The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[toscano_adottato]



What I think is strange about this thread is that the standards are constantly raised a bit. I remember when a Borrelli or Brioni shirt would be surprising, but it seems they're found on a daily basis with little fanfare. I posted a pair of Vass shoes a couple of months ago and I can't remember if anything was said. One category that seems to consistently get comments though, and it happens to be one of my favorite "categories" in this thread, are the vintage pieces. Things that are old get a lot of love here.

Anyway, not a complaint or a rant, but something I've noticed. Am I alone in that??

The signal to noise ratio is way out of whack now. All threads take tangents but the tangents here are exacerbated by noobs posting junk, experienced members who should know better posting junk and then the interesting finds getting lost in the shuffle.

It remind me of a philosophical question that this thread raises. If you read any other the other threads on SF, a common theme is the lament that men don't dress well as a rule these days. Business casual, poorly fitting suits, no coherency in creating outfits....you've read all the critiques made by the board luminaries. So if we decry the state of mens' dressing skills and yet purchase ugly ass shitstain ties to flip on Ebay just because they are Brioni, Zegna or, God forbid, Robert Talbot Estate, are we all just enablers? Pushers of crap to unwitting masses who see the name and assume the tie must be awesome because it says 'Made in Italy" even though the print looks like a clown with whooping cough sneezed his face paint on the silk?

Many of you are resellers, Do you feel any obligation to leave behind the butt ugly Brioni tie because you think the world would be a better place without it mucking up the landscape? Or, instead, do you just know that a sucker is born any moment and push the sale for the filthy lucre. I know Spoo doesn't give a **** and has essentially said as much. But what about the rest of you? When you thrift to flip, would you buy a fugly tie made by a known maker just to flip it when you know that the buyer is going to look terrible wearing it and you have trafficked in an item that degrades the sartorial discourse?

 

[eazye]

In the end, who really gives a ****. People spend their money on worse things every day.

 

[tben]

The signal to noise ratio is way out of whack now. All threads take tangents but the tangents here are exacerbated by noobs posting junk, experienced members who should know better posting junk and then the interesting finds getting lost in the shuffle.

It remind me of a philosophical question that this thread raises. If you read any other the other threads on SF, a common theme is the lament that men don't dress well as a rule these days. Business casual, poorly fitting suits, no coherency in creating outfits....you've read all the critiques made by the board luminaries. So if we decry the state of mens' dressing skills and yet purchase ugly ass shitstain ties to flip on Ebay just because they are Brioni, Zegna or, God forbid, Robert Talbot Estate, are we all just enablers? Pushers of crap to unwitting masses who see the name and assume the tie must be awesome because it says 'Made in Italy" even though the print looks like a clown with whooping cough sneezed his face paint on the silk?

Many of you are resellers, Do you feel any obligation to leave behind the butt ugly Brioni tie because you think the world would be a better place without it mucking up the landscape? Or, instead, do you just know that a sucker is born any moment and push the sale for the filthy lucre. I know Spoo doesn't give a **** and has essentially said as much. But what about the rest of you? When you thrift to flip, would you buy a fugly tie made by a known maker just to flip it when you know that the buyer is going to look terrible wearing it and you have trafficked in an item that degrades the sartorial discourse?

I would buy stained underwear by haines at thrifts if it made me money. And I would brag about it here.

 

[capnwes]

You should have stopped in and said hello! You must be the reason that I never find much at that GW and as for Sally? She'll never be the same. BTW, they just closed the SA down in Pasadena near my home. I never found too much there but they had a nice restroom and that counts for a lot in my book!

Yeah that GW is usually beat, but I can't drive by without stopping. Do you ever hit that consignment shop over on Allegheny? I do find some decent stuff there.

 

[mexicutioner]



The average right now for Italian PRL jackets is about $85. Interestingly, the average for Corneliani jackets is much lower...about $40).
So, it depends on what you consider a lot of money really. If you pick it up for $5-10, I think a return of $65-70 is pretty good. Not too many more effective ways to use your money, especially at so little risk.
Of course, one jacket will not a college education provide.

if only others were as good as you at doing your research. i (and i know a lot of others) have stopped PM'ing people about their "available" finds due to the stupid prices being asked. i'm not even talking about "oh he wants ebay prices for his finds." i'm talking about "this guy have no idea how much that thing is worth on ebay, he hasn't even done his homework" type of prices. i got tired of "sure that sportcoat is available, how does $150 sound?" for something that only goes for $75 on ebay. worse still is when someone is going to CONSIGN their finds. after ebay, consignment fees, etc, a lot of times the price i was happy to pay would actually exceed the person's likely take-home.

 

[woodchuck312]

Yeah that GW is usually beat, but I can't drive by without stopping. Do you ever hit that consignment shop over on Allegheny? I do find some decent stuff there.

So that Savers in Parkville is 2 miles from my house, and I hit that GW on Joppa fairly often as well. I've gotten some nice stuff there, have yet to find one decent tie in that GW though.

 

[noob in 89]



Do you feel any obligation to leave behind the butt ugly Brioni tie ...or do you just know that a sucker is born any moment

I find those older, fat Brioni ties quite often. If I know they're not exactly current, I'll always try to dissuade a noob, or high school, college student, whatever, from purchasing by emphasizing the preferred width. Still, I find they sell well to either larger men (who can rock a wider tie) or members in places like Singapore, where there is either a different standard, or the resell value is high, who knows. But I always point out whether something is SF-approved, and why.

 

[mexicutioner]



Sold that Polo Corneliani on B&S for $200.

haha nice. i'm happy to admit that i was wrong on that one. same with nataku, a blanket i thought would go for $200, he ended up selling for i think $300.

but i wasn't really even referring to you (or nataku)!

i've heard (via PM) several people be fed up with ebay-level asking prices (or higher) for "available" finds.

 

[toscano_adottato]

Do you feel any obligation to leave behind the butt ugly Brioni tie ...or do you just know that a sucker is born any moment

I find those older, fat Brioni ties quite often. If I know they're not exactly current, I'll always try to dissuade a noob, or high school, college student, whatever, from purchasing by emphasizing the preferred width. Still, I find they sell well to either larger men (who can rock a wider tie) or members in places like Singapore, where there is either a different standard, or the resell value is high, who knows.

I'm not talking about the relative "dating" of the object, as measured by width of the blade for example. I mean the tie is ugly. Colors are garish and discordant. The pattern is nausea-inducing. We've all seen those ties made by makers that typically flip. And it doesn't have to be ties. If you found a Kiton suit with horizontal pinstripes, would you flip it because it was a Kiton even though the buyer would likely look like the the Michelin man?

 

[Orgetorix]



it seems like this thread has become an echo chamber of sorts, where we have convinced ourselves that used men's clothing is worth $$$$$$$$$$ just based on the label/maker. for example, if all you knew was this thread, you'd think USED CORNELIANI-MADE POLO IS WORTH SO MUCH MONEY. but a quick look at ebay completed listings shows that used joints really aren't worth all that much on the open market.

The average right now for Italian PRL jackets is about $85. Interestingly, the average for Corneliani jackets is much lower...about $40).
So, it depends on what you consider a lot of money really. If you pick it up for $5-10, I think a return of $65-70 is pretty good. Not too many more effective ways to use your money, especially at so little risk.
Of course, one jacket will not a college education provide.

I just sold an Italy PRL that ended at only $29. I was kinda pissed.

Average Cost $10
Average Sale $80
Ebay Fee $8
Paypal $4
Shipping $6
Profit $52

Do this once a week $52 x 52 = $2,700.

Not too shabby for 1 item and most of us can find one item a week.

Maybe you can find something on the level of a Corneliani PRL every week. I can't. There just ain't that much good stuff to be had in Louisville, not for $10 every time.

 

[MZhammer]

Finds from the last few days: all available for Trade only unless specified

Left to right: NA Vintage Magee Tweed from Donegal (signed by weaver), NA Samuelsohn orphan but it was $1.49 and fits, Pal Zileri 54 unvented, Samuelsohn tweed goodness, Zegna killer electric blue SC with working buttons, Deadstock Brooks tweed









The shirts:
Paul Smith x2
Versace Classic v2
Paul Stuart FC
Eton Contemporary fit 15-1/2 x5
Eton regular fit 16-1/2










Unfortunately in my excitement I overlooked something... most of these Etons have cracked buttons that will need replacing but otherwise Mint








Left to Right: PRL Black Linen unlined in XL, Brooks Country with Loro Piana 120s, Scotch and Soda





Ties:
Left Zegna is NA, otherwise available for trade





Real?




PRL made in Italy waist 32 slim khakis

 

[csoukoulis]

i personally leave the ugly dated **** behind. its not really worth my time to list an 80s zegna tie i may make 15 bucks on.

 

[Tweets]

if only others were as good as you at doing your research. i (and i know a lot of others) have stopped PM'ing people about their "available" finds due to the stupid prices being asked. i'm not even talking about "oh he wants ebay prices for his finds." i'm talking about "this guy have no idea how much that thing is worth on ebay, he hasn't even done his homework" type of prices. i got tired of "sure that sportcoat is available, how does $150 sound?" for something that only goes for $75 on ebay. worse still is when someone is going to CONSIGN their finds. after ebay, consignment fees, etc, a lot of times the price i was happy to pay would actually exceed the person's likely take-home.

I've adopted the habit that if I go out all day, spend $30 in gas, spend $150 and have stuff that I might double at ebay prices after fees, then I likely put not available on everything because its more than likely that the only thing anyone is going to be interested is the best thing I have from that day and then the prices I need to cover my day is more than I feel comfortable asking from my SF buddies. If I have a good day, I'm more likely to earn some SF karma and offer some things pretty cheap. My normal price is to take expected Ebay price, subtract fees and then chop that in half...example projected 100 ebay sale, 15 in fees, brings it down to 85, I'll ask 40 shipped if someone on here is interested.

Just my 2 cents, if you know you need ebay prices, either put N/A or put available at ebay prices.

 

[noob in 89]



I'm not talking about the relative "dating" of the object, as measured by width of the blade for example. I mean the tie is ugly. Colors are garish and discordant. The pattern is nausea-inducing. We've all seen those ties made by makers that typically flip. And it doesn't have to be ties. If you found a Kiton suit with horizontal pinstripes, would you flip it because it was a Kiton even though the buyer would likely look like the the Michelin man?

Oh, yeah, of course. Not everyone has the same tastes. Hell, Robert Grahams are widely popular, even hip by some standards. I'd only feel bad about not mentioning something that could be missed if you didn't know to look for it; tie width, lapel width, etc.

 

[grendel]

I'm not talking about the relative "dating" of the object, as measured by width of the blade for example. I mean the tie is ugly. Colors are garish and discordant. The pattern is nausea-inducing. We've all seen those ties made by makers that typically flip. And it doesn't have to be ties. If you found a Kiton suit with horizontal pinstripes, would you flip it because it was a Kiton even though the buyer would likely look like the the Michelin man?

Hell yes. And then I'd buy a cheap(er) Corneliani that looks much better with the proceeds.