Thrift Meisters!

Technology has changed how we purchase groceries, buy gifts, even how we cop new threads. Along with this surge has come a major drift to people mainly doing online thrift shopping. My standpoint is simple. The best thrifting is done person to person or store to customer. If you live in a city as do I then in person thrifting is at your fingertips. For those of you in more isolated areas you may find a decent number of in person steals through garage sales or local farmers market. Now even though I stand mostly opposed to online thrifting you can find the items you want online. I thrift more closely to antique’s road show, meaning that I never really know what I am looking for until I find it. Fashion thrifting is more magical that way. Also the people running these online site’s set their prices as if they have all studied fashion, owning every Vogue magazine since their founding 128 years ago. Meaning they know what brands are trending, vintage, and even what looks are in, while the older woman that prices tags at Value Village will simply sell that mildly scuffed Luis Vition Bag for 12.99. This is the magnitude of finds you see. The one area of online thrifting I see no harm in is electronics, but even with that I go refurbished because you can get a warrantee for that. All that I am saying is a little homework goes a long way but running into a thrift store and catching an insane steal is like a shot of adrenaline. Join me as I break down how I come across crazy finds, not far from where I live.

Outside of fashion and electronics many of us thrift for cool accent pieces in our homes. Pieces that won’t gobble our entire paycheck to entertain outlandish totals at the register. We don’t want expensive high end furniture and fixtures. What we want is reasonable savings we can see and feel. It is so much going on in the world right now. Many of us have issues with financial stability and our children being at home most of the day takes its toll on the house. I am as certain they are destroying furniture much like my ten year old, way faster than they did before home schooling. The last thing any parent needs is to be constantly replacing furniture pieces from Ikea or even Walmart. I need new dressers because my two cats and ten year old had given most of them a beating. After looking at Walmart and Amazon I realized that each dresser would run me $75 to $100. As a working mom, even with the extra cash from stimulus and tax checks I found myself not wanting to blow it all home improvements when I had bills to pay and other obligations. I drove into Alexandria Virginia to a Good Will I had gotten a Large Faux Christmas Tree with pine cones and a set of lights around it for only $26 dollars. Needless to say I had hope that I could at least grab a dresser or two for my youngest Daughter and we, my oldest (18) and my husband and I; new dressers another time. I left Value Village with 5 dressers under $100. They were large and newish. This was something I was happy about but I was excited that they were unique and cute. My daughters were anxious to clean, spay and add to their creative dens. The smallest acted as a long end piece at the end of our hallway. We use it as a 2nd linen closet, housing extra towels and wash rags.

Why go through all of this? Fashion is competitive. Do you want the bill or want the steal? This is what it all balls down to and this isn’t the easiest thing to come down to but it is what is. What is it you ask? It is Difficult as crap to find a deal when every site has their very own Professor Fashion. Everyone is a Guru online. This is something I find to be true on most sites. Even brands you would find shirts for a dollar or two are $20 plus. I get it! Everyone has to make sure that they turn a profit. Well this article is not about turning profit. It is about turning heads in your new cool find. How will you turn those heads you ask? Because from the moment that cash leaves your hand you have your perfect bag, dress, jacket or whatever piece your heart’s desire. The leather feels heavy and has that quality smell. That is something you typically have to wait 5 to 7 business days after shipping. The time it takes to process and ship could take up to week. I don’t know about you but that anxiety drives me mad, probably because seeing is believing. In store you can see and feel the quality or value of what you are getting, immediately. I don’t know how many times I have purchased an item from a shop like Mercari or Let Go and the item just did not feel like the item I paid for. A pair of Doc Martens that were advertised as silver, probably knowing as a trending color it would appeal a lot more to buyer. When they arrived they were black and the quality was fine, just not what I wanted so I gave them to my daughter. Another pair of boots I purchased were a tall pair of Rock Sole boots at $125 from a seller in New Jersey. The condition was not fair. The sole told a completely different story then good lighting and polish can offer. Those are things you would notice in person. I quickly resold them to recoup a few dollars. Thred Up is a fantastic app if you have money to look like a Kardashian in all the looks and brands you love but if your budget is slightly closer to mine you’ll treat yourself to one Thred Up bag a year and find Steals like this one. I found a bag in a Thrift Shop in Virginia. I walked into the store and there it was hanging a beautifully crafted cranberry colored satchel purse. Without hesitation or knowledge of the brand, it was in my cart to be purchased. Got to the register and it was $4.99. It may have been due to the size of the bag because I had a beautiful; Teal Payless bag in my cart that was $9.99 but I knew I had a special buy in that cranberry satchel. In my car I looked at the back and noticed it was a The Cambridge Satchel Company bag. My husband googled it and said “Babe it was only six of these made and you got for 5 dollars! This kind of stuff always happens with you. Are you going to sell it? I shook my head no, because this was for myself, as a little treat

When Thrifting in store you can use the internet as an online pricing tool to find a base price for anything you are looking for. I usually go from original price, Used online price, Craigslist pricing. Then I search thrift’s near me and if it a furniture Item I may have if they have a few for sale. Most people that work there won’t mind doing this for you especially if they have an idea of what is already in the store. Use online to set price ranges in your head or on paper if you are into that. Don’t fret though! As a writer my entire life has become a spider chart of sorts. Whatever works for you is fine. Now if you are looking to save time and just buy that Marc Jacobs or Gucci bag be my guess. I am pro Treat yourself, but if you are looking for a steal versus “add to cart, shipping, enter billing” add little method to your madness. Get a little fresh air and catch a steal at your local Thrift Store or Market. They need love during this time and so do you.