SECRETS to Thrift Shopping
Have you ever considered going thrift shopping but thought it might be a little too overwhelming?
Maybe you've heard about a friend or family member or someone on social media that goes thrift shopping and thought, "I wouldn't have any idea where to start or what to even look for."
Perhaps you have been to a thrift store before but didn't really find anything you wanted.
If any of the above applies to you, this post is most DEFINITELY for you! Thrift shopping isn't something that I have always been exposed to or interested in. Throughout my life, I had been to Goodwill a few times but that was basically the extent of it. That all changed about a year ago. When I moved to Florida, I started to notice that there were so many thrift stores around. There was one in particular near me whose proceeds went towards helping save injured and diseased pets from being put down. This automatically made me want to go check them out! After my husband and I discovered that we had WAY to may clothes between us to fit in our new closet, we decided that we had to part with some items. So I decided to donate the clothes to this thrift store. I dropped off the clothes in the back where the donation center is and as I was walking back to my car, I thought, "You know what? I'm gonna go in and see what it's like in there." And the rest is history!
I've put together some of my best tips and tricks that I am going to share with you to get you on your thrift shopping journey. :)
TIP 1: Have an idea of what you're looking for.
Especially when you're first starting out, I suggest going in with a game plan. Have something in mind that you want to look for or at least a category of items you want to find, such as clothing or home décor. This will help make the process less overwhelming. While all thrift stores vary in size, there are always a wide variety of items and it can be easy to get distracted by all of the chaos and end up not finding anything. As you start to learn each shop and feel more comfortable, you can start to go in and just browse without making your head spin.
TIP 2: Look for patterns and colors that catch your eye.
This tip is most helpful when looking for clothing but could be applied to mostly anything. When looking for clothes at a thrift store, especially one that carries a ton of clothing, it can be hard to look through it all without being there for an hour. So one helpful thing you can do is go to the section with your sizes and start to look for patterns/designs and colors that you love. That way you can avoid having to look through things that you know you will not like. For example, if you don't like to wear pink, or aren't a fan of wearing stripes, you can just skip right over those.
TIP 3: Don't pass over the knick-knacks!
This is kind of a personal preference so if you're not into little unique decorative items, you can most definitely skip this tip. However, I never leave a thrift store without looking at their knick-knacks. I have found some of the cutest and quirkiest things that I know I will probably never find again and I love that! I feel like these pieces just give a room or a home that extra special touch.
TIP 5: Remember that items vary daily.
Do not get discouraged if you don't find anything to buy! Items come and go every single day so don't write off a store all together if you don't always find what you're looking for. And on another note, if you like an item and are thinking about buying it, keep in mind that it most likely will not be there when you come back. So you want to make sure you get it while you can!
My last tip is to HAVE FUN! No matter what, just enjoy the process of going through these unique places with all of these cool and great and weird things that you don't typically see. You'll be surprised how many treasures you can find! I truly hope these tips help you find some of those special gems, but if nothing else, I hope they get you into a thrift store to have a great time!
As always, thank you very much for taking the time to read this post. If you have any comments or questions, I would be so happy hear them! Happy Shopping! :)
Maybe you've heard about a friend or family member or someone on social media that goes thrift shopping and thought, "I wouldn't have any idea where to start or what to even look for."
Perhaps you have been to a thrift store before but didn't really find anything you wanted.
If any of the above applies to you, this post is most DEFINITELY for you! Thrift shopping isn't something that I have always been exposed to or interested in. Throughout my life, I had been to Goodwill a few times but that was basically the extent of it. That all changed about a year ago. When I moved to Florida, I started to notice that there were so many thrift stores around. There was one in particular near me whose proceeds went towards helping save injured and diseased pets from being put down. This automatically made me want to go check them out! After my husband and I discovered that we had WAY to may clothes between us to fit in our new closet, we decided that we had to part with some items. So I decided to donate the clothes to this thrift store. I dropped off the clothes in the back where the donation center is and as I was walking back to my car, I thought, "You know what? I'm gonna go in and see what it's like in there." And the rest is history!
I've put together some of my best tips and tricks that I am going to share with you to get you on your thrift shopping journey. :)
 |
| One of my all-time favorite thrift store finds- this sweet shirt that my husband picked out for me! It cost $2. :) |
TIP 1: Have an idea of what you're looking for.
Especially when you're first starting out, I suggest going in with a game plan. Have something in mind that you want to look for or at least a category of items you want to find, such as clothing or home décor. This will help make the process less overwhelming. While all thrift stores vary in size, there are always a wide variety of items and it can be easy to get distracted by all of the chaos and end up not finding anything. As you start to learn each shop and feel more comfortable, you can start to go in and just browse without making your head spin.
TIP 2: Look for patterns and colors that catch your eye.
This tip is most helpful when looking for clothing but could be applied to mostly anything. When looking for clothes at a thrift store, especially one that carries a ton of clothing, it can be hard to look through it all without being there for an hour. So one helpful thing you can do is go to the section with your sizes and start to look for patterns/designs and colors that you love. That way you can avoid having to look through things that you know you will not like. For example, if you don't like to wear pink, or aren't a fan of wearing stripes, you can just skip right over those.
 |
| Look how cute these little guys are! They are displayed in my kitchen. $.50 each! |
This is kind of a personal preference so if you're not into little unique decorative items, you can most definitely skip this tip. However, I never leave a thrift store without looking at their knick-knacks. I have found some of the cutest and quirkiest things that I know I will probably never find again and I love that! I feel like these pieces just give a room or a home that extra special touch.
TIP 4: Watch the daily deals to save extra money.
Not every thrift store will have daily deals but many of the ones I go to have a schedule each week of which items will be discounted. They typically use the same schedule every week so I suggest asking an employee or volunteer if they have a set schedule for their deals. That way you can make sure that you're not spending extra money that you could have saved if you came a day earlier or a day later! For example, one of my favorite shops usually has a day of the week where all furniture is 30% off, so a couch marked $50 would only be $35!
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| I instantly fell in love when I found this cute little cat shirt! It was priced at $2 but the discount of the day made it only $1. |
TIP 5: Remember that items vary daily.
Do not get discouraged if you don't find anything to buy! Items come and go every single day so don't write off a store all together if you don't always find what you're looking for. And on another note, if you like an item and are thinking about buying it, keep in mind that it most likely will not be there when you come back. So you want to make sure you get it while you can!
TIP 6: Learn each shop's strengths.
Once you start going to thrift shops often, you will learn what each store's strengths and weaknesses are. If you know that you always find clothes you like at a particular thrift store, you would know to go there in the future to look for clothes. However, if you find a shop that never has much home décor, you would know to try looking at a different store for décor before going back to that one. That is exactly what I've done! I am always strategic in which store I go to first if I'm looking for a certain thing.
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| I always grab for these adorable capris when I'm picking out an outfit. I found them at Goodwill for $4! |
As always, thank you very much for taking the time to read this post. If you have any comments or questions, I would be so happy hear them! Happy Shopping! :)
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