So most of us are familiar with the “urban legend” of finding a luxury item in a pile of Mens tee shirts and children socks at Goodwill. Stories of finding Birkin bags or Loubotins at a thrift store are commonly dismissed as aspirational stories that could never possibly happen. But that phenomenon has happened frequently in the past and can happen to you! To learn how to make that happen click read more.
Tips to finding expensive items at thrift stores
Go often
A lot of thrift stores stock their racks daily. Hidden treasures get scooped up quickly most times on
the same day that they are put out. To increase your chances of finding a hidden treasure you’ll want to peruse the racks daily.
Check ALL of the racks
Many of us are guilty of “hiding” a clothing item that we want intending to come back for it later. It’s not uncommon to find a nice pair of jeans on the rack with Mens shirts or a pretty dress in the pajamas section. Just as it is common for persons to hide regular beautiful items it is also common for them to hide luxury items. So comb through the pajamas rack, you never know what hidden treasure you may find.
Bring a snack
With going often and having to comb through all the racks you will probably find yourself losing patience and getting cranky. With these ailments you are less likely to have the patience to adequately search and may overlook good finds. The best cure for the cranks is food. So when you feel it coming combat it with some peanut butter crackers or an apple.
Become friends with the workers
Talk to the workers and become friends with them, then divulge what specific luxury items you are looking for. Then when those items come into the store they are likely to save it just for you. This tip probably comes off as a bit manipulative, and that’s because it is. Thrifting successfully is a sport, and as with most sports you have to get dirty during games, and if making a new friend is the dirtiest you will get then so be it. Take that chance.
Take a friend
Shop for each other! They take one half of the store and you take the other. You guys meet in the middle and together you comb the entire store.
Location
Shop in a thrift store that’s in a location with a high income bracket. Thrift stores stock merchandise donated locally, and if the residents in the local area have the coin to buy and tire of a pair of Loubotins it is more likely that you will find them at their thrift store!
Go to Estate Sales
Estate sales are basically bourgeois garage sales. Someones classy grandma moves to a home in Florida and her kids do not have the space for all her stuff so they sell it in an estate sale! Estate sales are awesome because rarely does the seller go through the items beforehand to pick out the valuables. The result is all these great, high-end items going for unimaginably low prices.
Look at furniture items
More specifically the large furniture. Like in estate sales the new owners do not typically have room to house the furniture and therefore do not look it over thoroughly before e donating it to the local thrift shop. As a result you can find some nice antique furniture items for a fraction of what you would pay for them at a furniture store. Remember that grandma from the estate sale? She had a china cabinet. And her family made beautiful one of a kind carvings in it, like in The Piano Lesson. Think of finding that gem! And if you’re like me and have nowhere to put it you can sell it and use your profits to buy that Birkin😜.
What are your favorite finds at a thrift store?
Creole Thrift 