains. As long as such shops are available, I will be there.
I enjoy looking in thrift stores for vintage kitchen items,toys and books. I used to find items that I thought were good deals but not it quite awhile. The stores in my area have increased their prices to the point that if you wait for a sale at a regular store you can get it just as cheap and its new. Why would anyone pay $3.99 for a shirt when the same shirt is at Walmart for $5.00. I envy those of you that are still finding good buys. I think the thrift shops near me are selling the vintage items and designer clothing online.
I love shopping at thrift stores. I decorated my wedding (shabby chic) using thrift store finds and saved a bundle on plates, table linens, silverware, everything! I got lots of compliments about the decor and the best part was that I could freecycle and/or donate it back to the thrift stores. So what if I could pay a dollar for a plate retail? I couldn't pay a dollar for the plates I found at the thrift stores (some were even 60 cents!). It's sometimes not just a matter of how much it costs but what it is you're buying. These were nice plates, not some boring dinner settings. And cloth napkins? Pah! Try buying the variety and quality I found at retail for the price I paid in a thrift shop. Wouldn't have happened.
I can also find yarn and other craft accoutrements pretty cheap at thrift stores. Whole bags of yarn for $7. Sometimes it's even nice, wool yarn because the sorters have no idea what they're pricing.
But, yeah, clothing prices have gone through the roof at the big name thrift stores, and I don't find as many things there as I used to. But they do have sale days, so there's that. In Albuquerque (where I just moved from) there was a 99 cent Goodwill store akin to a Dollar Store. Everything was 99 cents. The clothes were pretty nice actually, and they had some household goods. I'm assuming that's where they sent the overflow from their other stores -- stuff that didn't sell after a few weeks. I got some great stuff there. Maybe there's something like that in y'all's area? I mean, a lot of people didn't know about the 99 cent Goodwill in ABQ... it's not like they advertised it.
All that said, I don't have any issues with shopping at Goodwill or other thrift stores to find good deals on clothing. Especially for quickly growing young children, there used to be significant deals to be found (not sure about their current prices - but I used to get pants or shirts for 2-5 dollars each). My ex-wife took issues with my shopping at thrift stores (she somehow thought other elementary school kids would make fun of hers???!!! Or somehow parents would deduce we live in poverty??!!), but as I said, she's now my ex-wife, so we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.
Even though Goodwill isn't the "golden organization" as the article above reveals, it's just another corporation... buying from it is arguably no better or worse than shopping at Target or Wal-Mart or any other nationwide clothing store.
All that said, I don't have any issues with shopping at Goodwill or other thrift stores to find good deals on clothing. Especially for quickly growing young children, there used to be significant deals to be found (not sure about their current prices - but I used to get pants or shirts for 2-5 dollars each). My ex-wife took issues with my shopping at thrift stores (she somehow thought other elementary school kids would make fun of hers???!!! Or somehow parents would deduce we live in poverty??!!), but as I said, she's now my ex-wife, so we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.
Even though Goodwill isn't the "golden organization" as the article above reveals, it's just another corporation... buying from it is arguably no better or worse than shopping at Target or Wal-Mart or any other nationwide clothing store.
A deal is a deal.
they definitely take great advantage of their workers and could and do not pay them well. At the same time they do hire folks that are unemployable. The one y my mom's house has most of their employees referred by probation officers so that they can become self supporting. They live in group homes under some oversight for their vices. But they do gain work skills and have to stay off drugs/alcohol and often get their acts together and move onto normal retail stores, who would not have hired them if they had not worked first at the Goodwill....but still Good will does take advantage of their labor.
So, to me they are good for a step up, but better if the folks can get into a Salvation Army program. And the AmVet and local stores generally treat their staff better, though sometimes the staff is totally volunteer--no pay
Oh, and my mom's local Goodwill just reduced their prices overall by about 1/2 because folks started going to the AmVet, Senior Citizens, Pets stores which have much lower prices and skipping them. T-Shirts had been up to $5.99, which is more than most cost new, and are now down to $2.99, which is still too high for me for a used T-shirt... Also the AmVets gets lots of vintage, early 1900's through 1960s furniture. Some very nice, and some in need of refinishing.
Have any of you been to your local Goodwill Outlet yet? Its soo hard to shop at over priced Goodwill after going there. I remember one time I was at goodwill and found a beautiful painting for $15, but didn't want to pay that. Two weeks to the day later I was at goodwill outlet and paid $1.20 for the painting, its as if it knew I was going to be there that day.
I have never left the outlet paying more than $20 for a whole cart full of things! I looked online at pictures and mine is not as nice as the pictures (its a hole in the wall), and we have linen bins instead of plastic so its a lot cheaper than the prices I saw on google images. It really depends on your area I guess.
But I mainly shop at goodwill to collect VHSes as no other thrift store in my area carries them, but I would never buy clothes at goodwill, way too over priced, so many cheaper thrift stores. Mine is always packed with people too, so many people checking out in front of me spending $50 or more there on used clothes... crazy!
My favorite goodwill outlet buys are two $300 purses I paid 20cent for one and 80cent for the other. A little leather conditioner and they were good as new!
I thought Goodwill was Goodwill - never heard of an Outlet.
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