The Official Thrift / Discount Store Bragging Thread Part III (Sept 2018-)

[SimonC]

Regarding the last part of this quote about prices going crazy... are others seeing the same pattern in your respective areas?

The price increases at Red Cross here in Copenhagen have been almost exponential – prices are often 5-10 times what they used to be (or can be in other stores).

It's not just the good stuff. I'm talking '80s polyester tuxedos at $70, random leather shoes at $40-50, shirts at $20, ties $10-15. One shop has a Corneliani suit for $175, so that's a $75 loss reselling that on a good day.

The most outdated fish mouth lapel 3-button sport coats that nobody will ever want will set you back $30. Even on 50% discount days there is no meat on the bone. It's absolutely nuts. Another spot that I used to go to for fodder ties just increased the price of those 300% to about $5. What do they think it is, the Weimar Republic?

It's like they have a general notion that 'second hand is really trendy, so now everything has to be super expensive'.

There are plenty of other thrift chains, but with Red Cross being a significant player in the game, it sucks that so many spots are not worth going to any longer.

I enjoy browsing, mostly because I love clothes and thrifts / charity shops mean you never know what you’ll find. But honestly at this point, I’m finding better deals via ethrifting than via bricks and mortar.

 

[Purplelabel]

I sometimes miss the calm and collected atmosphere of a British charity shop. Always ran by a Doris and Sheila and most had that same musty smell. But then I remember how many strike outs I got and now I go to a warehouse size establishment that has more gear than Peckham.

 

[jmbb]

I'm struck by how different the market structure is. Compared to (e.g.) New York, London has a nearly total absence of non-charity second-hand shops where prices/quality are a little higher (thinking Beacon's, L Train, and so on). Some charity shops here have clearly tried to capture this market, but I imagine it's led them all to drift upwards - compared to US where the market is more segmented between large thrift stores vs more selective non-charity second-hand. Because British people would be aghast at such places effectively competing against charity shops, I'm not sure I see much changing.

The downside is that average prices are clearly higher; the upside is that there is far less competition for the good stuff (having spent a lot of time in NY and SF). And I quite like the smaller shops, since I mostly do this for personal - in terms of serendipity, takes less time, and running into Doris and Sheila.

Relatedly: some recent pickups. All for personal (for now).

Best first.

Keeping the theme going: a huge Drake's wool/silk scarf. Fortunately "Drake's" is only written in small text in a corner of the thing.

Workwear. Old Town; amazing Mountain Research Japan cords; MHL; Gitman for Trunk.

And some Scottish jumpers (am inferring Lockie from the Trunk tag).

 

[jbie]

I'm struck by how different the market structure is. Compared to (e.g.) New York, London has a nearly total absence of non-charity second-hand shops where prices/quality are a little higher (thinking Beacon's, L Train, and so on). Some charity shops here have clearly tried to capture this market, but I imagine it's led them all to drift upwards - compared to US where the market is more segmented between large thrift stores vs more selective non-charity second-hand. Because British people would be aghast at such places effectively competing against charity shops, I'm not sure I see much changing.

The downside is that average prices are clearly higher; the upside is that there is far less competition for the good stuff (having spent a lot of time in NY and SF). And I quite like the smaller shops, since I mostly do this for personal - in terms of serendipity, takes less time, and running into Doris and Sheila.

I think also from what I have seen in London, people don't seem to be as clued in to the sort of stuff that can be found.

This is generalising to some extent, but I have noticed that the younger crowd tends to be happy with going Notting Hill/Camden for their 'vintage' fix, and then there are also those 'vintage rummage pop-ups' that all seem to use the same suppliers and people get excited about finding plain chinos from a 90s diffusion line of D&G.

Whereas the older crowds seem to have been visiting these charity shops for ages, and don't seem to be into it for finding massive thrift hauls as much as popping in for the community aspect or just picking something nice up without much regard for 'value' or brand.

A lot of people also tend to just shop at their local. I think that's where a lot of the seeming frustration comes with people getting annoyed at rising prices at charity shops. I'm sure part of it is down to higher running costs in recent years, but there's definitely loads of exceptions to the 'expensive charity shop' rule if you venture out of the popular places. Marylebone and Finchley are worlds apart in pricing.

Sorry for the essay - just some observations I have noticed!

 

[WoolyLamb]

I'm struck by how different the market structure is. Compared to (e.g.) New York, London has a nearly total absence of non-charity second-hand shops where prices/quality are a little higher (thinking Beacon's, L Train, and so on). Some charity shops here have clearly tried to capture this market, but I imagine it's led them all to drift upwards - compared to US where the market is more segmented between large thrift stores vs more selective non-charity second-hand. Because British people would be aghast at such places effectively competing against charity shops, I'm not sure I see much changing.

The downside is that average prices are clearly higher; the upside is that there is far less competition for the good stuff (having spent a lot of time in NY and SF). And I quite like the smaller shops, since I mostly do this for personal - in terms of serendipity, takes less time, and running into Doris and Sheila.

Relatedly: some recent pickups. All for personal (for now).

Best first.
View attachment 2146505
View attachment 2146507

Keeping the theme going: a huge Drake's wool/silk scarf. Fortunately "Drake's" is only written in small text in a corner of the thing.
View attachment 2146509
View attachment 2146513

Workwear. Old Town; amazing Mountain Research Japan cords; MHL; Gitman for Trunk.
View attachment 2146511

And some Scottish jumpers (am inferring Lockie from the Trunk tag).
View attachment 2146503

Man that drakes jacket cloth is on my white whales list!

 

[PGRoadhouse]

All German WW2 era military issues were stenciled or marked in some way.
Sorry to burst the bubble but unless you find such a mark it's not KM or Luft.
It could be very faint somewhere on the lining or even on tbe lining inner pockets check carefully.

all good, especially considering you are correct - no markings at all on my jacket, and the more I considered it the more out there details (blue hide, incorporated beaver collar) did not jive at all with the presumably rigid 3rd Reich military dress code. then the other day an account i follow on instagram posted this:

nearly 1 for 1 design wise save for the 2nd buckle substituted for buttons, and a custom piece makes a lot of sense given the outre details.
also when I was taking a closer look at the Monarch safari jacket I noticed this stamp on the interior hide:

just faded enough that I can't quite make it out - anybody recognize the arrow piercing a circle design?

 

[PGRoadhouse]

Recent pickups-

my first mensweary coat was a J Crew peacoat, long since moved on, and I've passed on who knows how many Sterlingwear versions as they tend to get priced up but this SW for Ball & Buck version is a great take on a classic.

pop! on Pointer. NOS by the look of it

classic overalls up front...

...with a neat surprise in back!

I thought these were a contemporary model from Pointer's 21st century fashion reincarnation, but given the oxidation on the buttons and rivets, miusa, advertising straps, and double/triple stitching errwhere i'm thinking deadstock from the 70s or 80s.
Had a killer couple of weeks in the eyewear department:

minimalist frames from Dior (Japan) and Schnuchel (germany) - funny name, hilarious retail.

Two french frames for my personal rotation - Vuarnet skilynx shades are one of my favorite sunglass thrifts ever, and I have a hard time turning down B&L Bans even in rough shape.

you know how sometimes you'll swing by a store that almost never turns up anything but you're in the neighborhood so what the hell? that happened with a little local consignment place the other day. Typically its all overpriced Ann Taylor but these funky sunglasses at the back of the case stood out:

Julbo sherpas completely deadstock with box, papers, croakies, and leather sideshields and Oakley trench coats nwob in pearl and black persimmon, $15 and $20, respectively.

the Julbo's might be keepers, if only because I have some old Bolle's I've always wanted shields for. Speaking of which, found one more pair of killer sunnies after i took the group shots -

always fun finding the model on which trillions of pairs of gas station shades are based off

in other, sadder news, several of my local places have been starting the spring turnover - a general reduction in outerwear and sweaters, shorts have appeared it seems to me inappropriately early. But this is the way of things. More to post, little time, as it ever was - all best my friends, good luck out there.

 

[flipstah]

@GoldenHarvestMedal is the 8.5 US sizing? Or UK?

 

[jmbb]

I think also from what I have seen in London, people don't seem to be as clued in to the sort of stuff that can be found.

This is generalising to some extent, but I have noticed that the younger crowd tends to be happy with going Notting Hill/Camden for their 'vintage' fix, and then there are also those 'vintage rummage pop-ups' that all seem to use the same suppliers and people get excited about finding plain chinos from a 90s diffusion line of D&G.

Whereas the older crowds seem to have been visiting these charity shops for ages, and don't seem to be into it for finding massive thrift hauls as much as popping in for the community aspect or just picking something nice up without much regard for 'value' or brand.

A lot of people also tend to just shop at their local. I think that's where a lot of the seeming frustration comes with people getting annoyed at rising prices at charity shops. I'm sure part of it is down to higher running costs in recent years, but there's definitely loads of exceptions to the 'expensive charity shop' rule if you venture out of the popular places. Marylebone and Finchley are worlds apart in pricing.

Sorry for the essay - just some observations I have noticed!

Agree with all this - was in Camden a few weeks ago and was amazed at how bad (yet busy) it was. On prices, I've also lost count of the times I've heard customers complaining to staff. I wonder how much is also about a general upward drift plus (mostly) volunteers not being particularly informed/able to price differentiate, such that alongside some decent deals on better stuff the pricing on high street stuff is often wild.

Also think that generally small scale donations plus such small shops probably limit people's awareness of what you can get (e.g. every item above came from a different shop I think), but am quite happy keeping it that way!

 

[jbie]

Agree with all this - was in Camden a few weeks ago and was amazed at how bad (yet busy) it was. On prices, I've also lost count of the times I've heard customers complaining to staff. I wonder how much is also about a general upward drift plus (mostly) volunteers not being particularly informed/able to price differentiate, such that alongside some decent deals on better stuff the pricing on high street stuff is often wild.

Also think that generally small scale donations plus such small shops probably limit people's awareness of what you can get (e.g. every item above came from a different shop I think), but am quite happy keeping it that way!

I know at least two charity shop chains (Royal Trinity and RSPCA) often move their stock around different stores, at least for their nicer or higher end stuff. In the former case they also do have a few outlet stores.

I think one big challenge is that there is a lot of stock that does get donated, and a lot of it just tends to be very meh. People seem to think they can donate whatever and then the good donations get crowded out.

I volunteered for half a year in a higher end chain of charity shops and we would always be behind on donations, because on one hand we did want to maximise how much value we got out of the clothes, but on the other we did just want to get the stock up to the shop floor. And inevitably if you spend any amount of time researching clothing then the amount of clothes you can get on the shop floor falls exponentially - so to balance that all out you put up prices across the board. Especially with smaller shops where individual volunteers don’t have as much brand knowledge or the same systems as they might have as at a place that deals regularly with big volumes.

I will never understand why Superdry coats are always priced up so much. Maybe it just exists in that limbo of “designer” high street mass market brands that are well recognised and people presume that inevitably attaches some level of higher value.

 

[Juntao90]

@PGRoadhouse It honestly feels like eyewear has slowed down majorly in the thread here. The usual contributors have not even been contributing.

 

[Lovable Brogue]

I know at least two charity shop chains (Royal Trinity and RSPCA) often move their stock around different stores, at least for their nicer or higher end stuff. In the former case they also do have a few outlet stores.

I think one big challenge is that there is a lot of stock that does get donated, and a lot of it just tends to be very meh. People seem to think they can donate whatever and then the good donations get crowded out.

I volunteered for half a year in a higher end chain of charity shops and we would always be behind on donations, because on one hand we did want to maximise how much value we got out of the clothes, but on the other we did just want to get the stock up to the shop floor. And inevitably if you spend any amount of time researching clothing then the amount of clothes you can get on the shop floor falls exponentially - so to balance that all out you put up prices across the board. Especially with smaller shops where individual volunteers don’t have as much brand knowledge or the same systems as they might have as at a place that deals regularly with big volumes.

I will never understand why Superdry coats are always priced up so much. Maybe it just exists in that limbo of “designer” high street mass market brands that are well recognised and people presume that inevitably attaches some level of higher value.

This is some interesting extra context - when I think back to when I was seriously flipping clothes from charity shops about 10 years ago, it was just hard for staff to quickly assess the valuable stuff without already having a lot of brand knowledge - closest you could come was looking at sold eBay listings and working out a realistic price, which per item would be time consuming.

Nowadays a lot of shops seem to go on a basis of "Google the RRP and then price a quarter / third of that", which is patently absurd if you know, like the people on this thread know, the sheer depreciation of luxury clothing compared to its RRP.

It's not like eThrifting is immune either - I can hardly find bargains on shoes on eBay these days because they all get bought up by established resellers. The number of times I've seen a prospective bargain get sold on offer then pop up on Abbots Shoes at 4 times the purchase price is pretty dispiriting (although I can hardly begrudge them the business model).

 

[jbie]

This is some interesting extra context - when I think back to when I was seriously flipping clothes from charity shops about 10 years ago, it was just hard for staff to quickly assess the valuable stuff without already having a lot of brand knowledge - closest you could come was looking at sold eBay listings and working out a realistic price, which per item would be time consuming.

Nowadays a lot of shops seem to go on a basis of "Google the RRP and then price a quarter / third of that", which is patently absurd if you know, like the people on this thread know, the sheer depreciation of luxury clothing compared to its RRP.

It's not like eThrifting is immune either - I can hardly find bargains on shoes on eBay these days because they all get bought up by established resellers. The number of times I've seen a prospective bargain get sold on offer then pop up on Abbots Shoes at 4 times the purchase price is pretty dispiriting (although I can hardly begrudge them the business model).

In the boutique I volunteered at, one of the guidelines was actually to go along with 30-40% of RRP if possible - and that was for used, not NWT. Particular absurd for the sort of brands where RRP is only nominal and the majority of sell through when new is on discount.

I think the even bigger challenge with charity shops these days is finding enough (good) stock to stay profitable. Which is why a lot more charity shops are taking on unsold inventory from Zara/Hugo Boss/etc. where it is already priced and you’re not dealing with the single-SKU challenge of regular pre-owned clothing.

I think with something like Abbot’s shoes or any similar sort of “premium resale” project is to look at what value they provide outside of the product itself, beyond the service you’d get with someone clearing out their closet. For the most part I have had great experiences with e-thrift in multiple countries and multiple platforms, so the only real draw of those sort of sellers is standardisation (of photography, description and grading, returns process, product selection).

And on finding deals with shoes, it’s not easy but timing definitely makes the biggest difference, as with many things.

 

[sandfourman]

e thrift

 

[Clay J]

@PGRoadhouse Watch out on the Oakley Trenchcoats, they were notoriously brittle frames. Awesome to find in that condition though!