Hi there and welcome back to the blog. I hope you’ve been out there doing great things and being an all round, decent human. You know, I took look at the blog and noticed that I’d been writing about all the amazing things I’d found at the thrift store and even shared a couple of hauls but never took the time to write about what a thrift store or thrifting was all about? Shame on me 🙁

So, to kick things off, let’s discuss what exactly is a thrift store?

Definition:

According to https://www.merriam-webster.com,”A shop that sells secondhand articles and especially clothes and is often run for charitable purposes” and while I completely agree with their definition, thrifting has evolved quite a bit as people from all walks of life are now avid ‘thrifters’ as words can’t explain the rush one gets when they dig through all the piles and piles of bins, racks and shelves and come up with the most unique items ever. Well, now that we know what a thrift store is, we can delve into the basics of thrifting and what you can actually get at a thrift store.

What exactly can I find at a thrift store?

Lots and lots of amazing thing could be found at a thrift store as I’ve shown in my thrift hauls but just as a refresher, here are some things you can find at the thrift store.

Art/ Home decor: I picked up this guy and an identical piece at my local Dav thrift store for about $1.50 a piece:

It’s made of metal and really unique, don’t you think?

Vintage clothing: I buy a lot of items from the thrift store but this would definitely be the top item I buy and I’ve found some really unique pieces like these:

Fast fashion items: I honestly go to thrift stores for the vintage stuff so don’t have any to share here but, one can’t ignore the fact that thrift stores get items donated to them not only from individuals but businesses as well so you find all sorts of items, including fast fashion pieces and some times with tags intact.

Solid furniture: I already have a post where I was lamenting how the furniture these days are hardly ever made of real wood. Well, if you’re looking for the real thing, look no further than your local thrift store. I buy a ton of furniture, at very reasonable prices, I might add, from the thrift store. Here’s one I got not too long ago:

Shoes: This is another item I honestly don’t buy from thrift stores, not that there’s anything wrong with thrifted shoes, it’s just a personal preference at the moment 🙂

Accessories: I have two posts where I shared a number of my most prized accessories(purses and belts). Most every belt I own was thrifted and made of real leather. I love them all equally but if you force me to pick one, I guess I’d have to pick this one as my favorite:

Office Supplies: I see a ton of office supplies like markers, pens, pencils, crayons all the way up to monitors and printers. Granted, some of these items might be dated but if your goal is to get something that works rather than something that is fancy, a thrift store would be the place for you to hit up to furnish your home office. I found this cute set(staple and hole punch) they had an original price tag of $3.63 each but I got them for 50% off, as they were the color of the day.

Not bad, huh?

Books: So y’all, I have a problem… I love to collect books. Yeah, audio books and podcasts are all the rage now but I just love a real, hard copy book and when I see them at the thrift store for cheap, I lose my cool, lol. These I picked up during a book sale at the thrift for for 25c each, I believe(ignore the prices on the covers):

Just had to get these classics.

Jewelry: I honestly don’t buy alot of jewelry from the thrift store as I don’t believe that people are out there donating valuable family heirlooms for the heck of it but I look through the jewelry case on some rare occasions and find some decent pieces from time to time like these two pieces I picked up at a Salvation Army somewhere in Maryland:

Vintage kitchen utensils: Growing up, my mum used these manual whisks to beat the eggs each time she wanted to bake or make an omelet. Any surprise then, that I now collect them? lol

Why should I go thrifting?

It’s good for the environment: Thrift stores get all their stock donated by people who no longer want or need them. Seeing that these are items that would have otherwise gone to the dumpster and subsequently, a land fill but are given a second chance at ‘life’, it’s a big win not only for the environment but all round.

Unique style: Shopping at the thrift store, you tend to find some very unique items of clothing that are one of a kind. This definitely gives one an edge when it comes to having a unique, stand-out style.

Affordability: Most thrift stores are considered non-profit as historically, second hand or thrift stores were thought of as a place where the less fortunate shopped. This has obviously changed in recent times as people from all walks of life shop at thrift stores these days and the prices of thrift store items have gone slightly higher, especially since after the pandemic but to be fair, thrift store items still remain very affordable given the value you get from them. Tag discounts and 50% off days make it very much worthwhile in my opinion.

Support a good cause: Most thrift stores are run by religious institutions, rehab facilities and other non-profit organizations as I’d mentioned earlier and in most cases some proceeds are put towards helping out people in need. Giving my money to an organization that gives back always gives me the warm and fuzzies:

How about you? Well, that’s it for this post, I hope that this was insightful to you, if you’re a newbie to the thrift world and to the ‘OG thrifters’, would you agree with me?