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

[Drzdave58]

Thrifted these Converse chuck taylor high tops for $21. They were practically new but they were white. So I dyed them green.

 

[Letric]

@StanleyWingtip what size are those Sammy? The orange one is niceee!

Flipstah posts always have at least one nice Cannoli 1934 piece.

Summer came and went in a flash.

Nataku posts always have at least one nice Its-a-ee-uh piece.

Anyone know if the thrifts in Portland Oregon are any good?

Blunt honesty: Yes but be prepared to fight about 800 other flippers and keep in mind that the big powerhouse here is GW's that are run TIGHT and they don't let a ton of the real good stuff out onto the sales floor anymore. Filson, Arcteryx, Red Wing, Danner.. the good Patagonias and Pendletons.. even Allen Edmonds are vanishing as they realize the values. They almost all get backroomed now and wind up at the boutique for about 10-20x the normal store price.

Oh and also be prepared to pay about 2-4x what you normally pay for stuff. This region has some of the highest thrift costs in the country.

Snapped an evidence pic of their backrooming today as an example:

The Red circle shows a massive stack of shoes. These aren't sorted yet.
The Yellow oval shows 2 "gray crates". These are things they send to the Boutique locations. Notice the pallet back there stacked with em.
The Green oval shows their normal shoe basket that gets 'produced' and put out on the sales floor.
The white circle shows a computer screen where the shoe production person looks items up and prices.

There's some days where I look back there and I see the gray crates PILED high. Anything that says "Jordan" or has a jumpman gets pulled, any "fancy sneaker" gets pulled. Corporate hands down directives to regional supes and from there store supes/managers and then they educate their staff on what to look for. At many stores a lot of what comes out is marginal and overpriced, or if it's fair priced there's almost always damage. Sometimes there's high priced damaged stuff too.

You can still make a living doing flipping here but it's getting a lot harder, more expensive, more time consuming (as you have to hit stores a few times a day and hope there's new racks with something).. And if you can deal with fodder instead of grails. I basically just look for the stuff they miss, the obscure designer stuff, valuable vintage that was overlooked, etc. I'm starting to look into other forms of income as this just isn't sustainable anymore.

 

[flipstah]

@Letric that was definitely the same experience I get whenever I visit PNW. It's trickling down here too as it's becoming more and more time-consuming to thrift. It'll get worse now that VV has opened a Boutique store here as well

 

[sushijerk]

You guys who do this for a living are inspirational. Stuff in nyc is so priced up with so many flippers who have totally thrown all etiquette and respect out the window I sometimes barely want to regularly do it as a hobby.

 

[impuntura]

 

[Letric]

To clarify - a lot of the stuff they pull, especially sneakers, wind up on Shopgoodwill. You can filter by location and the Hillsboro, OR one is the local sorting facility where all the gray crates go. From there stuff gets researched, priced and dished out to the Boutique locations (there's 4 in this regional network). Anything that is a good label, but not quite 'Boutique condition', heads out onto the sales floor of normal stores, but at basically boutique prices.

They seem to have a raging hardon for Lululemon - Worn t-shirts, shorts, sweats at $20. Pants I've seen up to $80 in normal stores lol. This one store is the worst - Any friggin Lululemon item no matter the condition is $20+.

This is the info they don't want to be made general public knowledge so I'm done keeping it to myself. I've tracked donations before, I've got employees tipping me off about the moves that management makes and brands they know about.. It's ran as a highly profitable corporate enterprise under the guise of a charitable outfit and the upper management are making so much cash it's ridiculous. I know one regional supe who owns like 4 cars and nice ones. Many of the store managers drive new Audis and BMW's.

So you guys in other areas who are finding amazing stuff for $4 - 12 per item... Buy it all why you can because the tides are changing. Other stores are emulating this region's Goodwill structure.

 

[impuntura]

To clarify - a lot of the stuff they pull, especially sneakers, wind up on Shopgoodwill. You can filter by location and the Hillsboro, OR one is the local sorting facility where all the gray crates go. From there stuff gets researched, priced and dished out to the Boutique locations (there's 4 in this regional network). Anything that is a good label, but not quite 'Boutique condition', heads out onto the sales floor of normal stores, but at basically boutique prices.

They seem to have a raging hardon for Lululemon - Worn t-shirts, shorts, sweats at $20. Pants I've seen up to $80 in normal stores lol. This one store is the worst - Any friggin Lululemon item no matter the condition is $20+.

This is the info they don't want to be made general public knowledge so I'm done keeping it to myself. I've tracked donations before, I've got employees tipping me off about the moves that management makes and brands they know about.. It's ran as a highly profitable corporate enterprise under the guise of a charitable outfit and the upper management are making so much cash it's ridiculous. I know one regional supe who owns like 4 cars and nice ones. Many of the store managers drive new Audis and BMW's.

So you guys in other areas who are finding amazing stuff for $4 - 12 per item... Buy it all why you can because the tides are changing. Other stores are emulating this region's Goodwill structure.

Nothing ever stays the same .you just gotta pivot and roll with the punches.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Clean Sansui G-5700.

Sansui G-x700 Series occupy a special place in my heart

 

[jbie]

To clarify - a lot of the stuff they pull, especially sneakers, wind up on Shopgoodwill. You can filter by location and the Hillsboro, OR one is the local sorting facility where all the gray crates go. From there stuff gets researched, priced and dished out to the Boutique locations (there's 4 in this regional network). Anything that is a good label, but not quite 'Boutique condition', heads out onto the sales floor of normal stores, but at basically boutique prices.

They seem to have a raging hardon for Lululemon - Worn t-shirts, shorts, sweats at $20. Pants I've seen up to $80 in normal stores lol. This one store is the worst - Any friggin Lululemon item no matter the condition is $20+.

This is the info they don't want to be made general public knowledge so I'm done keeping it to myself. I've tracked donations before, I've got employees tipping me off about the moves that management makes and brands they know about.. It's ran as a highly profitable corporate enterprise under the guise of a charitable outfit and the upper management are making so much cash it's ridiculous. I know one regional supe who owns like 4 cars and nice ones. Many of the store managers drive new Audis and BMW's.

So you guys in other areas who are finding amazing stuff for $4 - 12 per item... Buy it all why you can because the tides are changing. Other stores are emulating this region's Goodwill structure.

Very interesting to hear the US perspective. Here in the UK, even in London, the idea of an operation on that scale isn’t even imaginable. Obviously in less well-off areas the national chains seem to send stuff to HQ to sell online, but the impression that I get is that beyond eBay, charity/thrift store online retail is really undeveloped.

Same thing for pricing and sorting items. There’s only really a couple of chains that consistently mark up (Mary’s Living and Giving, Royal Trinity Hospice) but only one which seems to have systematised its prices (Traid). But even the latter still misses loads of things (RRL, Canali, Levis LVC etc.).

I do wonder when (or if) things will take a turn for a worse here. Charity retail here seems to be largely run by older women, and management doesn’t seem to be as nearly concerned with harmonising prices across stores.

I think probably the biggest limitation on this side of the Atlantic is that good quality stock is probably more limited. I can know full well where the best spots are, but there’s just nowhere near as many as in the US. Even London is a mixed bag. Though I won’t complain about finding my 6th pair of unmarked Savile Row trousers.

Would be interested in hearing the experiences of others.

 

[Purplelabel]

Man, I should be thankful I can pick up stuff like I do for so cheap then. The local GW here has a employees who know their jordans etc but luckily nothing else.

I'm still buzzing about those Triple Stitches for 12 bux. I guess I won't find that in the PNW.

 

[double00]

found this in the half-off section of teh pnw :

celadon teapot with a good sig ! in a shop this would be 150 or 175 .

 

[330CK]

You guys who do this for a living are inspirational. Stuff in nyc is so priced up with so many flippers who have totally thrown all etiquette and respect out the window I sometimes barely want to regularly do it as a hobby.

idk man, I was only there twice, briefly, this year but nyc is still one of my favorite places to source. but I also love to walk, so maybe being able to walk 20+ miles/day while sourcing factors in my love for it.

 

[Nataku]

Flipstah posts always have at least one nice Cannoli 1934 piece.


Nataku posts always have at least one nice Its-a-ee-uh piece.



Blunt honesty: Yes but be prepared to fight about 800 other flippers and keep in mind that the big powerhouse here is GW's that are run TIGHT and they don't let a ton of the real good stuff out onto the sales floor anymore. Filson, Arcteryx, Red Wing, Danner.. the good Patagonias and Pendletons.. even Allen Edmonds are vanishing as they realize the values. They almost all get backroomed now and wind up at the boutique for about 10-20x the normal store price.

Oh and also be prepared to pay about 2-4x what you normally pay for stuff. This region has some of the highest thrift costs in the country.

Snapped an evidence pic of their backrooming today as an example:
View attachment 2242835

The Red circle shows a massive stack of shoes. These aren't sorted yet.
The Yellow oval shows 2 "gray crates". These are things they send to the Boutique locations. Notice the pallet back there stacked with em.
The Green oval shows their normal shoe basket that gets 'produced' and put out on the sales floor.
The white circle shows a computer screen where the shoe production person looks items up and prices.

There's some days where I look back there and I see the gray crates PILED high. Anything that says "Jordan" or has a jumpman gets pulled, any "fancy sneaker" gets pulled. Corporate hands down directives to regional supes and from there store supes/managers and then they educate their staff on what to look for. At many stores a lot of what comes out is marginal and overpriced, or if it's fair priced there's almost always damage. Sometimes there's high priced damaged stuff too.

You can still make a living doing flipping here but it's getting a lot harder, more expensive, more time consuming (as you have to hit stores a few times a day and hope there's new racks with something).. And if you can deal with fodder instead of grails. I basically just look for the stuff they miss, the obscure designer stuff, valuable vintage that was overlooked, etc. I'm starting to look into other forms of income as this just isn't sustainable anymore.

Thrifting as I had previously known it around these parts had died a slow death from about 2019 (2020 and covid really did a number on it) through about 2022. Goodwill runs the thrift game here as well. I would estimate they have about 75% of the thrifts in the metro area. I rarely hit any of the stores in my old circuit these days. Can't remember the last high end item I found at a Goodwill store. It's a bummer for sure. @impuntura is right, though. Gotta roll with the changes. Those days where I would come up on a new rack and it would be one rich guy's entire donation full of Zegna, Isaia, RLPL, Hermes, etc will be remembered fondly. With that said, there's still a lot of killer stuff out there waiting to be found. Persistence (usually) pays off.

 

[Centaurus3200]

Flipstah posts always have at least one nice Cannoli 1934 piece.


Nataku posts always have at least one nice Its-a-ee-uh piece.



Blunt honesty: Yes but be prepared to fight about 800 other flippers and keep in mind that the big powerhouse here is GW's that are run TIGHT and they don't let a ton of the real good stuff out onto the sales floor anymore. Filson, Arcteryx, Red Wing, Danner.. the good Patagonias and Pendletons.. even Allen Edmonds are vanishing as they realize the values. They almost all get backroomed now and wind up at the boutique for about 10-20x the normal store price.

Oh and also be prepared to pay about 2-4x what you normally pay for stuff. This region has some of the highest thrift costs in the country.

Snapped an evidence pic of their backrooming today as an example:
View attachment 2242835

The Red circle shows a massive stack of shoes. These aren't sorted yet.
The Yellow oval shows 2 "gray crates". These are things they send to the Boutique locations. Notice the pallet back there stacked with em.
The Green oval shows their normal shoe basket that gets 'produced' and put out on the sales floor.
The white circle shows a computer screen where the shoe production person looks items up and prices.

There's some days where I look back there and I see the gray crates PILED high. Anything that says "Jordan" or has a jumpman gets pulled, any "fancy sneaker" gets pulled. Corporate hands down directives to regional supes and from there store supes/managers and then they educate their staff on what to look for. At many stores a lot of what comes out is marginal and overpriced, or if it's fair priced there's almost always damage. Sometimes there's high priced damaged stuff too.

You can still make a living doing flipping here but it's getting a lot harder, more expensive, more time consuming (as you have to hit stores a few times a day and hope there's new racks with something).. And if you can deal with fodder instead of grails. I basically just look for the stuff they miss, the obscure designer stuff, valuable vintage that was overlooked, etc. I'm starting to look into other forms of income as this just isn't sustainable anymore.

yup, i went to portland like 5 years ago. anything good is at the GW boutique and it's pretty much ebay pricing. i think you have to go to the suburbs to find anything intriguing.

 

[Centaurus3200]

Flipstah posts always have at least one nice Cannoli 1934 piece.


Nataku posts always have at least one nice Its-a-ee-uh piece.



Blunt honesty: Yes but be prepared to fight about 800 other flippers and keep in mind that the big powerhouse here is GW's that are run TIGHT and they don't let a ton of the real good stuff out onto the sales floor anymore. Filson, Arcteryx, Red Wing, Danner.. the good Patagonias and Pendletons.. even Allen Edmonds are vanishing as they realize the values. They almost all get backroomed now and wind up at the boutique for about 10-20x the normal store price.

Oh and also be prepared to pay about 2-4x what you normally pay for stuff. This region has some of the highest thrift costs in the country.

Snapped an evidence pic of their backrooming today as an example:
View attachment 2242835

The Red circle shows a massive stack of shoes. These aren't sorted yet.
The Yellow oval shows 2 "gray crates". These are things they send to the Boutique locations. Notice the pallet back there stacked with em.
The Green oval shows their normal shoe basket that gets 'produced' and put out on the sales floor.
The white circle shows a computer screen where the shoe production person looks items up and prices.

There's some days where I look back there and I see the gray crates PILED high. Anything that says "Jordan" or has a jumpman gets pulled, any "fancy sneaker" gets pulled. Corporate hands down directives to regional supes and from there store supes/managers and then they educate their staff on what to look for. At many stores a lot of what comes out is marginal and overpriced, or if it's fair priced there's almost always damage. Sometimes there's high priced damaged stuff too.

You can still make a living doing flipping here but it's getting a lot harder, more expensive, more time consuming (as you have to hit stores a few times a day and hope there's new racks with something).. And if you can deal with fodder instead of grails. I basically just look for the stuff they miss, the obscure designer stuff, valuable vintage that was overlooked, etc. I'm starting to look into other forms of income as this just isn't sustainable anymore.

i only do this stuff for fun and it's oddly "relaxing" to go on the hunt.

i seriously only hit the 3 local stores around me. but i hit them somewhat regularly. i think most of us here have a really wide variety of knowledge on multiple fronts on what has value and what does not. it would be very hard for the GW sorters to match our hive mind.

i'll say this much. YES, i understand the point of charity shops is for the "goodwill" of the charity. not for us to flip. so i do not get "too" angry when they have a high price or put on their auction site. admittedly, i do get annoyed when a store has everything at near ebay levels. the name of the game is to MOVE PRODUCT. they got it for free. i think it's fair to offer it as a discount for someone in need.

BTW, i'm not so sure goodwill is all that much of an altruistic "non profit".