Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't have the patience for goodwill. I'm picky about fit and fabric and I'm not the easiest fit. Plus, it's not the highest quality stuff to begin with and after a few wears and washes, the clothes tend to look a bit ratty. The first shirt's funny, though.
Said the person who's obviously never been to Goodwill.
The jeans I'm wearing now came from Goodwill a couple of years ago and have been worn and washed probably 100 times, they still look fine. I only shop the sale items so I either paid $2.69 or a quarter, depending what day of the week it was. My closet if full of name-brand shirts, jeans, and slacks, all in very nice shape and purchased on the cheap. Goodwill's inventory comes from people who either got fat or skinny or died and no longer needed it, quality is across the board.
I agree that it takes some patience, though.
Regarding T-Shirts, a store near a town where we lived previously was constantly having 99 cent T-shirt sales; our local store now sells them for a regular price of $2.38, and they have daily half price sales on certain tag colors and quarter sales once a week. So you can pick up some nice T's really cheap. I don't generally pay much attention to them, though. A misspent youth buying souvenir T-shirts from every event I attended coupled with a career in retail where the manufacturers reps pass them out like candy has left me with three totes of t-shirts in storage on top of those in my closet and dresser.
Most of the time I'm better off popping into a Goodwill without something in mind. Recently I went to several in hopes of finding a black dress with narrow shoulder-straps for a Mardi Gras Ball and never found what would work.
But I recently picked a saucepan that was perfect for what I have in mind for it. Found a storage box that looks like a pirate's treasure box that I would like to have, but thought $20 for it was too much.
I look at tops, pants, and "other stuff". Will not buy used shoes, swimwear, or hats.
I used to work with a woman who shops exclusively at thrift stores and she always looks like a million bucks. My neighbor and his girlfriend like to shop at the one Goodwill that sells by the pound. Everything is in big bins and you can spend hours rummaging through them. I went there once and quickly learned that it is not my thing. But I enjoy popping into Goodwill or the Salvation Army store once in awhile.
I love going there for kid's clothes. My daughter is still at that age where she outgrows clothes long before they're worn out. I can get her set up for the school year for about $20.
Said the person who's obviously never been to Goodwill.
The jeans I'm wearing now came from Goodwill a couple of years ago and have been worn and washed probably 100 times, they still look fine. I only shop the sale items so I either paid $2.69 or a quarter, depending what day of the week it was. My closet if full of name-brand shirts, jeans, and slacks, all in very nice shape and purchased on the cheap. Goodwill's inventory comes from people who either got fat or skinny or died and no longer needed it, quality is across the board.
I agree that it takes some patience, though.
Regarding T-Shirts, a store near a town where we lived previously was constantly having 99 cent T-shirt sales; our local store now sells them for a regular price of $2.38, and they have daily half price sales on certain tag colors and quarter sales once a week. So you can pick up some nice T's really cheap. I don't generally pay much attention to them, though. A misspent youth buying souvenir T-shirts from every event I attended coupled with a career in retail where the manufacturers reps pass them out like candy has left me with three totes of t-shirts in storage on top of those in my closet and dresser.
No, actually, I have. At multiple locations in cities across the country. But I also don't have the patience to wade through the crap to find the good stuff and, as I said, I'm a hard fit so the chances of finding quality clothes that also fit me that I also like the look of are pretty slim.
I don't really thrift like I used to. Living in a city that has a transient population has made me shy away from it.
(bedbug possibilities)
The prices are not as good as they used to be either. I can find a lot of the same types of items for an equal price or less on clearance racks. I feel stores are cutting their clearance items deeper to compete with thrift stores. Seems that way by the looks of things.
- Armani polo shirt for $7
- Prada jacket (with a hole in a pocket lining which I fixed even though it's not visible) for $15
- Cable router (so I don't have to rent from my cable company $7/month) for $15
- Soft, worn-in Levi's/Gap jeans for $10
- UnderArmor shirts for $6
- Cole-Haan suede shoes for $15
but I only go to the Goodwills near more affluent neighborhoods.
Most of the time I'm better off popping into a Goodwill without something in mind. Recently I went to several in hopes of finding a black dress with narrow shoulder-straps for a Mardi Gras Ball and never found what would work.
Same here. I went out today looking for a light blue dress shirt to wear with a suit for a play I'm in, you'd think it would be a pretty common thing but of course they didn't have any.
When I go in I always browse the clothing section for sale-tag items in my size, then head to housewares to see if there's anything I "need" for the camper (mainly blue speckled enamel cookware and dinnerware), then electronics looking for old-school component stereo pieces and interesting old radios, quickly peruse the books and movies (I usually walk out with a stack of VHS tapes at 38 cents each), and walk by the shoes looking for vintage wingtips or cowboy boots. Along the way I keep my eyes open for anything else I might find interesting. I have way more success doing this than when I go in looking for something specific.
Today I struck out in clothing, drooled over a vintage Pioneer tube receiver but ultimately passed because I couldn't justify paying $9.38 for something I really don't need at all (I've got 3 others, just not this model), took a quick look at the housewares and didn't find anything, but hit the jackpot in the movie section: Picked up 21 VHS tapes, most of which I've never seen, and a good mix of family and adult movies (by that I mean PG-13 and R rated, not pornos), glanced at the books and didn't see anything, tried on a pair of wingtips (great burgundy color, too bad they were too small), looked over the coats and considered buying a trench coat to donate to the local community theater group (but decided to wait and see if it stays around until it goes on sale), and hit the road. Probably wasn't in the store 10 minutes but felt like it was productive, spent $8.36 and walked out with enough entertainment to postpone turning on the cable for another month or so.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
