Thrift store shopping
 

Besides Tabs, does anyone else shop at thrift stores? That’s where I get all my neck ties. I refuse to pay $40 and up for a single tie. I picked up 5 name brand ones, nice patterns, silk and woven, for only $15. I also scored a NorthFace packable puffy vest for $10 in great condition. Those things go for $75 and up when new. Not all thrift stores have good stuff though. Location, location, location.

I peruse the Goodwill auction site daily for my camera/lens fixes.

My wife and I will stop into one once in a while. Some only have junk equal to Goodwill while other are much more upscale and have items that turn over well. Location is correct. You can also gauge them by the shoppers as well.

I never look at the clothes or shoes. I don't want to be seen by a guy that says, "Hey my dad had a shirt like that. When he died we gave it to Goodwill." ;)

I would like to but they make my nose itchy. But I donate a whole lotta stuff to one called the Cats Protection League.

However... My favourite shop is the dump shop. A couple of the girls there look like supermodels so that kind of pays for that trip there anyway. I was trying to figure out why they would work there and I suspect it's to do with reducing waste, re-using, environmentalist, saving the planet - I'm all for it!

I do two things: drop a lot of stuff off and then browse for deals, which are everywhere. Amazing at Goodwill and "Vintage Value" here if you look.

The last few years have been a bit of a reckoning for us: We have lived here 26 years and, while we are good about our footprint, accumulation by default is real.

So I have been donating like you read about, judicious about buying unless it is a smoking bargain..

When the kids were little we rolled stock every year: donated baby stuff, looked for toddler stuff; donated toddler stuff, looked for...why buy stuff new when they will wear it for a year before they outgrow it?

Now, with the kids gone, we are making sure they purge their stuff from the house (clothes, books, just stuff) and either take it with them or donate it. I made two trips last week with Arden and then found two pairs of shorts, perfect condition, for $5.00. :)

I go to farm auctions, sell and rarely buy, volunteer at HFH (much less of a deal in our area) and generally look for what I need used.

The next few years I am going to auction off a lot of farm equipment, mostly support gear.

A few years ago my manager insisted we all get corporate portrait photos taken. I don't own a tie or a coat. Off to Goodwill and for 12 bucks I was decked out with a coat, shirt and tie. : )

I visit Habitat for Humanity on occasion to sniff around.

Hit a home run once when looking for a dresser early on a Saturday morning. Mid century modern dresser that was mint. It had to have been recently donated and was a spare bedroom dresser for someone pretty well heeled. $50

So, inside one of the dovetail joint drawers was a burned insignia of the company name. I Google it and they are selling for $1,200-$1,500 at artsy used furniture places. Street value surely a solid $300 on Craigslist.

Once a week on average.

I don't buy much, but I have some $300 shirts that I paid $6 for, same for sports jackets. A lot of my appliances came from there, coffee maker/grinder for $10, microwave for $20, etc.

On a recent visit to the DMV, my number was 20 back. With a salvation army store one door down, I decided to browse to kill time.
Location is everything....there was junk in there that looked like it had been on the shelf for 25 years. I didn't even look at prices...nothing that I could have possibly wanted.

My oldest is 33 years old but when he was 3-5 yrs old, my wife shopped at resale shops on the north shore suburbs of Chicago. There was always designer stuff sometimes with the tags still on them. As a teen, my son looked for hot wheels red line cars to resell on ebay.

My youngest who is 27, shops primarily at resale shops for shirts and sport jackets.

I look for jazz music on CDs or vintage die cast model cars.

About a hundred years or go give or take, I was working on a crew as a millwright apprentice at a large oil refinery, overhauling a compressor.
Like 2500 hp big.

One of the white hats (aka managers) asked for a daily progress update.
So that afternoon our foreman went into his office to give him the update.
Note that this manager was a guy who wore a three piece suit every day and rarely set foot in the actual refinery part of the plant.
The manager was pissed because the foreman was filthy and stunk like ..... a refinery.
He said that he should clean up before entering the building.

So that night after work we hit a thrift store and bought the cheapest suits we could find and wore them to work the nest day. Note this was way back before nomex or company-issued work uniforms.

It didn't take long before the suits were covered in grease and grime, but the foreman was sure to wash his hands really well before going into the office building to deliver his daily update ;)

The manager was furious but my foreman played dumb, he was dressed up and washed his hands, what was the problem?
The manager wanted to fire the whole crew but his superintendent told him that was a real bad idea if the manager wanted to get the hydrocracker unit back up and running.

So from then on every afternoon a maintenance supervisor would stop by the jobsite and get the update from us and pass it up the ladder.
That story became legendary in the company and local refining industry.

We could get away with a lot more back then. Good old days.

I used to a lot more, especially in college where I just needed kitchen stuff (spoons, knifes, pots, etc) and didnt care the condition...thrift stores are great for that kind of stuff.

Now I'll stop in here and there but rarely buy much, maybe an unused pair for shoes or something else small. Fun to look though.

Yup. Wife likes to make caramel a few times per year. Cheap pan, cheap spoons, don't bother cleaning when done, just toss 'em.

My weakness is the bookshelves they have. That and pawn shops.

If a person was really interested in 'thrift store bargains'....would be best to work there.
1st chance at any true bargains that get donated.

It's, "Hey my Dad had a shirt like that with the same spot on it."

Yes! This is a bit of a story, but stay with me . . .
A couple of years ago I hurt my foot. Turned out it was plantar fasciitis from wearing cheap, unstructured sneakers. Well, I'm from a town in England famous for it's high quality shoes. Before I moved to the US I visited the factory stores now and again, so have a couple of dozen pairs which I rarely wore. I decided to start wearing those instead of sneakers as they provide significantly better support. A couple of weeks and my foot was fine, no problems since. Also, my shoes received a lot of compliments and I really enjoyed wearing them. Problem was, I was very much of a dress-down, jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, and didn't have enough smart stuff to wear with many of them.
I decided to try an experiment and improve the quality of my wardrobe without buying any new clothes. Partly this was because I'd decided a large majority of new clothing is junk, and partly because I wanted to see if it was possible to shop at thrift stores and get high quality clothing.

It turns out you can! I already owned a couple of suits and jackets, so checked the measurements on those and started thrifting. I will say, it can be a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack but there's a lot of high-end menswear for offer if you find the right stores or visit frequently enough. I look for stuff in a classic style as that won't look out of date in the way most 'fashion' items do. These also tend to be a higher quality garment in the first place. I generally look for sport coats, suits, and ties. Belts are one thing which are shockingly expensive if you want to buy a good quality new one. It's difficult to find good ones in thrift and there's lots of crap, but every now and then one will turn up. I'm VERY selective about what I buy; new looking, hardly worn, high quality materials, generally European, or North American tailoring, and it has to a perfect fit. With practice you can tell well-made stuff just by look. I can scan the racks quickly and tell what's what. I don't even bother getting stuff off a hanger unless it looks 'right'. I take a tailor's tape measure with me to measure stuff up, and usually don't even need to bother trying it on. I've since bought a dozen or so jackets including Brioni, Burberry, Canali, Gieves & Hawkes, Oxxford. Some Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss stuff is OK, but not all of it. Depending on where you shop it becomes apparent they may not know, or may not care what they're selling. Even adding the cost of dry cleaning, these can be an amazing deal. Again, I'm super picky and there's an awful lot of rubbish I'll pass up on, but it's easy enough to find some really nice things once you know what you're looking for.
I really don't wear jeans and t-shirts much anymore and will wear a jacket even when my wife and I are going shopping. I constantly receive compliments when we're out, and from friends, neighbors, and coworkers who seem to think I've been spending a fortune at Neiman Marcus or some boutique menswear store. None of them have any idea where I shop or that I spend pennies on the dollar for it. I don't care that it's 'used' and feel quite smug wearing a $2k jacket that I paid $30 for. Oh, and I'm being fairly conservative when I say a $2k jacket. You should look at what some of this stuff costs!

Up until about 5 years ago we went all the time. But then reselling caught on and all the prices shot up. They caught on and now they sell the better stuff all online themselves. No more good deals to be had. These days we go to flea markets and swap meets and pick garbage and dumpsters where scores can still be had.

A made in Italy copper Ruffoni 4 qt Chefs pan wt lid ..$12..

A pair of English Bench Made Ralph Lauren brogues...$9

A Willaim Sonoma made in Italy 18 inch heavy Copper Roasting pan..$20

A pair of Italian Mauri Alligator Spectator shoes..$9

That is about 3900 retail.

As far as men's Ties..it is better to ask what don't I have...

I even have a Lamborghini tie..

Generally I can't find the Itie stuff in my size....I have to go to Barum and Bailey to buy tent sized stuff. That is not to say that I haven 't seen and bought ...Brioni, Zegna, Hermes Burberry etc garnets before.. Even a Mens Fur coat and those Dragon azz Blues... that fit

I have probably 15 + pairs of Italian Zanella wool slacks.. that fit. 12 in one visit aat $6. ea..$300 ea. to $600 retail.
One Saturday evening 9 Brioni Sports shirts made for Neiman..$6 each...600 ea at Neiman.

I do not need anymore cloths or shoes..so I barely even look.

People economic demographics have changed over the years...beofre 2014 it was rich pickins...after the great recession of 08 it has slowly declined..people don't have as much money to throw around anymore.

You can ell by the watching the stuff as it comes out of the back room..junk junk and more junk.

My season is to start unloading..

Today a pair of Mauri Alligator slip ons, David Eden Ostrich and Croc slip ons and a pair of Louis Vuitton driving shoes..

GF used to goto a Salvation Army store on a Monday lunch time. All the well to do ladies would do a shop til' you drop on Saturday. Then think OMG, husband is going to go mad at all the high end stuff I've bought so they drop it off, complete with labels, at the Sallys on the way into town on Monday.