Frugality at it's Best

[Koolau]

Yeah, we usually shop first at resale shops. One of the great things about Oahu is that our resale shops are always stocked with good stuff. I think it's because we have a relatively transient population - especially with a huge military presence.

 

[folivier]

I've picked up a few things for our cabin at local thrift stores. But they don't clean anything, you can tell by the musty smell when you walk inside.
At our cabin community it's amazing to see things get passed around. Snow blowers, shovels, furniture, anything you can think of gets re-used.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

I haven't shopped in a Goodwill or Salvation Army store in probably 50 years, but this thread makes me want to stop in out of curiosity. You guys in those dusty western towns should look for first generation iPods and iPhones, they have come around as pricey collectors' items.

Hey- I still use both of my iPods almost every day!

 

[COcheesehead]

My wife is a treasure hunter and stops in thrift stores when we travel. Most are filled with junk and sometimes so much so that you can hardly browse anything.
We have found a few gems. I stumbled across a signed Cicero Silva dimensional block art piece selling for $75. Online they sell for as much as $3000. It hangs in our front entrance and everyone comments on it. That’s probably the best find so far.
She found a new high end, name brand rain jacket for $10 in Telluride. Probably retails for over $150.
She also collects fiesta ware and knows the difference between the older ones and the new ones, so she buys those from time to time.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Had someone told me this and is true. Quote.

The cleaners wanted $15 to clean my suit.
So, I donated it to Goodwill.
They pressed it and cleaned it and put it in their window.
I bought it for $4.50.

When I worked for the state, we contracted with Goodwill for our clients to be there for a work evaluation and a few other thrift stores and no one washes, dries or dry cleans the clothes. All they do is hang them up. if they’re too dirty when they receive them, they throw them away.

 

[Teacher Terry]

They certainly wash the clothes at my Goodwill. It takes quite a while for the same cloying detergent smell to dissipate.

That’s the frebreeze smell that they spray clothes with to get rid of the smell. They don’t wash clothes.

 

[street]

That’s the frebreeze smell that they spray clothes with to get rid of the smell. They don’t wash clothes.

Don't to disagree with your part of the world but our thrift stores wash everything that is resold in their stores. I know every employee from the three stores that manage these stores and that is their protocol.

We don't have a Goodwill store so II can not speak for them. These stores I'm familiar with are non profit organizations that have created stores for helping with costs to operate their institutions.

Salivation Army is the only National recognize store that people here would be familiar too here on ER.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Don't to disagree with your part of the world but our thrift stores wash everything that is resold in their stores. I know every employee from the three stores that manage these stores and that is their protocol.

We don't have a Goodwill store so II can not speak for them. These stores I'm familiar with are non profit organizations that have created stores for helping with costs to operate their institutions.

Salivation Army is the only National recognize store that people here would be familiar too here on ER.

I’m really surprised at that, but I believe you since obviously you have firsthand knowledge of what’s occurring by you. That is definitely not the case here. I always wash everything before I donate it and make sure it’s also not wrinkled.

 

[Ronstar]

DW wanted to serve mimosas at our house on Christmas. We didn’t have champagne flutes. We went to Goodwill and bought a set of 8 for $6.

 

[Pluperfect]

She found a new high end, name brand rain jacket for $10 in Telluride. Probably retails for over $150.

Telluride has a free box. I got some ski boots out of it that I used for probably 25 years. And a dress that I called my "wedding dress" because the only time I ever needed to wear a dress was to weddings and that was the one.

But the free box went the way of so many other things--ruined. In the early days it was across the side street from the post office--some open cubbies. You'd stop by when you went to get your mail (no home mail delivery), and serendipity might occur. Then in the mid-90s people started hanging around all day waiting for people to drop stuff off, like vultures. Destroyed the vibe.

Goodwill also has deteriorated. I've had some good finds, and recently got a vacuum sealer to replace the vacuum sealer I got from Goodwill 20 years ago; I don't think the new one had ever been used. But over time there have gotten to be far more resellers snapping up the good stuff; instead of seeing people holding a shirt up to their body to see if it would fit, you see the resellers looking up stuff on their phone. And Goodwill grokked that not all clothes are created equal, and they have different prices on them; it used to be that all shirts were $2.99, for example.

 

[MC Rider]

You know it’s a joke because a) thrift stores don’t clean and press clothes before selling them

Reminds me I worked in a place like that for a few months in the dim dark past. Clothes came in boxes and I dumped them on a pile, bordered by boxes, that people sorted through by hand. Being as I worked there I had first grab if I was opening boxes. Some boxes had nicely folded stuff with soap bars even. I have no idea where they came from. Dump it on the pile, $0.50 each.

 

[MaydaMunny]

I get all my clothes free at the county morgue. Even found some nice Lululemon leggings there. Monday is the best shopping day there, I guess more expire on the weekends.

 

[Original Wally]

At our cabin community it's amazing to see things get passed around.

I hope it does not include spouses! YIKES!!

 

[Dtail]

I get all my clothes free at the county morgue. Even found some nice Lululemon leggings there. Monday is the best shopping day there, I guess more expire on the weekends.

If you get lucky, perhaps a few die at a wedding.

 

[Sorcerer]

Goodwill wouldn't even sell a t shirt for $4.50 let alone a suit.

That being said, the goodwill that I frequent is great. The other in the surrounding area are terrible. Prices are all over the place.

Also, whoever thought of the name "goodwill" is a marketing genius.

 

[DrRoy]

On a walk around the neighborhood last year, DW saw a lamp that was put out with the trash that had a nice crystal base. She brought it home, bought a few replacement parts, and now we have an awesome lamp that looks brand new.

 

[Pluperfect]

Goodwill wouldn't even sell a t shirt for $4.50 let alone a suit.

I remember all t-shirts being 99 cents at Goodwill like 15 years ago. Those were the days.

But I just ran across a receipt from Goodwill in Cottonwood, Arizona from a year ago, and a men's t-shirt was $2.29. The receipt says "offer disc 5%" and I ended up paying $1.15. There's also a men's shirt for $3.99--probably a polo shirt because I get all of mine at Goodwill.

 

[MC Rider]

Like Rainman, I get all my underwear at KMart.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

Like Rainman, I get all my underwear at KMart.

Hopefully you stocked up.

Unless you live near Kendale Lakes, FL, Guam, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

[ElizabethT]

Streaming the Superbowl for free via YouTube TV's free 10 day trial. Will cancel the moment the game is over.

 

[MC Rider]

Or taking Amazon Prime free for a month and canceling in 29 days. 27 in February.

 

[CO-guy]

Don't to disagree with your part of the world but our thrift stores wash everything that is resold in their stores. I know every employee from the three stores that manage these stores and that is their protocol.

We don't have a Goodwill store so II can not speak for them. These stores I'm familiar with are non profit organizations that have created stores for helping with costs to operate their institutions.

Salivation Army is the only National recognize store that people here would be familiar too here on ER.

Washing (which is surprising to me) and having a garnet dry cleaned and pressed are two very different things.

At most thrift stores in the US, clothing must be in "salable" condition when donated. Otherwise, most thrift stores load anything not ready for sale into either a dumpster or shipping container to be recycled into insulation. I'd be amazed to hear about any random thrift store that washes garments unless it's more of a boutique serving higher-end clientele.

 

[disneysteve]

Like Rainman, I get all my underwear at KMart.

Funny you mention that. A couple of weeks ago at an estate sale I picked up 3 packs of vintage sealed Joe Boxer briefs from Kmart. I sold 2 of the packs together on ebay for $119 two days after listing them. I haven't sold the remaining pack yet but I'm sure I will.

 

[street]

Lol! I like the thrift people here. Great stories.

 

[MC Rider]

Funny you mention that. A couple of weeks ago at an estate sale I picked up 3 packs of vintage sealed Joe Boxer briefs from Kmart. I sold 2 of the packs together on ebay for $119 two days after listing them. I haven't sold the remaining pack yet but I'm sure I will.

Pretty funny.
Did you buy them with an eye to reselling?
If so, how did you know they were possibly a good item to flip?