# Shopping at thrift stores, or, let's start a mass movement **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475 "2004-04-11T18:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/21 "2004-04-12T01:42:55Z")
Count me in. We have a Goodwill, a Salvation Army, and a locally-owned church-related thrift store. I hit at least one of them just about every day. Kids’ clothes, furniture, kitchen stuff, ebay goodies, you name it. With four kids, there is ALWAYS someone who needs something clotheswise, and the kids have a rotating stock of inexpensive toys. When I get tired of stuff, I donate it back. All of my clothes are from Goodwill–most of my dresses are lovely velvety numbers that I bought for dirt cheap. The littlest store also gets a load of day-old bagels, bread, and who-knows-what-else from local groceries every day, and you get to take home two bags FREE. One time I was there and they unloaded an entire moving van full of chopped, bagged onions–5 pounds per bag, free for anyone and everyone they could unload them on. It’s awesome. Thea, Shirley, everyone else–come on over, we’ll go shopping. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/22 "2004-04-12T02:08:15Z")
I don’t go to the Sally Ann that often, but I don’t go to Walmart either. Mostly I just don’t shop. Though a few weeks ago, in preparation for having guests, I did get four really excellent dining room chairs at the Sally Ann for $28. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/23 "2004-04-12T02:15:57Z")
I have to buy my clothes new, because my fat guy clothes are hard enough to find in a regular store, but **Morelin** and I hit the thrift stores for her clothes. We regularly find great name brand jeans in her size for a buck or two. And jeans are better broken in, anyway. Don’t give away our shopping secrets! ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/24 "2004-04-12T02:53:35Z")
The past couple of years, even Walmart has been too expennsive for the Hillbilly clan. I always get my son’s clothes at thrift stores, except shoes and underwear. I have a problem with any kind of household type thing that comes as a matching set. I love to go to Goodwill and stare at the wall of unmatched dishes. My weakness is coffee mugs. ---
**Author:** ![Thingol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Thingol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thingol)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/25 "2004-04-12T02:56:38Z")
What’s really great about thrift stores is, instead of paying two bucks to dryclean a shirt, you can donate it to a thrift store, they’ll clean it and put it on a hanger, then you can buy it back from them for seventy-five cents. Oh, and don’t forget to take the tax deduction. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/26 "2004-04-12T02:57:05Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > Heh. > > I guess I did miss the point all together, but I still want those richie rich people to keep on shopping at UberTrendy stores so I can wear their stuff the following season. No reason to apologize **Shirley U**. You are right that all those people will clog the aisles. Look at how they clog the parking lots at Wal-Mart. Have you ever seen a trift store with a parking lot like that? **Thea Logica** is not only hoping she’ll get published but trying to get you to buy her book. The truth is that we need people buying from fancy stores, mom & pop, chain stores and thrift stores. What keeps the system working is that not everyone goes to the same store (which is one reason we hate WalMart, because they come the closest to getting everyone’s business). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/27 "2004-04-12T03:42:45Z")
I work between three Salvation Army/Goodwill’s that are not remotely near me. I want to open one of these stores in my area. And I had this dream spot that was on the way to hubby’s work. An abandoned grocery store ( that was put out of business by a Mega Store & lousy selection and service.). It was perfect. All the suburban yuppie refugees that moved up here but still work down there could drop off their garbage bags of clothes and whatnot on their way into work. I’d even offer free coffee for morning drop offs. Naturally, I had no money, business experience, capital. Only dreams. Some Hoity Toity company bought the building and turned it into a Big Ass Swanky Gym for the Yuppie Refugees. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/28 "2004-04-12T04:27:56Z")
I’ve wanted to open one too, if for no reason other than to have first pick at everything that comes in. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/29 "2004-04-12T04:53:48Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Sorry, I already bought a book from someone else who started the movement. 😉 > [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060952091/qid=1081724749/sr=1-2/ref=sr\_1\_2/002-7808233-9407204?v=glance&s=books](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060952091/qid=1081724749/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-7808233-9407204?v=glance&s=books) > > On principle I advise people against shopping in thrift stores…because that leaves more great stuff for me!!! No worries there - Al Hoff writes for the trendy, pop-culture thrifter. My book is very much more along the Martha Stewart line. We’re talking CLASS, baby! ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/30 "2004-04-12T05:19:56Z")
Oh, I love thrift stores, but don’t think of them only for clothing! The monitor on my 'puter now, an almost brand new 17" monitor? $40. $20 for a dishwasher that works great. Books! My God, the books! Some of them are overpriced, but most of them sell hardbacks for 1-2 and paperbacks for .25. One I know of charges .50 hardback and .10 paperback! Got a set of Ping knock off golf clubs for $30, they’d never been used. I could go on and on and on… ---
**Author:** ![Innanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecd19e/32.png) [@Innanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Innanna)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/31 "2004-04-12T10:34:02Z")
I loved the thrift store down the street! Not only did I get a comfy couch for 25 bucks (that I then got the fun of recovering), but I managed to furnish an entire apartment (including plates) for under 300 bucks AND they delivered. And some of it was really nice stuff–like a dresser that was a dark hardwood under the cream paint. And for me, part of the fun was getting the stuff home and doing a bit of crafting and fixing–in the case of the dresser, I stripped what must have been about 30 years worth of paint off and ended up with something beautiful–that I helped make. Can’t beat that. 🙂 Gosh, I miss going there. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/32 "2004-04-12T11:55:49Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Books! My God, the books! Some of them are overpriced, but most of them sell hardbacks for 1-2 and paperbacks for .25. One I know of charges .50 hardback and .10 paperback! Oh, yeah, the books! I regularly scout out the Salvation Army and Goodwill for books. Goodwill is better on prices, and the Goodwill in the “nicer” neighborhood is more likely to have never-been-read brand new books. Who the hell buys books and gets rid of them without reading them? I’ve looked at clothes in both places, but there’s not much of a selection. Well, there’s lots there, just not what I like. I’ve gotten a few things here and there, but I guess you have to go a lot to get the good stuff. I did get great leather backpack for $2 a couple years ago. I use it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![so\_da\_ne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@so\_da\_ne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/so_da_ne)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/33 "2004-04-12T12:19:03Z")
Ooooh I love thrift stores! Last fall I went to the Salvation Army Store in my town and bought 3 hand knit sweaters for $9!!! Whenever I start feeling crappy about my current state of poverty (I’m a student) I go to the thrift shop and see how many cool things I can buy for $10. It cheers me right up to have fun new clothes for less than my friends spend on dinner at a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/34 "2004-04-12T12:27:18Z")
\*\*Life On Wry \*\* You must let us know when your book comes out! I’ll buy it in a heart beat! I might even pay full price too, because, you are worth it, baby! ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/35 "2004-04-12T13:00:00Z")
I was a confirmed thrift store shopper, but they got wise to me. I went for the books, and now the prices are almost as bad and sometimes worse than buying them new, see? Value Village didn’t start it, but they are the latest to follow this trend. Oh sure, sometimes I want an OOP book badly enough, I’ll pay their blood money, but don’t think I didn’t point out their asking price was more than the original price on the jacket. Sure the book was over twenty years old, but they reduced it. mwahahahaa Goodwill is doing the same thing, but to compound the offense, have begun wrapping the books in _Saran wrap_. Sealing in the mold and mildew of some gem rescued from grandpa’s basement. The horrors. Yard sales and garage sales it is. The clothing is also going up in price, too many people are in on the secret of thrift stores already. Heed **Shirley** ’s words, this can happen to you, too. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/36 "2004-04-12T13:45:58Z")
I was re-reading my above diatribe long winded indignant post I’m so vain and realized something that didn’t translate well from the teeny tiny command center of my brain to my post: \*\*I do not buy undies and socks at Thift Stores. \*\* That is all. Please allow me to offer to kill this thread by hitting _submit_. ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/37 "2004-04-12T14:22:59Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Books! My God, the books! Some of them are overpriced, but most of them sell hardbacks for 1-2 and paperbacks for .25. One I know of charges .50 hardback and .10 paperback! Got a set of Ping knock off golf clubs for $30, they’d never been used. I could go on and on and on… Please, **Dave** , go on! I live in your neck of the woods, so spill the beans about your favorite spots. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![35340](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/8baadc/32.png) [@35340](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/35340)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/38 "2004-04-12T14:48:13Z")
I don’t think I’ve been to a thrift shop that had underwear other than bras. Anyway, throwing my support to this idea for those who have not yet partook in the funness of thrift shopping (with the exclusion of Salvation Army for their weasely exemptions from discrimination laws). ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/39 "2004-04-12T14:53:47Z")
Nearly all of my clothes come from thrift stores. One of the best parts about shopping thrift is that for some reason I can find my size there more easily than at a regular store (I am very small). And get this…I live in a college town! The students come and go, and they leave their stuff behind. Excellent stuff is coming in to the thrift stores all the time! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475/40 "2004-04-12T15:01:14Z")
> [@moi](#): > > Please, **Dave** , go on! I live in your neck of the woods, so spill the beans about your favorite spots. 🆒 I live in that same neck of the woods, and I go to the Goodwills in Cockeysville (at Padonia and York, just west of York on Timonium on the NW corner, a bit hard to get to, but if you’re familiar with the area, you should be able to find it - it’s back in with The Clearinghouse, a snooty consignment store and a tire store and the health club) and the one in Perry Hall (at the corner of Bel Air and Silver Spring, same shopping center as Wendy’s - it’s catty-corner from the Mars shopping center). The store is all the way down at the far end. Most HBs are $1, sometimes they have 2-for-1 specials. I think PBs are .50 cents or maybe less. The Salvation Army is on Joppa Road in Parkville right by Harold’s Farm Market. Get off the Beltway at Perring Parkway north and then go left at the light on Joppa. It’s about a mile (or so - I’m bad at judging distances) down on the right, just past the farm market. Their prices are higher, more like a used bookstore, $3-$4 a piece for HBs, but I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-at-thrift-stores-or-lets-start-a-mass-movement/239475.md?page=3)