Question of The Day. Saturday 19th of December.

[Talien]

I shop at thrift stores often just to look around because you never know what you're going to find. Salvation Army is like a bad joke nowadays though, at least around where I used to live the prices were sometimes as high as 75% of retail.

 

[Tobermory]

I haven’t shopped at thrift stores, but if I did, I wouldn’t have a problem buying housewares or furniture. Clothes? Probably not. The churches in the town where I grew up ran a thrift shop, and my mom bought 99 percent of her clothes there. Many, many clothes. Many. When I moved her from her independent living apartment to her much-smaller assisted living apartment, I counted 63 pairs of pants and 75 shirts, all bought at the thrift shop for 25 to 75 cents each. I whittled those numbers down, but when she passed away, I still donated more than 25 pairs of slacks and 30 shirts, all in perfect condition (although the pants were really short because Mom had shrunk to the height of a peanut).

 

[CatladyJan]

I’m a Thrift Store ***** I used to lived close to several but now I have to wait until I’m going into town. I usually look for home decor sometimes clothing. I once found a very nice coat, Levi’s and sweaters. I also got some very nice STL Cardinals jackets for cheap.

 

[susanm9006]

I don’t buy much clothing at Thrift stores with one exception, jeans. I have a terrible time finding jeans since they need to be in a petite short size but they show up occasionally at my local Goodwill and are almost always in new or next to new condition. I have half a dozen pair in various designer names that I have bought there for $4-$5 a pair. One thing about looking for short jeans is that I can take look at a whole rack of jeans in a few seconds by just scanning the bottom for the shortest ones.

 

[Willowy]

All the cloth diapers I got were used, via a local mom's facebook group. So I guess technically I bought used underwear.

I think most baby/little kid stuff should be bought used (or handed down/reused from previous kids, of course). They outgrow it so fast! There's no point in buying new.

If someone, say, buys a new bra, or even undies, and wears it once or twice and decides they don't like it, I don't see a problem with donating it, although I don't think I'd buy it unless it was some fancy expensive brand. But well-used undies? Noooooo.

 

[aliceneko]

I volunteer at a charity shop and have done for a few years now. Always find lots of good bargains.

 

[strider rose]

i shop for holiday items like cards and sometimes will get a book or two from goodwill but that is it

 

[lizzie]

Oh my goodness I love a good thrift store!I'm always looking for blankies for feline and canine kiddos,bath towels,some clothing,furniture....The one I go to more than any other is run by the DAV and I've been lucky in what I have found over the years.It's where I got my calphalon cookware that I use all the time and my rocking chair.I also adore Habitat for Humanity...that's where I bought my beloved stove,keeps me in supply of coffee mugs (hubby's pretty hard on them),my shower chair for $15 that I use to give the pooches a bath.Hubby buys valspar paint there for his beehives at a huge savings .A friend of mine thought I was nuts til she went with her husband and they found and bought all the tile they needed to have their shower and bathroom re-done for a fraction of the cost someplace else

 

[maggiedemi]

One thrift store had men's "tidy whiteys" on a hangar. They were obviously used as you could actually see faint "skid marks".

The thrift shops here won't take underwear donations. I have some new underwear bottoms that I only wore a few times, but they told me that they have to be new in the package. They will accept bras though. I'm gonna donate a bunch of new bras and jeans that are too big when Corona is over.

 

[Lari]

I think most baby/little kid stuff should be bought used (or handed down/reused from previous kids, of course). They outgrow it so fast! There's no point in buying new.

If someone, say, buys a new bra, or even undies, and wears it once or twice and decides they don't like it, I don't see a problem with donating it, although I don't think I'd buy it unless it was some fancy expensive brand. But well-used undies? Noooooo.

My friend gave me sooo many baby clothes, though I did buy a few new things, like the Baby Yoda onesie I couldn't resist. It's recommended you don't buy used car seats because you don't know if they've been in an accident, but there's so much you can do used.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Pretty much my entire house is furnished with secondhand stuff. I buy a lot of stuff in local auctions, so I've only paid a total of $15 for all of my couches (4 total). I also go to thrift stores a lot. I had weight loss surgery 4 years ago and dropped almost 190 pounds in about a year (I've since gained about 80 of that back), but I primarily shopped at thrift stores because it was pointless to buy new clothes when I could likely be a new size in less than a month. I haven't gone to a thrift store lately because of the pandemic, but it is definitely one of my favorite things to do.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I don’t care to. Things are ok; but not clothes. I do donate and I’ve done plenty of hand-me-down wearing; but I don’t purposely shop there myself. I have always been a little odd sized so if something is shrunk it likely won’t fit. I see that with kids clothes too. I’m more likely to buy stuff off Craigslist or the Facebook marketplace. Somewhere like that. A garage sale is ok but I like to sleep in on weekends.

My BFF has a knack for it though. She loves vintage clothes and jewelry so its perfect for her. She recently made a dress from a vintage sheet set she found at one! She’s found brand new things from Italian designers. High end stuff. Her husband is a welder so she gets his work clothes there. (They end up full of little burn holes quickly.) Me? I’d probably find a mumu or something.

When we were teens BFF’s oldest sister worked at a thrift store and lived upstairs from her. You could go clothes shopping at her house. One time at my friend’s birthday party she had all us girls come upstairs and found bags of clothes for us! We still laugh about “shopping at Ms.___’s house.” She’s a lot older than us. BFF probably learned from her.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I think most baby/little kid stuff should be bought used (or handed down/reused from previous kids, of course). They outgrow it so fast! There's no point in buying new.

If someone, say, buys a new bra, or even undies, and wears it once or twice and decides they don't like it, I don't see a problem with donating it, although I don't think I'd buy it unless it was some fancy expensive brand. But well-used undies? Noooooo.

DS had a couple pairs of boxers that he wore as summer pj bottoms when he was about 4 that someone had given my mom for him. That seems different to me. They looked fine and he wasn’t wearing them as underwear. No way would I donate or use something like that. If you know who you are getting something from that’s better for used clothing. I would rather buy someone a pack of new than let them buy something like that used.

My friends and I used to trade kids clothes and that was great. I still send some stuff for one of my nieces; but she came out of foster care after being homeless so she’s very sensitive about it. SIL and I are sneaky about it. DD outgrew everyone else early and DS has now too. Some of the clothes they had when they were little had been through 3 or more families. At least now we aren’t changing sizes so rapidly.

 

[Boris Diamond]

The rescue where I volunteer runs a thrift store. I buy much there. We get lots of donations so we set prices low to keep things moving. I have bought clothes, CD's, DVD's, furniture, framed pictures, electronics and kitchen items there. Today I got a perfect marble cheese plate with a glass dome for a ridiculously cheap price. My sister got a beautiful framed Georgia O'Keefe print there for just a few dollars. I love it!

 

[jcat]

I think most baby/little kid stuff should be bought used (or handed down/reused from previous kids, of course). They outgrow it so fast! There's no point in buying new.

A fair amount of the baby/kids' clothing at thrift stores is brand new or worn just a few times. Kids grow so fast that by the time the size is just right, the clothes are too heavy or too light for the season. Besides that, think of all the gifts. What one person finds "adorable", the next thinks is " hideous or "absolutely impractical".