The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[pnutpug]



^^Britches of Georgetown is superb! probably not for flipping I guess.

Exactly right. And a pity.

 

[pnutpug]



Well, not everyone, I've seen nothing but junk and ruined ties recently. A few nice pieces, but made by no name tailors or defunct and now obscure shops (like Britches of Georgetown) where I'm not willing to take the risk as a casual seller who never gets around to listing things anyway.
I did see a XXXXXL (yes, five Xs) cotton-cashmere blend sweater from a decent maker yesterday, but a somewhat limited market there.

Actually, there's a local woman who makes a pretty good living online selling clothes to the obese. Her website:

http://www.buybigfrombrandi.com/

Here's a story about her that ran in the local rag when she accepted a Webby on behalf of eBay:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

"

"Assuming hyphenateds are allowed-woo-hoo!" - AccuRadio, 2006

"Sports? Pornography? Sports? Pornography? SPORTS!" - ESPN.com, 2006

"Please don't recount this vote." - Al Gore, 2005

Everybody already knows who won.

Acceptance speeches are the biggest reason to pay attention to the Webby Awards ceremony, where winners whose names were announced a month ago are allowed five words to express their feelings.

"I'll be at the bar," intoned someone from stackopolis.com, which last year won a Webby, the Internet's equivalent of an Oscar, for a game-related Web site.

A Springfield woman will get her chance to contribute to Webby speech lore on Tuesday, thanks to eBay , which is flying her to New York to help accept a lifetime achievement Webby for the online auction site.

Who cares what Brandi Ramos will wear? What's she going to say?

"We have not been given that yet," said Ramos, a struggling single mom turned eBay star. "The Webbys is just a huge deal. I never thought I'd see a red carpet in person."

Even without a word limit, Ramos said her acceptance speech would be short.

"The only people I have to thank is myself and eBay and God," she said.

And perhaps Dieter from the Netherlands.

Ramos was barely making it four years ago, when she began buying clothing at clearance sales and re-selling it on eBay .

"I was on food stamps," she said. "My little boy had a medical card. At one point, I had five jobs."

Then she found a bargain on 50 oversized men's shirts. They were name-brand, brand-new and, it turned out, in demand.

"I made quite a bit of money off that," she said. "I thought, 'Gosh, there's a lot of people asking if I can get different colors or bigger sizes.'"

Dieter was the tipping point to life as a mail-order middleman for the big and tall.

"He said, 'I work in security and I can never get shirts that fit-can you get me 50 black T-shirts in 5X?'" Ramos recalled. "I tracked them down and told him what it would be with the shipping and he said 'Great.'

"Now, we have what we call 'Fat Man's Macy's' in my basement."

Last year, sales topped $100,000, said Ramos, who sells everything from Ralph Lauren shirts to Hanes briefs, size 60 - the ultimate in tighty-whiteys.

"I have customers in 51 countries," Ramos said. "I've been able to buy a home. I've been able to buy a nice vehicle. I've been reacquainted with a high school sweetheart. We're getting married on July 7."

Ramos says she owes it all to eBay .

"That's what's given me the freedom," she said. "The sky's the limit with something like this."

Not surprisingly, eBay sees a poster child in Ramos. Besides flying her to New York for the Webbys, the company is also paying her way to Boston later this month for an eBay convention.

In retrospect, selling clothing to big people was a can't-miss proposition.

"They want to dress nice," Ramos said. "They want to look professional. They're willing to spend the money. It's hard to find big-and-tall clothing .

"A lot of people aren't comfortable walking around malls for hours searching for clothes that fit. A lot of people also have issues with hip or knee replacements."

Besides running auctions and an eBay store, Ramos offers a personal shopping service. It doesn't have to be clothing . A client in Canada recently paid Ramos to track down a certain purse for his wife. A customer who can't get some companies to ship to his country sends her a list, she said. He's been spending $2,000 a month for the past few months, she said.

"He could care less," she said. "He just wants the product. Half the fun is finding the product. It's a lot of hitting the pavement. It's knocking on doors and asking people."

It hasn't been get-rich-quick. Ramos said she usually works more than 40 hours a week, but rarely eight hours in a row.

"My goal was to be a stay-at-home mom," she said. "I don't make anywhere near a million dollars a year. It's a lot of hard work. It's a lot of sacrifice. I don't have much of a social life."

And work is never far away, no matter where she is. She'll be bringing a laptop to New York, where she expects to share the stage with David Bowie, who will also get a lifetime achievement Webby.

"My poor future husband," she said. "He always asks: 'Do you ever not work?'"

 

[westling]

Found a nice charcoal gray Paul Stuart suit, marked 40L 34. This is the first Paul Stuart I've seen. The tag says "Stuart II", which I imagine is one of their lines.





Looks great but sadly too small for me. I'll probably put it on eBay but if anyone's interested -- especially anyone with 43/44R stuff! -- send me a PM.

 

[330CK]



haha to clarify, i wasn't saying you shouldn't use it! i was just surprised and couldn't remember your handle for pm purposes. like i said you make more money from eBay than I do, so maybe I should start adding ridonkulous to my random tweed jacket listings

All good. I wasnt offended.I was actually hesitant to use it on the first item for the reasons you mentioned, but it sold in days and he was the one that commented on it, so now I reserve it for only the most insane items I list.

 

[shadesofbeige]

thrift fit:

HF super 140's navy blazer (thrifted by me)

faconnable shirt (thrifted by me)
black leather tumi belt (thrifted by me)
levi's 501 shrink to fit jeans from kohl's (soaked once)
Alden for Brooks Brothers Black Fleece cordovan longwings (thrifted by me)

You THRIFTED Black Fleece Brogues? Where was I when that happened? And I thought Crockett & Jones made all their shoes

 

[guyver00]



All good. I wasnt offended.I was actually hesitant to use it on the first item for the reasons you mentioned, but it sold in days and he was the one that commented on it, so now I reserve it for only the most insane items I list.

Please elaborate on what item can be called "Ridonkulous." Is it merely a subjective term, or do clothing items have to have certain features before this term can be used? I tried to look up Oxford dictionary for a definition, but it's not there

And do you receive royalties for coining that term?

There should be a new thread, titled "Ridonklous, yay or nay?"

 

[330CK]



Please elaborate on what item can be called "Ridonkulous." Is it merely a subjective term, or do clothing items have to have certain features before this term can be used? I tried to look up Oxford dictionary for a definition, but it's not there
And do you receive royalties for coining that term?
There should be a new thread, titled "Ridonklous, yay or nay?"

It'll be in the Oxford dictionary soon enough--they accept any words these days. It's obviously still just a slang term at this point.

I use it when I think the item warrants it--when it's just so esoteric and interesting.

Btw, it's 'yea', not 'yay'.

 

[SomethingsFishy]

Its getting insane for me... I thrift nearly every day. I'm addicted lmao.

En route now!

Oh mighty thrift gods, who art in Goodwill, please guide mine hands and protect thine garments until I arrive from n00bz who would take them for thy own. O lords of bargains bountiful, please grant good fortune to mine hunt. Blessed art thou, amen.

 

[flatspotting]

Okay I am sure it's in this thread somewhere... but I am not about to read 3500 pages worth...

So here's my question. Living in Downtown Vancouver BC - where in the lowermainland are some good thrift shops to start at for nicer clothes. Everywhere I go seems to be hipster sweater ville.... no real clothes.

 

[tben]

Okay I am sure it's in this thread somewhere... but I am not about to read 3500 pages worth...

So here's my question. Living in Downtown Vancouver BC - where in the lowermainland are some good thrift shops to start at for nicer clothes. Everywhere I go seems to be hipster sweater ville.... no real clothes.

Just change your settings to view 100 posts a page. It isn't that much. Good luck!

 

[noob in 89]

Finally tending to my meager inventory this afternoon, an ominous questions presents itself:

• Is there a special way to un-imprison lapels from the scourge of stapled tags?
  
  
  
• Can this bell be un-rung?
• Or am I just immaculately :foo: cked here?

 

[FaceOfBoh]



Okay I am sure it's in this thread somewhere... but I am not about to read 3500 pages worth...  

So here's my question.  Living in Downtown Vancouver BC - where in the lowermainland are some good thrift shops to start at for nicer clothes.  Everywhere I go seems to be hipster sweater ville.... no real clothes.  

Yellowpages under Thift Shops.
The usual suspects: Goodwill, Value Village, Salvation Army plus any independent or ladies auxiliary stores.

This thread gives a skewed perception of what's available. We're from across N. America and Europe and you only see the good stuff posted. You don't see the 100s of pieces of crap we touch to find the good stuff.

Even smaller communities have stuff so Vancouver should be no problem once you train your eyes and put in the hours.

 

[westling]

Please elaborate on what item can be called "Ridonkulous." Is it merely a subjective term, or do clothing items have to have certain features before this term can be used? I tried to look up Oxford dictionary for a definition, but it's not there

Did you check the Oxford dictionary or the Oxxford dictionary?

 

[Xenos]



Not as much fun? I look at it like an episode of Law & Order. The first half is the detective work. Beating the racks, flipping the hangers, looking for those tell tale clues hidden in the details of a waistband or collar*. (*cop talk for arrest!) Then you move into the second half of the show where you use your skill and knowledge of fit and style to prosecute/present your case to the tailor to get the verdict you want.
Donk donk.

Ha! Well said. I love it.

 

[HansderHund]



Finally tending to my meager inventory this afternoon, an ominous questions presents itself:

• Is there a special way to un-imprison lapels from the scourge of stapled tags?
  
  
• Can this bell be un-rung?
• Or am I just immaculately :foo: cked here?

Staples have no place in clothing or retail and they're the bain of my existence. In things like shirts, they often form holes that will appear down the line as the threads wear/tear. In lapels, it will be less of an issue, but as the fabric is often fine, they can be noticeable. What I've done is this:

Use pliers to hold the front of the staple in place. If you brace it at the corner, you'll see less movement and therefore less agitation to the threads (= you won't make the hole bigger).

Take another pair of small pliers and bend the underside of the staples out, into their original form.

If you can bend it out perfectly straight, the staple will pull out with little disturbance.

However, if you're like me and paranoid about making the hole larger or catching the fabric on an errant sharp piece of the staple, just cut the pieces off with the pliers/wire cutters as close to the base or fabric as possible.