Behind the “thrifting” scenes.
As I pull into the thrift store parking lot and start walking towards the entrance I feel an extra bounce in my step, a smile on my face (which people, unfortunately, can’t see now), and my blood starts to rapidly flow.
If I’m being honest, I like to thrift alone or with my Mom most. This is because I get wayyyy too competitive and feel like if I thrift with people who would want similar stuff as me only one of us would get the golden finds. I’ve also had friends go thrifting with me just to shop together and see how I operate in the store, but when I do this it ends up not being a lot of fun for me and I feel pressured to teach these amazing insights I have on thrifting. Ultimately, those days are usually the ones that we never find anything special anyways and they are left with disappointment. Now I don’t want it to seem like I hate shopping with friends, I just often feel anxious shopping with friends and have to tell myself ahead of time that it might not be the ideal thrifting day.
To circle back to my competitiveness I brought up earlier, I often feel this way even when I’m shopping alone. Just the other day I was at the Goodwill near my house and I was finding tons of amazing stuff, but as I was putting stuff in my cart I noticed a girl with a cart behind me who was also grabbing a lot of amazing stuff and she just had that “pro thrifter vibe” going on. So I immediately felt like I had to rush through all the aisles to do the first pass and make sure I find the treasures before she did. Which ultimately made me a little anxious. Does this make me a crazy person? PROBABLY. Did I still get that small high from finding the treasures first? DUH! But was it a little stressful going through the aisles? OF COURSE. But that’s the thing, it’s always stressful in a thrift store. I mean, you’re surrounded by things, piled on things, piled on new things just brought out, piled on things that have potential you need to find.
So if you’re a person who’s not into having to dig a little bit, visualizing the potential for an item, or having to shop in a crowded store with piles of stuff, then thrifting might not be for you. AND THIS IS OKAY - to each their own. Maybe try Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, those are second-hand thrifting options that you can do from the comfort of your own home! :) But if you are a person who’s up for the thrifting challenge keep reading to get the breakdown of how I approach my thrifting!
I want to preface these next steps with some pointers. I recommend going as often as you can and whenever you see a store near you. The spontaneous act of going thrifting whenever you see a store is when you find the best stuff (in my opinion). I mean isn’t there a famous saying that goes something like “Good things happen when you least expect them to.”? I believe this is spot on with thrifting and that’s the beauty of it, you never know what you’ll stumble across. Another recommendation of mine is to avoid always going on the weekends (especially Saturdays). Don’t get me wrong, I do a fair share of thrifting on Saturdays just because of the convenience, but unfortunately, everyone else is out shopping that day too so it’s often very busy. I don’t have hard facts on when the “best” stuff is set out at the thrift store, but I do feel that a lot of great stuff is saved for the weekend though. It’s really chance and timing. Recently I’ve had the privilege of being able to go any day or time of the week and I’ve noticed that earlier in the day or after 4 p.m. is when a lot of stuff is being stocked. When I go right during lunchtime there’s a bit of a lul.
What to bring with you when you go thrifting:
1) optimism
2) a light bulb if you know you’ll be looking for lamps - which you really should because lamps are expensive brand new and so many people get rid of amazing lamps. All those lamps may need is a coat of baking soda and paint and then it looks like a Studio McGee light! The reason you should bring a light bulb is that Goodwill often removes them before stocking lamps on the shelves. There are outlets in the store, so if you have a light bulb you can test the lamp. You can also ask the cashier for a light bulb, they usually always keep one in the back that they will let you test a lamp with. (Sometimes you get lucky and find one an employee forgot to remove.)
picture 1 & 2: a transformed lamp $4 | picture 3: perfect shaped lamp $6 | picture 4: lamp I transformed with plaster (transformed pictures to come) $5
3) batteries, this is for the same reason as the light bulb. So you can test stuff that may need batteries. Many people just donate stuff that could work still with new batteries.
4) layers of clothing if you’re planning to shop for clothes. Especially with the current times. Most of the Goodwills that I go to have their dressing rooms open, however some don’t, and if you want to see if a zip-up sweater fits you could try it on by one of the aisle mirrors but only if you are wearing layers. If you wore a sweater that day that wouldn’t work for you.
Anywho, let’s move onto the steps I take while thrifting!
STEP 1: Do your research. Spend some time on Pinterest, flipping through design books/magazines, watching HGTV, following your favorite DIY Instagram accounts, etc. Save those inspiring pictures/lists of items stored in your noggin or on your phone. Don’t expect to find all the items at once, it may take lots of trips to thrift stores, but at least you have a list of things to keep an eye on.
STEP 2: Drive your cute butt to the thrift store of your choosing. I personally LOVE Goodwills, but I’ve also found some gosh darn treasures at St. Vincent DePaul and Bethesda as well. The reason I tend to visit Goodwills more often is that A) there are a lot of them close to me B) they tend to have a lot of trendy items. I think there aren’t as many older folks dropping stuff off there verse the St. Vincent DePaul stores. Goodwill is where I usually find name-brand items (clothing or home decor). Goodwill has a higher turnover of items so there are usually new items coming in throughout the day.
They are also affiliated with local stores like Target and Home Goods, which means those stores will drop off loads of items that didn’t sell and are previous season stuff. With that being said, WATCH THOSE PRICES! As much as I’m hyping Goodwill up, they like to hype themselves up too and they often jack those prices higher on items they think are valuable. This can be super frustrating because some of the stuff you find there, you could have gotten brand new at those stores for the price Goodwill is trying to sell it at. NOT COOL BRO, this stuff was donated for free HAHA! But all in all, Goodwill usually provides for me!
See how this vase was originally from “At Home” and there were multiples of this vase at the store. Meaning it was dropped off by the store itself.
STEP 3: Walk into that thrift store with focus, and grab the dang cart! *eyeroll*I used to tell myself that if I didn’t grab a cart I would have better luck because whenever I did grab one I wouldn’t find anything. Well, lately I’ve been getting really sick of having to haul my arms worth of items back to the front to get the cart that I should have grabbed in the first place. LOL
hot tip: Look up when you walk in the store. You will see large signs that show a colored tag. Items with that color tag on them are 50% off that day. It’s always exciting when you go to checkout and realize you have items that are the discounted tag color!
STEP 4: Furniture first, ALWAYS (head to the back)! Never get sidetracked by the clothes first. Furniture goes way quicker and you don’t want to be walking around the store and see a super cute table (that you would have loved) in someone else’s cart.
hot tip: all large furniture items have white tags on them that are perforated. If you’re interested in an item rip off the bottom portion of the tag and hold onto it while you’re in the store. This is like “putting it in your cart” except you can’t physically fit it because it’s a furniture item. If you decide later that you don’t want it then just tuck the ripped tag part you took back under the upper half of the tag that’s still on the furniture piece. If you decide you want to buy it, show the bottom tag to the cashier. Note: if you are walking through the store and you hear the overhead voice say “if you are holding the bottom half of the “______ item” please come to the front checkout to claim your item. This just means someone else in the store is inquiring about that item you “have in your cart” and they want to make sure someone in the store has the bottom tag to buy, not that someone left with the bottom tag and never bought it. If that’s the case the cashier will retag the item for sale.
STEP 5: Do a quick zoom through all the home item shelves after looking through furniture. Do this quickly and have your eyes peeled. If something jumps out at you grab it and put it in the cart. Even if you aren’t entirely sure you want it. My biggest pet peeve is when people sit and debate about an item right when they see it at a thrift store. Just put it in your cart, think about it, and make the call at the end of your shopping. This isn’t Target, there’s only 1 of everything here so don’t ever hesitate otherwise it could be gone when you make up your mind.
STEP 6: GO BACK TO THE FURNITURE, haha! This might sound crazy but I legit start all over again. I go back and see if the employees put anything new out, they often do. Then I do my slower more tedious pass through the home stuff and find the items I may have missed the first time.
hot tip: make sure to browse through those endcap black carts they have. It’s all the new items that are being stocked slowly by employees. They used to get mad when you looked through the stuff, but all of the Goodwills I go to don’t care whatsoever! This is the stuff that’s about to be new to the shelves.
STEP 7: Now it’s time for the clothes and shoes. Goodwill recently changed their shoes displayed, now they are located on top of the clothing racks. I’m not sure I like this because it means I have to weave through all the aisles to check out the different shoes instead of going to one area of the store. But whatever, I do it anyway! Lately, I have been going straight to the athletic clothing area. This is where I dig for some Lululemon, Athleta, and LL Bean.
Next, I go to the coats/jackets, then the sweaters, and if I have time the shirts and dresses. Over time I have gotten very good at skimming the clothing department and knowing if something is expensive or name brand just by the shoulder part that’s facing out. This is something that I think you develop a skill for as you thrift a lot. Expensive stuff just looks different on a hanger (in my opinion).
STEP 8: I skim the purse area, I used to find a lot of nice bags in this area but recently I haven’t been having luck. Maybe it’s because no one is going out and about in-person anymore and not needing as many purses? I don’t know!
STEP 9: Final step, I look through the books. I try to find books I either want to read or ones that have amazing hardcovers for decorating. Make sure you look under the sleeves of the book to see what color the hardcover is.
Right before I checkout, I sort through all the items in my cart and make sure I actually want everything I’ve collected.
hot tip: sign up for the Goodwill rewards card. You don’t get annoying emails or notifications. All you get is the card and an account with Goodwill. This is where it keeps track of every dollar you spend there and every time you spend $100 they reward you with $5 of free money towards your purchase. With this rewards card, you also get a birthday discount. This discount is 25% off your purchases ALL DAY on ONE day (of your choosing) during your birthday month. For example, my birthday is in December. I picked a random day in December this year and hit up 6 different Goodwills on that one day. For every purchase I made at each store I got 25% off.
**side note about St. Vincent DePaul: Sign up for their texts (they are free and you can sign up in the store). They send you a text message every week that shows what the deal is. It’s ranged from 25% off your total purchase or 50% off one regular priced item or specific tag sales.
I honestly hope ya’ll found this helpful and that it inspired you to get out there and thrift! Give items new life and a new home. The hunt is the best part for me and I legit leave the stores feeling rejuvenated, inspired, and on a little bit of a high from all the goodies I gather. Leave me a comment if you learned something from this or if you have any other tips or tricks for thrifting.
