The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[LooknGr8]

So I've been amassing vinyl at thrift stores across 8 states along with clothes. May have to start a blog. Fascinating music-cultural stuff those stacks reveal. Hard not to buy some records out of pure intellectual curiosity (i.e. "What the **** is a ZITHER? Do I have to invest a buck to find out?")

You can unicorn ****** but I swear I found some fanatstic Polo bench made in Maine tassel loafews I'm gonna wear all summer until they turn into pulp. Oh, and a Rubinacci coat to die for. Maybe pic later this week if I can find 5 minutes at home where people aren't pulling at my coattails, ha!!!!

BUT main reason I am writing is that in researching vinyl blogs I came across a VICE article about a blog called The Record Flipper, which delves deeply into the matters of collecting/owning vs flipping and the ethics thereof.

Instantly when reading this piece I thought "Wow, the Thrift Thread Guys gotta see this one..." We battle/struggle over the same notions, except with clothes and trading and...and...

Enjoy.

Excerpt:
------------------------------------------
Q: I’ve personally found that the negative reaction to reselling records can be broken down into several types, or is multifold:
A) You have your “buddy” who always complains about being broke, and he has this giant collection, but recoils at the notion that he take 30–50 titles that he’ll never listen to again, or doesn’t give a **** about, and pop them up on eBay to make a quick grand or more. “No, no… I would never do that!”
B) Then there’s the punk rock mindset, or ethical ambulance chaser, who has strong opinions about the act itself…that true music fans should not be participating in this capitalist venture, etc.
C) The brick-and-mortar merchants who act as if they’ve been ripped off when they learn that someone has purchased a record from their store (or however they sell records person to person) and flipped it on eBay for a profit.
D) And the online merchants who add a vigilante stance to their limiting of purchases to one per customer. I understand why a label head would limit each customer to one color or copy so that the widest array of buyers gets to own a copy… that makes sense, though I don’t know that I’d do it if I ran a label.

A: Experiencing all of this on a daily basis, you start to figure out who is on your side, and who is not. We have multiple record labels write to us, wanting us to promote their records, and we also have multiple record labels sending us hate mail. You would think that “any customer is a good customer,” but, like I said in one of my previous answers, I truly feel like some of the guys running these labels feel this personal, fictitious moral obligation to uphold what is “right” in their minds. It’s like they think they’re saving the public from a bunch of capitalist monsters!
Now, using a sample from our own subscribers, I can tell you that we have a whole array of different people using our services. I would say 75 percent of the people subscribed are in it purely for the money, which is what we expected; then we’ve got financially stable individuals who are just looking to add some rare and unique collectibles to their collections. And lastly, we have some who are solely into it for the music. They just have that need to find and explore every musical genre and get that thrill of finding the next great album.


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sound like anyone we know?

 

[LeafAndArrow]

All this car talk has inspired me to share my own thrift -for-car story. About 3 years ago I was in the Downtown Oakland (CA) Salvation army. Had canvassed the store with nothing to show for it. Was heading for the exit past the maternity clothing, and lo and behold, I spot 7 vintage Schott one star 613s from the 60s and 70s in a neat little row amongst the mumus . This place is awash with flippers, albeit in the middle of a sea of fish markets and massage parlors in Oakland Chinatown, so I nearly swallowed my tongue in shock that they were still there (might have been cached there for all I know). I bought them all at about 20 bucks a jacket, and sold them all to the tune of about 3k between Craigslist and eBay.

I turned around and a few weeks later used the dough to buy a 1964 Plymouth Valiant (CA car, perfect running cond) from a very elderly gent in Redwood City. Her name is Orabelle, incidentally

I did all of this without telling my wife, which was just an awful idea, but there it is. So after picking up the Valiant, I go to pick her up from the Bart station, and she nearly beheaded me in rage. Though now the car is one of her favorite things in the world, so I feel both vindicated, and thrift empowered.

The end

 

[LooknGr8]

great effin story. This is the stuff I do with my thrift proceeds, but not with cars. With other stuff that would normally get me killed by my other half if I weren't using proceeds from flipping through SPoo...and dipping into the grocery fund...

 

[green_machine]

Awesome story!


And interesting article from powerful vice

 

[SomethingsFishy]

No pics yet, but I scored my first ever sport coat that actually ALMOST fits me! I need to sew the lining back on, as the prior owner managed to tear it out in a few places, and IMO the padding looks a bit silly, but with some tailoring work, I will have an old-school PRL brown POW check tweed sport coat . It'll probably need 1-200 bucks of work, but that's cheaper than buying myself a number of equal quality that actually fits me.

#34RProblems


Also, thoughts are with SFers in Oklahoma today. Hope you all made it through okay, stay safe, NWS says you aren't out of the woods yet.

 

[IRKSM]



Sorry Ian...didn't know you we're down with "wrapped the 6 4 round a telephone poll . Looked at my car and said oh brotha, throw it in the gutter and go buy another."

I pulled up in my 6 4 impala they greet me with a 40 and I start drinkin and from the 8 ball ball my breath starts stinkin enough to get my girl to rock that body before I left I hit the Bacardi
The boyz in the hood remix from eazy does it probably has the most references in one song
Ps I am also down with
He crawls through a trail of blood his salvation is death- live in hell rot in dirt by sabertooth zombie

 

[antirabbit]

Ive not posted in super long, but here is a roll call on my latest finds:

• Oxxford N3 Sport Coat, in a lovely brown and cream micro check super 120's, double vented, 0 shoulder padding
• Belvest cream, red, and blue Sheppard Check, amazing fabric and fit
• Chicago made SC in a Blue background, with a brown and dark blue over check, loro piana 100% cashmere, fully canvassed, exstensive handwork, double vented-the damn fabric not only looks amazing, but hot dam the hand of it is insane, very lightly padded shoulders

A **** load of pocket squares, all hand rolled, most are vintage, I also started picking up vintage fabrics and making my own hand rolled pocket squares. Its super fun and very much helps me understand the difference in quality of squares out there.
Also have taken a few stabs at antiquing shoes-meaning changing the colors and dying shoes. Again, super fun, but wow a lot of work.

 

[darkmatter7]

Regarding posts about flipping, and thrifting exposure:

Quite obviously, I post a ton of items that I intend to sell. I post them because I think they were cool finds, and I don't mention the flipping aspect. For me, posting is not money related: it's about sharing my excitement about items that I find. That's not meant as a defense, or judgement upon people who do otherwise, it's merely an explanation of my approach to posting.

The whole exposure to thrifting deal... well... I don't take it that seriously. Part of that is the fact that thrifting is already very hot in the LA area. From a business perspective, I try to diversify my thrifting strategy, which helps counter the "drying up" of certain stores.

Other than that, I want to mention that I wish I still posted a bunch. Part of it is time constraints, and part of it is lack of motivation to post. I was a bit of a drama queen (ironically, Frenchy and I are friends now), and that left a bad taste in many members' mouths. I was young and restless, what can I say. However, because of that truth, my posts aren't as well received as initially. I wish that weren't the case, but I have mostly myself to blame.

On the entrepreneurship front, I'm working on some very exciting projects. For me, the "business of thrifting" has become a multifaceted and creative endeavor. It has changed my life. I left college, shifted much of my life direction, and now run small business with Connor (Mainy). I am happier, and more comfortable with myself than I have ever been!

As this has progressed, I have also become much more interested in fashion itself. Initially, I was obsessive about quality: I had an eye for quality, construction, etc. Now that's changing. I feel comfortable dressing in tune with my emotions. I'm almost at the point where I'm the guy walking down the street in full goth-ninja garb. That is something that I would have never felt comfortable with.

In the last week I've hung out with an immensely talented designer, and have all but finalized a large purchase from a popular streetwear brand. I'm continuously growing, learning, and am enthralled doing so.

Here's my advice to all of you. My dad is a geologist. Many of my excursions as a kid were gold panning, fossil hunting, metal detecting, etc. That is what thrifting is and should always be to me: a treasure hunt.

 

[MarkThomas]

Regarding posts about flipping, and thrifting exposure:

Quite obviously, I post a ton of items that I intend to sell. I post them because I think they were cool finds, and I don't mention the flipping aspect. For me, posting is not money related: it's about sharing my excitement about items that I find. That's not meant as a defense, or judgement upon people who do otherwise, it's merely an explanation of my approach to posting.

The whole exposure to thrifting deal... well... I don't take it that seriously. Part of that is the fact that thrifting is already very hot in the LA area. From a business perspective, I try to diversify my thrifting strategy, which helps counter the "drying up" of certain stores.

Other than that, I want to mention that I wish I still posted a bunch. Part of it is time constraints, and part of it is lack of motivation to post. I was a bit of a drama queen (ironically, Frenchy and I are friends now), and that left a bad taste in many members' mouths. I was young and restless, what can I say. However, because of that truth, my posts aren't as well received as initially. I wish that weren't the case, but I have mostly myself to blame.

On the entrepreneurship front, I'm working on some very exciting projects. For me, the "business of thrifting" has become a multifaceted and creative endeavor. It has changed my life. I left college, shifted much of my life direction, and now run small business with Connor (Mainy). I am happier, and more comfortable with myself than I have ever been!

As this has progressed, I have also become much more interested in fashion itself. Initially, I was obsessive about quality: I had an eye for quality, construction, etc. Now that's changing. I feel comfortable dressing in tune with my emotions. I'm almost at the point where I'm the guy walking down the street in full goth-ninja garb. That is something that I would have never felt comfortable with.

In the last week I've hung out with an immensely talented designer, and have all but finalized a large purchase from a popular streetwear brand. I'm continuously growing, learning, and am enthralled doing so.

Here's my advice to all of you. My dad is a geologist. Many of my excursions as a kid were gold panning, fossil hunting, metal detecting, etc. That is what thrifting is and should always be to me: a treasure hunt.

Well said.

 

[jkidd41011]

DM7.... It took a lot of courage to do what you did. I've heard mentioned there is a business professor at Stanford that tells his students...." If you have an idea you feel you can make money on....quit school and go for it. You can always return to school."

Ideas > education

 

[Stewie]

Here's my take on the whole thread. I found this forum because I had found some designer clothing at a thrift that seemed too nice to pass up. I already was looking for vintage items to flip and these shirts (Versace, D&G) seemed like a natural progression for me since I was already going thru the racks. But what happened next for me was that this forum was proof that guys really do care about how they look and it now allowed me to branch out from copies of styles to actually wearing proper clothes and ensuring they fit as well. I still learn stuff every day from this thread as well as the whole forum. It's a thrift and discount bragging thread so why wouldn't we brag about the $ amount something sold for! And Spoo...don't let any post drag you down....all of wish we were in your shoes (EGs no doubt) right now, and you have given us all a glimpse of what our future can hold for us. I myself have used my flipping money for vacations, big boy toys etc. but now you have made me set my sights on bigger and better though maybe not Ferrari scale. This thread is a great starting point for a lot of guys that had no clue how to dress but now are the sharpest in the office, get more compliments and basically have better self esteem knowing they look great.

I have been thrifting for 20+ years and sorely wish I had found this thread sooner as I know I have passed up many an item that I could of banked on.

 

[Brianpore]

Regarding posts about flipping, and thrifting exposure:

Quite obviously, I post a ton of items that I intend to sell. I post them because I think they were cool finds, and I don't mention the flipping aspect. For me, posting is not money related: it's about sharing my excitement about items that I find. That's not meant as a defense, or judgement upon people who do otherwise, it's merely an explanation of my approach to posting.

The whole exposure to thrifting deal... well... I don't take it that seriously. Part of that is the fact that thrifting is already very hot in the LA area. From a business perspective, I try to diversify my thrifting strategy, which helps counter the "drying up" of certain stores.

Other than that, I want to mention that I wish I still posted a bunch. Part of it is time constraints, and part of it is lack of motivation to post. I was a bit of a drama queen (ironically, Frenchy and I are friends now), and that left a bad taste in many members' mouths. I was young and restless, what can I say. However, because of that truth, my posts aren't as well received as initially. I wish that weren't the case, but I have mostly myself to blame.

On the entrepreneurship front, I'm working on some very exciting projects. For me, the "business of thrifting" has become a multifaceted and creative endeavor. It has changed my life. I left college, shifted much of my life direction, and now run small business with Connor (Mainy). I am happier, and more comfortable with myself than I have ever been!

As this has progressed, I have also become much more interested in fashion itself. Initially, I was obsessive about quality: I had an eye for quality, construction, etc. Now that's changing. I feel comfortable dressing in tune with my emotions. I'm almost at the point where I'm the guy walking down the street in full goth-ninja garb. That is something that I would have never felt comfortable with.

In the last week I've hung out with an immensely talented designer, and have all but finalized a large purchase from a popular streetwear brand. I'm continuously growing, learning, and am enthralled doing so.

Here's my advice to all of you. My dad is a geologist. Many of my excursions as a kid were gold panning, fossil hunting, metal detecting, etc. That is what thrifting is and should always be to me: a treasure hunt.

+1 - You should post more though!

Quote:

Brian I am so jealous of all the NWT Belvest stuff you have floating around your eBay... I would be in the poor house if I had a way to procure that kind of quality! You have the discipline of a monk my friend

Its super easy when nothing fits. A true blessing in disguise.

 

[futuremyth]

That is what thrifting is and should always be to me: a treasure hunt.

I have been thrifting for 20+ years and sorely wish I had found this thread sooner as I know I have passed up many an item that I could of banked on.

These pretty much sum it up for me!

 

[FaceOfBoh]

Re: DM7

+1 - You should post more though!

+2. I'd say past actions are water under the bridge, especially in light of your own admission that you felt you behaved in an immature manner. There are new people here and new perspectives and experiences to share with them. I'd welcome hearing more of your - and others' - experiences.

We're heading off on a family trip this summer to WA and thrifting proceeds will pay the way. Next year's goal is a trip to NYC for the family. (I can't wait for fall to list winter items!)

 

[Shoeluv]

My point of view is I joined this forum because of the extreme camaraderie I witnessed and everyone seemed to be having fun. I am guessing that in 2005 when the thread first started if you had made it members only Style Forum itself would be smaller and less interesting and you would have nowhere near 70K posts. This thread was the only reason I stopped lurking and joined, actually it was the only reason I even lurked I love this thread and read it almost obsessively.

I heard this same theory in the mid-2000's about auctions and flipping houses that if you publicize it everyone would start doing it. I don't think you realize the amount of work it takes to get to the level of a Spoo or Brianpore etc. First how many of us can look at a label like Spoo and say counterfeit, very few. That's because you need a deep knowledge of the brands and their history. Yes you might get the kid who walks into a thrift and finds 10 Kiton suits from a dead guy, but more likely you will get someone like me who buys a Saddlebred XXL 40% Polyester shirt for $7.99 and finally gets a bidder for .99 and $5 shipping then actually spends $5.70 to ship it... What do you think the chances are I am going to quit my Engineering job and try to thrift for a living? I will continue to go thrifting mainly because I think it is exciting when you do find something great for a low price. After my fiasco of trying to sell on eBay I will find things in my size or sizes of friends on this forum and leave everything else. Although if I do find 10 Kiton suits I will be buying them

Also, you can see one of my first posts was to give away a few SWUs' on American Airline, the reason I did this here instead of giving them to co-workers or a travel forum is expressly due to Spoo and the others on this thread spreading their knowledge and having fun doing it. I think it would be a huge disservice to yourselves and everything you have built here at StyleForum to hide away your knowledge.