How to Thrift Shop: A Beginner’s Guide

I’m an avid thrift shopper. Not as much as some people, and I unfortunately don’t get to go thrift shopping as much as I’d like, but over the past few years I’ve developed quite a wardrobe from clothes that I’ve found in the likes of Goodwill and the Salvation Army.

My friends don’t quite get it. I’m often met with the likes of: “But how do you find anything in there?” or, “Wouldn’t it just be easier to go to a real store?” The response on the Internet is generally positive, with ten blog posts defending the thrift store for each one that criticizes it; but, plenty of these posts focus on the negative responses people sometimes give to your shopping choices or recognize the downsides of thrift shopping.

Despite the absolute love I have for thrift stores, I realize that you might have some reservations before going to one, and this post should serve to assuage those reservations and to give you some tips for your next (or even first) visit!

First off, here are some pretty common myths about thrift stores that I’ve found to be simply untrue, or at least not very convincing arguments for avoiding them.

 

“Thrift store clothes/thrift stores are dirty.”

Could thrift store clothes be dirty? Yes, they could, and some are. But generally, thrift store clothing isn’t considerably less hygienic than clothing bought in a traditional store. You should always wash your clothing before wearing it regardless of whether it’s from a thrift store or not since clothing in stores has been tried on for fit by up to dozens of people.

That being said, you should always be careful to check for stains, rips, or tears in an article of clothing before buying it.

Thrift stores themselves can be a bit dirty, but that’s not a hard and fast rule, and ultimately it’s not what matters if you find clothing you like. In a store I visited last November, I found a number of good-quality items I liked even though my mom swore up and down that the store smelled like old shoes (probably because there was, in fact, a very large display of used shoes). I won’t include the store name here because that’s bad for business, and, anyway, I didn’t smell anything.

 

“Thrift stores are disorganized.”

I’m sorry, but have you ever seen the inside of a Forever 21? Most thrift stores are quite a bit better than stores like Forever 21 where clothing is vaguely organized by style, not by clothing type or size. Nothing against Forever 21, of course; it’s where the most of my non-thrift store or used clothing is from, and it has some really good quality items for the given price.

Some people take issue with how some thrift stores organize by color, not by size, and how items appear to be scattered, but this sense of disorganization only applies to a couple of stores I’ve visited. Many stores organize their clothing by size rather than color and have a very clear organizational system. If they don’t, then it’s just part of the fun in finding items.

 

“Thrift store clothing is bad quality and a waste of money.”

 

There are some bad quality items in thrift stores, and if you get too caught up in buying everything that’s only a couple of dollars, you will end up wasting a lot of money. But that doesn’t have to happen. The tips shown below might help you in finding good quality items you like and saving money.

 

Tips for Thrift Store Shopping

• If you end up buying anything that strikes you as a deal

  

  regardless of how it looks, you’ll end up with a lot of mediocre clothes and you’ll have wasted your money. Here’s a quick test to tell whether or not you should buy an item:

  • Consider whether you’d buy it full price in a different store.
  • Make sure it’s in good condition with no holes or stains.
  • Make sure it either fits you decently or can be altered without too much trouble.

• Remember that you can get alterations on items, and they’ll probably be cheaper and more unique than items in regular stores. For example, shown to the side is a Zara dress I bought at Out of The Closet Thrift Store in Berkeley, CA. The fit was pretty loose in the top, but I really liked the dress, and with alterations it now fits perfectly. There was a zipper that needed to be taken out and replaced, so alterations ended up being a bit more expensive than I had anticipated, but the total price was still cheaper than if I had bought the dress new.

• 

  Try out some things that aren’t necessarily your style if they seem to be in good condition and are your size. At worst, you’ll waste five minutes of your time, and at best, you’ll find something unexpected that really suits you. A thrift store is definitely the place to pick out articles of clothing that are a little different than what you normally wear.

• That being said, while it’s good to explore different items and to pick things that wouldn’t be your first choice in an ordinary store, pick staple items over novelty items, even if they might seem boring. One of my favorite clothing items is a J Crew long sleeve shirt that initially struck me as a little boring but has proven to be high quality, versatile, and very wearable.

• To find individual items once you’re in a store, go with things that immediately jump out at you. If you’re browsing through a rack, look for patterns and prints that you like and pull them out to get a closer look, but skip items that are in colors or patterns that you dislike to save time.

• How do you know whether it’s worth staying at a particular store? For the experienced shopper, it is probably worth staying, and there’s got to be something in there, but there’s a quick test you can do to find out. After browsing through a rack for a few minutes, do you find items you like that don’t fit you but feel yourself thinking, “I wish that was in my size!” If you find a thrift store like this, then yes, it’s worth it to stay. Of course, if you immediately find items you love that are in your size, you should stay too, but that goes without saying.

 

Hope these tips help you on your next shopping expedition!