I have a similar theory in regard to the music of the seventies.
I bought a black fitted jacket with long sleeves. The sleeves had long transparent ruffles drooping from the cuffs. It cost $1.50 at Salvation Army. I replaced the buttons with some tiny silver filigreed ones that cost six dollars and paired it with a long black slit skirt. I loved going to work looking like Morticia, but eventually decided it was a little “too much” and passed the outfit down to my daughter. She’s kind of a gothy kid and a Stevie Nicks fan, so this outfit is one of her most treasured possessions.
I saw someone included an estate sale above so I feel OK about including my buddy’s garage sale find. For $20 he got an original Knoll Barcelona Table.
The charity shops here in the UK used to be a great place to pick up an unrecognised bargain. Sadly (for us, not them, I guess), this is not very often the case any more.
Donations are now usually assessed by experienced valuers and the best stuff gets skimmed off for auction, sale to antique dealers, eBay and others - more money for the charities running them, but it does mean that the shops are less exciting now.
I paid $2 for a laptop bag once. Later, I saw a similar bag for $50 in a store.
Another time, I’d been making plans to put together a Linux box. I found a Dell XPS for $30 with the price tag saying that it didn’t work. I got it home and found that the only problem was that the hard drive had been wiped. No problem since I was loading Linux on it anyway. I wound up putting it in my basement and using it to listen to music and watch movies while I exercise.
You know, if I were to make a top ten list of things that no one would ever paint, a purple horse bathing a pig in a desert mural tub would almost certainly make that list.
I recently got an REI raincoat made for the serious hiker for three bucks. It’s made of genuine Gore-Tex and has underarm zippers and snaps for ventilation. It looks brand new. The nearest thing I can find to it online suggests that it originally cost in $170 range.
I also recently bought a duvet cover. The thrift store’s tag said it was $69.99 but since the tag was the right color and it was a Monday, I got it for 99 cents.
I love that the bathtub legs have hooves, just like the horsie!! Great painting!
I go to the DAV thrift store right down the street nearly every Sunday morning. As long as I feel like going thru nearly every rack systematically and spending at least an hour or two there, I can find some great clothing for re-sell or to wear myself. Best of all they will have a “5 for $1.00” sale on certain tag colors!! I have made quite the haul for under $5.00!!!
I’ve bought no end of jeans at Goodwill for about $3 each. I’ve been losing weight, and it’d be silly to buy jeans at full price that only fit me for a month. And to look at the racks, women get rid of a lot of perfectly fine, good condition jeans. I’ve bought Land’s End, Liz Claiborne, Style & Co., Calvin Klein, you name it. And they’re all already broken in.
Then, as long as I was at Goodwill, I’d look at the other clothing racks. In the last few months, I’ve bought a wine-colored Ralph Lauren silk tee-shirt that looks like it has never been worn ($3), and a beautiful flawless black silk princess skirt covered in tiny white polka dots ($3). And I just got two pair of shorts, both Jones New York ($3 each). My wardrobe is getting well-stocked with designer wear, and I’ve barely spent a thing.
Paid $2 at Sams for a new silk cabana shirt after they were closed out. The funny thing is that they’re selling almost the same thing this spring for $20 something. Might even be the same. I’ll have to check them out.
huh, there is a huge flea market and numerous sidewalk sales in my 'hood this sat. i’ll have to go through with a more discerning eye.
last year there was this fantastic chair there. i nearly went for it… but had no way to get it home. this year i’m looking for a chest o’ drawers that is about 25-30 inches tall.
My fave thriftshop find, out of many, is a well-used paperback yoga book, previously owned by John Grisham, and signed on the front page by him as “my book”, rather than an author signed book. Before fame set in, and, a book he just sent off to the thriftshop in Mississippi.
I missed my edit time window here, but, the part I always wonder about, is, he clearly signed it on the first blank page. Was he practicing?,or did he sign every paperback he owned as belonging?
I love thrift and resale shops. Today I bought a nice wool beret for five dollars, not quite as lucrative a find as some of the ones mentioned, but certainly well-received.
Garage sales are great too. My neighborhood had its semiannual Garage Sale Day last week and, among many other things, I found a denim Lucky Brand jacket for three dollars. I talked it down to two.
I will list one more item, cause it’s the piece of clothing I’ve gotton the most compliments on. It’s a nice jacket, the material is of big squares with big block letters. The letters and the background are all in different colors, so it looks like a child drew them.
I got it for half-price, $3.50 knocked down from $7. Everybody compliments it.