Saving More Money When Thrift Store Shopping

Second Hand Stores Offer Deals, But Smart Shoppers Can Save More

Oct 8, 2009

Thrift stores are becoming very popular, and are beginning to raise their prices. The dedicated thrift store shopper can use these tips to save even more when thrifting.

Thrift stores, with their mixed bag of items and low prices, have become very popular recently. Both the average shopper looking to save money and the hipster looking for special clothing and retro items now frequent the local Goodwill. The dedicated thrift store shopper may see the prices raised at their local store due to the extra traffic. Or they may simply want to save more money in this recession. Either way, there are quite a few ways to make the thrift store bargains even better deals.

Stay Aware of Discount Days and Regular Sales

This is a tip best utilized by the regular thrift store shopper. Many thrift stores, including the national chain Goodwill, have a colored tag system on their items, or at least on the clothing. These stores often utilize this colored tags for weekly or bi-weekly sales. Goodwill has one color every week that is 50% off. This changes every week, and smart shoppers can track the color rotation.

To best utilize these discounts, which may run from 10% to 50% depending on the store, shop the first day after the color has changed. By the end of the week all the good green or blue tagged items are likely to be gone. Many thrift stores also offer a 25% or 50% sale one day a week or once a month. The employees of the store should be able to keep interested shoppers informed of these sales, whether regular or special, as long as they ask politely.

Buy Out of Season Items for Best Savings

This is a concept that holds true at all retail stores. Holiday or seasonal items are going to be more expensive during the appropriate times, and cheaper out of season. To get the best deals on holiday decorations, sweaters and jackets, or Halloween costumes, shop the thrift stores right after the appropriate holiday. For cold weather clothing, the deepest discounts are given in summer, when no one is buying the clothing.

It's easy to find a wider selection of holiday decorations right after a holiday. Many people drop off their old decorations that they've replaced, to save themselves from having to pack it all away. Unwanted gifts, or what's been replaced by a gift, often ends up at a thrift within days of the holiday as well. Furniture, clothing, and small gift items are all easy to find a few days after Christmas.

Buy Only What's Useful and Needed, Leave the Rest Behind

The easiest to implement, this tip is a lesson many thrift store shoppers learn after too many bags of ugly sweaters or useless knick knacks. Although many thrift stores offer dirt cheap prices, $3 spent on useless items is still $3 better used for other things. Many shoppers are tempted by clothing or other items that are strange or kitschy, but only serve to clutter up a house.

Make sure the item is useful, and already has a specific place and purpose, before bringing it home. A low price is a bad excuse for getting an Elvis ashtray if the buyer is a non-smoker. Some interesting clothing can be found in the thrift store racks - make sure it fits and isn't too weird to wear out in public before purchasing it. Otherwise it's likely to languish in a closet for a year or two before returning to another thrift store.

Making Money with Thrift Store Items

The idea of hidden treasures and priceless relics in a local thrift store is what draws many people to thrift shopping. However, not everything at a thrift store is worth money. Many first time shoppers fill up a shopping cart full of interesting and rare looking items, only to get home and realize none of them were worth more than $1.00.

The key to finding valuable items in a thrift store is to pick a few items to be knowledgeable about, and stick to those items. If the nearest thrift store always has lots of mason jars, learn to recognize the rare and expensive ones. Memorize a few china patterns and check the dishes for those easily recognized. It's easy to believe that everything is valuable and rare in the store. Be prepared to let go of items that aren't easily appraised.

Shoppers set on getting every valuable item in the store need to set a monetary limit for each trip. Don't spend more than $5 or $10 a week, and make sure the items are actually moving out of the home, whether they're sold on eBay or donated back to another thrift store. Don't use the treasure hunt as an excuse to become a pack rat.

Thrift Stores Offer Bargains, But More Money Can be Saved

The thriftiest of shoppers can use these techniques to maximize savings at any thrift store. Keep up on the weekly discounts, and ask the employees about upcoming special sales. Shop out of season- although it can feel strange to pick out sweaters and jackets in the heat of summer, it saves even more money on top of the deep discount of thrift shopping. The best technique of all is to simply not buy useless items, no matter how strange or rare they might look.

The copyright of the article Saving More Money When Thrift Store Shopping in Consumer Education is owned by Jessica Kolifrath. Permission to republish Saving More Money When Thrift Store Shopping in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.