When thrift stores have a “higher end” thrift shop.
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by Brigitte in Uncategorized
Hi friends, have any of you been thrifting lately? Boy I sure have. I watched hoarders last night and there was a man who loved to thrift shop and go to auctions and his house was full of stuff. He couldn’t resist and good deal and “knew” he could resell it. Oh gosh, I panicked. Is that me? Well my house is not full of stuff. My little corner of our home I call my office might look like it to some but it’s really an organized mess. If there is such a thing. It actually looks like a thrift store itself. Here’s a photo!
my vintage office
The camera really doesn’t help the messy look. Those are my goodwill bags on the floor there. Above is my clothing rack. I will place some things out to make sure I don’t forget about them.
But I’m getting off track! So, although I hardly go to Goodwill’s sister store called Keepers, I do try to pop in once in awhile because that’s where they place any designer item and a whole lot of collectibles. Of course it’s all relative. Some of the things I see in there I laugh a bit. The prices can be really crazy! But that’s why we have to be smarter. I’m okay with paying say $24.99 for a designer dress or really fantastic vintage shoes. But I find to make a profit, you gotta stick with the regular Goodwill store. Not everything in the regular store gets pulled into Keepers either. You end up finding things before they do. But again, I will pop in once in awhile and I’ve had great success with some higher end finds.
Have any of you tried these higher end thrift shops? Do you have any near you? Please share!
Until next time…………
Gwendolyn
13. May, 2010
Our Goodwill just puts the “high end” stuff in a locked cabinet at the front. They sometimes print off a recent eBay listing but not always a sold listing to justify the price they have on the items. I only bought something once and I got burned on that one.
I prefer the Bargain Barn which is where they dump the items that did not sell . You can get some REAL bargains there and possibly make some serious money as you have little invested. I recently sold a crock for $25 that I bought for $1 . I like that kind of return on my money . I also have a $5 or less rule for things bought for resale whether at thrift stores or garage sales. If I know a product REALLY well and know it will sell for much more then I will break the rule but not often as I have done great with the rule in place.
I love to go to sales at the end when they are practically giving stuff away. I recently bought a whole storage tub of books for 50 cents and sold 10 books to a friend for 50 cents each and still have about 100 books to sell yet. Some will sell for much more so not a bad investment.
I have also made about $800 from things I have found on the curb in the past two years. One man’s trash is truly another’s treasure.
Brigitte
14. May, 2010
Nice Gwendolyn, my rules is similiar. I really don’t like to spend more than $5 at a TS unless I know it’s a high seller.
Julia Avery
13. May, 2010
I watched that same episode of Horders and almost flipped out.
Brigitte
14. May, 2010
Too funny!
Denise
13. May, 2010
Too Funny…after last nights show I did the exact same thing I Panicked thinking OH my goodness…No my home office is no where near what he has (I wish)…and how sad I was actually trying to look at what he had when the cameras would scan his rooms…Oh what I could put on Ebay for him!! p.s I love your Blog and look forward to your updates!
p.s.s. I do pop into the higher end thrift shops. I dont right them off I have found some hot items!
Denise (San Diego, ca.)
Brigitte
14. May, 2010
Hi Denise! I was scanning him items too! haha. He definitely needs an eBay trading assistant doesn’t he. Thanks for the kind words!
Genia
14. May, 2010
I definitely love the higher end thrift. My last trip I scored 8 Lenox China Bread and Butter plates and a creamer all for $28.00. The creamer sold for $32.00 and the plates sold at 9.99 each. I made my money back in one sell and then sold all the plates for another $80.00. I will take that kind of return any day.
Brigitte
14. May, 2010
Nice Geina!
Serena
14. May, 2010
I have never been to a Keepers – didn’t even know Goodwill had an offshoot! But I do go to several of the Salvation Armies in my area, and they do have a “boutique” section, which is laughable due to the outrageous prices they’re asking, and some of the items aren’t even that “boutique!” Whenever things go on sale at the Salvation Army, they almost never put the boutique items on sale. One time, though, I was able to pick up a bunch of cute appetizer/bread plates with a different cheese on each for a decent price, but they looked like regular dishes and nothing really special, so that was a real head-scratcher. The crazy thing is, a lot of these thrift stores don’t realize that most people shop there because they can’t afford to go anywhere else, so pricing items really high doesn’t make any sense. They also don’t realize that eBay has a global audience, which is why things can be priced higher there than at a local thrift store.
Deena
14. May, 2010
We have so many thrift shops here in Austin – 7 Goodwills, 3 Salvation Army stores and 2 Savers, plus church shops, charity shops and small independents that I don’t bother with any other than the 3 Big Ones – the smaller shops usually don’t have good prices – there was a Junior League thrift shop but their prices were high and they eventually closed. I’ve done so well at Goodwill, S.A. and Savers that I don’t stop at the others. Also, S.A. and Savers have discount days, which the smaller shops never have. I think the employees at the smaller shops can be more savvy about values than those at the larger chains, so they tend to have higher prices.
Doreen
14. May, 2010
We have a Goodwill Boutique in Winter Park which I went to ONE time. Heck the prices in there were just as much as they are at T.J. Max and at least I can return it within 30 days for cash if it doesn’t sell. My niece and I went on a High End thrifting expedition and we both decided to stay with our local thrift stores.
Susan
24. May, 2010
Well I see I am not the only hoarders watcher and thinks how they can really make some $$ off their stuff…makes me sick to see them put some of the stuff on trash trucks…if only they realized they could resell it all…
I have two rooms full of stuff…not all that messy but organize it is not…but working on it…
Our SA stuff is always high …we dont have the high end one here…I do better with store clearances than some of the thrift stores!!