Comments on: When thrift stores have a “higher end” thrift shop.

By: Brigitte

Brigitte — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:25:24 +0000

Hello Brian, I am seeing a lot of that as well. I am all for the shops making more money for their charity and should do whatever works for them absolutely. I just don’t think they understand that what buyers pay online or what is seen on TV is not always reflected in a local shop. Oh well………

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:18:48 +0000

I live and work in “upscale” areas, and 2 of my 3 local charity stores have converted to boutique-thrifts, which is too bad. The two are now overpricing, resulting in low stock turnover. The non-boutique is a small space, but has good prices to move items quickly. While I sympathize with the boutiques’ interest in increasing revenues, I doubt they are doing better than when they were “normal” thrifts.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:43:56 +0000

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!!

By: Doreen

Doreen — Sat, 15 May 2010 06:54:36 +0000

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.

By: Deena

Deena — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:26:05 +0000

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.

By: Serena

Serena — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:10:33 +0000

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.

By: Brigitte

Brigitte — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:55:07 +0000

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.

By: Brigitte

Brigitte — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:54:03 +0000

Too funny!

By: Brigitte

Brigitte — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:53:52 +0000

Hi Denise! I was scanning him items too! haha. He definitely needs an eBay trading assistant doesn’t he. Thanks for the kind words!

By: Brigitte

Brigitte — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:53:04 +0000

Nice Geina!