Thrifting Pro's

How do you write a story about thrift shops without mentioning the song Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. This song was so popular back in 2012 and talks about how Macklemore works at a thrift shop and buys everything from a broken keyboard to a pair of moccasins. He even says that he is hunting in the store looking for the next best thing that he can find because you never know what you will come across in these stores. In the music video you see him Macklemore wearing everything from fur coats to a built-in with socks, riding a scooter, and running across couches all in a line. The video does a great job at showing what goes on at thrift stores.

These places can be a great place for the younger generation to go to. When you are entering the adult world, is when people begin to figure what their sense of style is. Thrift stores have such a wide variety of items that it would be hard not to find something that you like or at the least find interesting. Clothes are something people to express who they are and make them feel good as a person.

With the inventory of these stores changing all the time you never know what kind of items you will find. Everything in the store is donated, leaving your shopping experience to chance and some people like the mystery of what they are going to find. This means you can find designer products if they were donated and because they are used you can buy them for a fraction of the original price. Because these finds are possible, there're people who enjoy going hunting for them. I have never found anything that exciting but I know those who have, and they say that there was a real rush when they realized what they had found.

Other have gone and found themselves going down memory lane. I know for me, I felt a lot of nostalgia when I came across some old Pokemon games in one section and my friend found a shirt that he had owned when he was growing up. I did not recognize the shirt but there were so other that I knew were vintage items that I did not remember. Being able to explore all the different styles allows for people to discover something that they may not have seen and when you combine all your favorite find your closet becomes unique. That is something that most people want, something that they can say they created and you cannot find anywhere else.

An interesting idea that has been going around is using the items you find at thrift stores to use in your own do it yourself projects. I have seen people buy furniture and give it a make over so that it looks brand-new. Sometimes they resell the refurbished items and other times they keep it because it makes them feel good to see what they did. I know when I refurbished and old dresser my mom and aunt used growing up it made me feel great. Even now when I walk past it I smile seeing what I did.

Thrift stores have been helping the environment as well. By donating you are no longer using you are keeping them out of the landfills. In the United States we throw away around 10 million tons of clothing each year. By reusing these products, you can help keep them out of the landfills where they could stay forever. The creation of new clothes contributors to the amount of greenhouse gasses too. The making of one pair of jeans can generate the same number of greenhouse gasses as driving 80 miles.

These are even more reasons to not shop at thrift stores but to donate to them . When I was going away to college, I stopped at a thrift store to pick up some . I had rented a house of campus and needed a bed and box spring to sleep on. While I was there I came across a desk as well and because all so cheap a family friend did not mind paying for me. I still have the desk today, actually I am using it right now. Even a years after college, it's still useful. Another time I went to one to look for vintage games and came across a funny shirt referencing the movie Pulp Fiction. I did not find any games I was looking for but I did buy the shirt and now I have a new brand to search for when I am looking for new clothes.

Now I know that it's hard to get to some places today with the Covid-19 restrictions, depending on where you live, but you do not have to worry because there're online thrift stores. With people losing their jobs some have started their own business this way to make some money. larger ones are .com and .com and work the same way as an in person store would so their inventory is more than first come first serve and no guarantee of restocking on similar products.

Going to a thrift store can be exciting. I am not going to say that every time I went to one I left with something that I loved. There were plenty of times that I left with nothing because there wasn’t anything that caught my eye that trip. When you do find something on a shopping spree it's one of those feeling that you can not replicate, and you are always glad that you went in the first place.