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The official THRIFT STORE tips and best practices thread

ComboOrgan

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Originally Posted by idfnl
And... many thrift stores are getting too big for their britches, overpricing is becoming more and more common... my experience is they wont negotiate the price.... so if they wont, my way of fighting this is to rip the price off and disappear it, most thrift stores wont sell it without a price so its a way of letting them know they are not pricing something fairly. Call it mean, but its a way to protect on of the last vestages of my youth.

I hate everything about this advice
 

mainy

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Just get friendly with the staff. You'd be surprised what the staff at a thrift store can do for you if they like you. Suddenly they're willing to let you sift through stuff they haven't put on the floor yet, maybe that 25% discount turns to 50%, etc, etc.
 

likeitaloud

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Originally Posted by mainy
Just get friendly with the staff. You'd be surprised what the staff at a thrift store can do for you if they like you. Suddenly they're willing to let you sift through stuff they haven't put on the floor yet, maybe that 25% discount turns to 50%, etc, etc.

Good advice except everyone who works at a thrift store near me is either disgusting or gives me a feeling he has every disease known to men.
plain.gif
 

allreds

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He said "get friendly" with, not "have open wound, unprotected sex" with.
 

stevp1

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Originally Posted by idfnl
Here is my next piece of advice: be humble

  • Dress like **** when you thrift
  • Respect the less fortunate: there are alot of people that thrift thru necessity. When I have just tried on a nice jacket, for example a hickey freeman or something that didnt fit, and I see a poor person shopping for a jacket, I tell them 'hey, try this one, its a very good jacket'. I think its very important to help these folks since they generally have no clue what is good and what isn't. Not to sound a snob, but I encounter clothes all the time that are not to the level I seek but would make someone next to me very happy, I give it to them. You would be amazed how happy it makes them and many times a conversation is struck up on how to spot quality, they really appreciate it.

Most of us here are lucky, so help people who are poor look like they are not.



I agree 100% with everything except the "dress like ****" part. Do you really think it's a big deal? I mean, I'm not in suit/tie with rolex or anything, but I wear a dress shirt and decent pant/shoes to work, and go on my lunchtime. I never really thought about it, I suppose.

The thrift store is there, yes, to provide low cost goods to the poor, but even if better off folk make purchases, the money usually goes to another good program the store is involved with, even if that's providing a salary to the people that work there. So I would think they don't mind anyone shopping there, rich or poor. Everyone benefits.
 

Marcus Brody

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I usually just wear a pair of jeans and with a button down shirt tucked into them. It allows me to easily try on jackets and sweaters, and when I get home I just toss the shirt in the dirty clothes if I've tried on a bunch of jackets..

Rather than dressing like crap to be humble, I think that dressing in a reasonably respectable way actually is the better course of action. I think it makes a statement that not all thrift store shoppers are necessarily there because they are desperately poor, and even those that are will likely not mind the reduction of the stigma of buying things in such places that a respectable looking clientele brings.
 

stevp1

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thanks Marcus, I think that's the way I see it too. Like I said, I wouldn't go in there wearing a seriously high end suit or anything... but I might hope to come out with one!

Dig your username and avatar, by the way.
 

YoungAmerican

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You people and your tag-ripping are messed up.

For gosh sakes, the money is going to *charity*. If a Zegna coat is $100, and that's not worth it to you, just don't buy it. Would you switch price tags in Target? Where the money's going to profits?
 

YoungAmerican

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Originally Posted by likeitaloud
Good advice except everyone who works at a thrift store near me is either disgusting or gives me a feeling he has every disease known to men.
plain.gif


It's catching! Pretty soon you'll look like that! By all means, stop thrifting! Especially if you live near me!
 

Nataku

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Originally Posted by YoungAmerican
You people and your tag-ripping are messed up.

For gosh sakes, the money is going to *charity*. If a Zegna coat is $100, and that's not worth it to you, just don't buy it. Would you switch price tags in Target? Where the money's going to profits?


I used to work for the Salvation Army, and you'd be surprised at how much of the money actually goes to help out the rehab centers. A lot of the money goes to store managers for bonuses and to pay the "big whigs" of the organization. True, some money does go to the center, but not as much as you'd like to think. Some of these other "charity" thrift shops are a joke. You'll see a "help others in need" slogan in the window and maybe a couple bible verses painted on the wall, but when you ask where the money goes, nobody can give you an answer. It's just someone's "get rich quick" scheme. There was even an article in the paper about a couple of these in Minneapolis.

They can make do just fine without charging an arm and a leg for stuff. Either that or change the name from "thrift store", because $100 for a used blazer sort of defies being "thrifty".

My two cents.
 

idfnl

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Originally Posted by stevp1
I agree 100% with everything except the "dress like ****" part. Do you really think it's a big deal? I mean, I'm not in suit/tie with rolex or anything, but I wear a dress shirt and decent pant/shoes to work, and go on my lunchtime. I never really thought about it, I suppose.

The thrift store is there, yes, to provide low cost goods to the poor, but even if better off folk make purchases, the money usually goes to another good program the store is involved with, even if that's providing a salary to the people that work there. So I would think they don't mind anyone shopping there, rich or poor. Everyone benefits.


I guess I didnt mean '****' but more like dont go there dressed up. If you go at lunch you dont have much choice.

I mention this because once I went to a thrift store after a meeting and I was decked out... the looks I got, the 'what the hell are youuuuu doing here' looks were enough to get me to realize there was something wrong with this picture. It happened once before and I didnt make the connection until it happened that second time.
 

YoungAmerican

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Originally Posted by Nataku
I used to work for the Salvation Army, and you'd be surprised at how much of the money actually goes to help out the rehab centers. A lot of the money goes to store managers for bonuses and to pay the "big whigs" of the organization. True, some money does go to the center, but not as much as you'd like to think. Some of these other "charity" thrift shops are a joke. You'll see a "help others in need" slogan in the window and maybe a couple bible verses painted on the wall, but when you ask where the money goes, nobody can give you an answer. It's just someone's "get rich quick" scheme. There was even an article in the paper about a couple of these in Minneapolis.

They can make do just fine without charging an arm and a leg for stuff. Either that or change the name from "thrift store", because $100 for a used blazer sort of defies being "thrifty".

My two cents.


I'm sorry, but that just doesn't fly. You're talking about stealing from a charity.

Look: I'm not crazy about the SA's ideology, but they're helping people without other options get jobs, and giving food and ministering to poor people. Whether they're doing so perfectly efficiently or not... you're still talking about STEALING FROM A CHARITY.
 

Nataku

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Originally Posted by YoungAmerican
I'm sorry, but that just doesn't fly. You're talking about stealing from a charity.

Look: I'm not crazy about the SA's ideology, but they're helping people without other options get jobs, and giving food and ministering to poor people. Whether they're doing so perfectly efficiently or not... you're still talking about STEALING FROM A CHARITY.



Not stealing. Stealing would be, say pocketing ties. I don't think anyone here would be low enough to steal from a thrift. That and the pricing of the said item is at the discretion of the employee, so all in all we're paying for the goods and they're getting money. A lot of the pricing of stuff is also done by rehab workers who either have too much time on their hands and or are sick of pricing stuff. I've seen everything from tags that were marked $2000 to goofy drawings to bizarre messages. Keep in mind these are on the square colored tags that are usually marked with a grease pencil/magic marker. You can't say you'd be willing to pay what some goof-off wrote as a joke. For some of the stuff that they have priced more than $15, it makes me think that it is a joke....
 

YoungAmerican

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Generally speaking, when I see a price on the tag in a store that I wouldn't be willing to pay, I leave the item behind. I don't switch the tags in an attempt to scam the store out of money.

Especially when the store is a non-profit, run to help addicts in recovery and indigents.

Your line between pocketing ties and switching price tags is ridiculous, and it seems to be fueled by an almost unfathomable sense of entitlement. Seriously pathetic.
 

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