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Old 12-16-2018, 07:27 AM   #1
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Merry Thriftsmas!

Each Christmas we round out out gift list for each member of our family with a unique low cost thrift store find tailored to their specific interests. Often these are the most looked forward to as they range from the hilarious to the highly desired.
Last year I received slightly used Little Red Kettle ($12.00) and this year while shopping for others I spotted these unused Milenco’s for $9.00!
I must have been a very good boy this year!
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Old 12-16-2018, 07:47 AM   #2
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We are committed thrifters ourselves. I call it being green. Its recycling at its best. Few in the US ever wear anything out. Instead, it is discarded for something newer/better or whatever. As a result, thrift stores are flooded with lightly used high quality items (and low quality too, but as always it pays to know the difference).

Once you get into thrifting, prices even at Walmart seem high. Lets see, lightly used Patagonia shirt for $2.99 (bought two days ago), or a new POS Faded Glory shirt for $12.....

If you want to be green, embrace thrifting! It will also save you A LOT of green too!

We find great stuff for ourselves, family, friends, and resale too.

Yes to below, found a 100% cashmere, made in USA, Brooks Bros blazer for $5.99. Retail on that blazer is $1300.
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Old 12-16-2018, 01:38 PM   #3
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When I wore sport coats every day I used to pick them up at thrift stores. Suits are something that people buy to wear once ie. grandmas funeral, graduation, etc. and are like brand new or they wore them out for work. I found many nice suits including a Versace for between $10 and $20.
I'm also a habitual yard sale fanatic lol.
A few schools that I worked at had funny "white elephant" gift exchanges and those always went over well.
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Old 12-16-2018, 06:43 PM   #4
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Wife and I go and make the "Rounds" every few weeks, that bring us in a loop that will hit 5 Thrift type store. Once in a while we make a big find and other times we wont find a thing all day.
Big trouble in always shopping at thrift stores, is when you need to go out and pay full price for something it is real sticker shock.
I haven't bought a pair of pants in a real store in about 12 years and when I do go into a real store I look at the prices and my jaw drops to the floor.
"Who in their right mind would spend $29 on a pair of Jeans?"
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Old 12-16-2018, 06:57 PM   #5
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"Who in their right mind would spend $29 on a pair of Jeans?"
The person who bought them for that price and donated them to the thrift store for you to buy? Its a dirty rotten job but someone has to do it.
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Old 12-17-2018, 06:40 AM   #6
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We also thrift store shop

I love to find Pendleton wool shirts, near new for less than $5.00, List for near $100.00.
Makes my day
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Old 12-17-2018, 07:27 AM   #7
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For clothing, the difference between new and used is one washing...
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Old 12-17-2018, 08:16 AM   #8
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"Who in their right mind would spend $29 on a pair of Jeans?"
I do, at LL Bean, in your home state of Maine. Now whether I'm in my right mind is certainly questionable but we like their merchandise. Right now I'm going outside wearing my jeans, flannel shirt, and boots, all from LL Bean, to sweep the snow that fell last night, off our campers.
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Old 12-17-2018, 08:37 AM   #9
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I do, at LL Bean, in your home state of Maine. Now whether I'm in my right mind is certainly questionable but we like their merchandise. Right now I'm going outside wearing my jeans, flannel shirt, and boots, all from LL Bean, to sweep the snow that fell last night, off our campers.
Their "Wicked Good" flannel shirts were nice (way better than the scotch plaid ones and well worth $5 extra), but they seem to have done away with them. That's about all I wear of their stuff... wow, the prices.
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Old 12-17-2018, 10:18 AM   #10
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Their "Wicked Good" flannel shirts were nice (way better than the scotch plaid ones and well worth $5 extra), but they seem to have done away with them. That's about all I wear of their stuff... wow, the prices.
As seems to be everywhere, you buy something that you eventually find you really like, go back to get another one, and it's no longer available. I have a nice LL Bean fuzzy kind of shirt that is really warm, and a pair of their sneakers that I like. Last time in our local LL Bean store (Albany NY) they didn't have either. Poor young man at checkout had no answer when he asked "did you find everything you wanted" and I replied "NO, I wanted another of these shirts I'm wearing and a pair of these sneakers". They always ask that. Recently they cut the lifetime warranty to one year because people were abusing it, returning stuff that was just worn out from use, no defects. I've seen people returning a shirt with the cuffs worn and frayed. Someone else got banned from returning items because she was buying LL Bean clothing at the thrift stores and then returning it to LL for refund or replacement.
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Old 12-17-2018, 02:49 PM   #11
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Since we relocated to the Midwest, my wife has gotten me into estate sales (in addition to thrift shops and consignment stores). It's interesting to see what's important to people, and seeing such clutter up close has helped us detach ourselves from our things. My wife focuses on vintage clothes and designer bargains. I'm usually on the hunt for good quality tools, barely used outdoors stuff, and office items. From big ticket items like cars and appliances to day-to-day items like glassware and kitchen gadgets, the list of things I won't buy new grows with every trip. Maybe one day we can plop down all that saving on a brand new trailer

One thing I am a stickler for is jeans. My wife calls me out for being so cheap elsewhere but a brand snob when it comes to jeans. I've worn Levi 559's for the last decade--almost in the same size, too! We've all got flaws, but at least I buy them on sale and keep them until I've worn holes in them!

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Originally Posted by mary and bob View Post
As seems to be everywhere, you buy something that you eventually find you really like, go back to get another one, and it's no longer available. I have a nice LL Bean fuzzy kind of shirt that is really warm, and a pair of their sneakers that I like. Last time in our local LL Bean store (Albany NY) they didn't have either. Poor young man at checkout had no answer when he asked "did you find everything you wanted" and I replied "NO, I wanted another of these shirts I'm wearing and a pair of these sneakers". They always ask that. Recently they cut the lifetime warranty to one year because people were abusing it, returning stuff that was just worn out from use, no defects. I've seen people returning a shirt with the cuffs worn and frayed. Someone else got banned from returning items because she was buying LL Bean clothing at the thrift stores and then returning it to LL for refund or replacement.
My father-in-law was a Sears manager years ago. He said guys would abuse the Craftsman lifetime warranty to no end. Bring in a pile of rusty tools, obviously picked up from a flea market or similar, walk out with brand new tools. Not the only problem Sears had, but it probably hasn't helped them. I know REI stopped supporting their lifetime return policy as well due to this reason. I suspect Costco can't be far behind.
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Old 12-22-2018, 01:51 PM   #12
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I was in the customer service line at Costco one autumn when a guy in front of me returned a commercial grade lawnmower that had obviously been used for the whole season. The lawn mower had a one-pull-start guarantee. He claimed that one time, a few months ago, it had taken 2 pulls to start it so he wanted to return it. They gave him a full refund.

Some people think it is really sharp to to this sort of thing. It just ruins it for the rest of us. Just because you can doesn't mean it is moral or in any way right.

One thing about shopping at thrift stores is that when you do so it usually benefits some charity. Not only are you getting a bargain but you are helping out some handicapped person or some such.
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Old 12-22-2018, 03:57 PM   #13
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One thing about shopping at thrift stores is that when you do so it usually benefits some charity. Not only are you getting a bargain but you are helping out some handicapped person or some such.
This is true of the Salvation Army stores but Goodwill is a for profit business from what I've been told. We found Goodwill Industries doing grounds maintenance at the COE campgrounds in Florida, and they did a real good job.
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Old 12-22-2018, 04:02 PM   #14
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This is true of the Salvation Army stores but Goodwill is a for profit business from what I've been told.

Salvation Army is for prophet.
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Old 12-22-2018, 05:26 PM   #15
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I was in the customer service line at Costco one autumn when a guy in front of me returned a commercial grade lawnmower that had obviously been used for the whole season. The lawn mower had a one-pull-start guarantee. He claimed that one time, a few months ago, it had taken 2 pulls to start it so he wanted to return it. They gave him a full refund.

Some people think it is really sharp to to this sort of thing. It just ruins it for the rest of us. Just because you can doesn't mean it is moral or in any way right.

.
My wife had a boss like that years ago. The boss and his wife were always working some angle. Example, she would wear a new Nordstrom dress to every company event. Thought she must have a closet full. Nope, found out later she would buy a new dress, wear it to one event, and return it for a full refund....
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Old 12-22-2018, 06:11 PM   #16
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...Goodwill is a for profit business from what I've been told....
Not wanting to hijack the thread, but my neighbor says Goodwill is for-profit too, because someone told him. Truth is, anyone can say anything correct or not. It's the American Way.

There are plenty of charities that take in tons of money and pay the upper management fairly and do a lot for the needy. There are also many that organizer themselves as non-profit, and by the time they spend all the money on pay and perks there is almost nothing left that goes to charity. One very famous foundation only gave around 6% to charitable expenses based on their disclosure.

A high school here used to sell coupon books that they sold to the public to benefit the school sports department. Businesses paid to get in the book, people paid to buy the book. A percentage of the profits went to the school, but who decided what the profit was? The promoter. By the time he subtracted printing and cost of selling ads (commissions, fuel, blah, blah, blah) he was able to whittle profits down to almost nothing, and the school only got a percentage of that.

This is not hearsay, I knew the guy personally, and the man who did his printing.

Goodwill Industries is not the same exact organization in every state.In fact, all Goodwill organizations are chartered members of Goodwill Industries International but each one operates independently, with its own CEO and Board of Directors. In other words: all Goodwills are local. They raise money locally, and spend it locally for whatever programs they provide.

Now you know something my neighbor does not.
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Old 12-22-2018, 06:18 PM   #17
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Salvation Army is for prophet.
According to Google, both Salvation Army and Goodwill are both registered as 501c3 non profit organizations. They both have operating expenses of course and employees. Goodwill seems to focus on job training and employment opportunities for people having difficulties finding work. Salvation Army appears to focus more on other aid and disaster relief. They both spend around 80% of their profit on some type of aid. Goodwill gets a lot of flak over how it pays employees and how much the CEO makes. Justified or not I don't know, or care. I do know the Goodwill workers I talked with in Florida were all pleasant and polite and did good work. One guy actually remembered me from the previous year in the campground.
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Old 12-22-2018, 06:44 PM   #18
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For clothing, the difference between new and used is one washing...
And often looking at shirts after one or more washings is the only way you can tell if they won't end up a wrinkled mess after there first washing. I don't carry an iron (or even have one at home) and I'm really tired of buying new shirts that become unwearable after one washing. Used works!
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Old 12-22-2018, 06:54 PM   #19
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And often looking at shirts after one or more washings is the only way you can tell if they won't end up a wrinkled mess after there first washing. I don't carry an iron (or even have one at home) and I'm really tired of buying new shirts that become unwearable after one washing. Used works!
This is an excellent point I never thought of!


thanks!

bill


On Goodwill, when we lived in South Carolina, their "job training" was to train people to work in their stores..... OK....
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Old 12-22-2018, 07:00 PM   #20
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It can be difficult to define what is a for profit and a non-profit business. Everybody has overhead and expenses. Those have to be paid some way.

I find that churches in general have a better ratio of income to charity. I think this is because much of the actual work is from unpaid volunteers.

I am LDS. I know that in my own church most of those who do the work are actually self supporting. I know this because I count the tithing and write the checks.

Deseret industries, an arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is one thrift shop that is there specifically to provide employment for those who are basically unemployable in a commercial situation or those who are in transition from one job to another.

They take the donations and sort them into quality groups. The higher grade stuff that Americans will buy that they put on the shelves of the store. Middle grade stuff is sent around the world for humanitarian aid. Low grade stuff is bundled for rags or used for parts to fix other things.

The first thing that comes out of the donations though is the premium stuff that is set aside for the needy who can get an order from a church leader and then come shopping for free. The best toys, clothing and appliances go into this channel. I can say this with certainty because I have seen it in action.

I have shopped at thrift stores run by the Catholic church and protestant churches but I don't know what their policies are specifically.

Around here we have a chain called Savers. They are associated with the Idaho Youth Ranch, a place where disadvantaged, neglected and troubled children can find the things they need to become productive and responsible adults. I have no idea what Savers percentages are but I know that they do a lot of good.

As far as the Salvation Army goes, they are a church. They aren't a conventional church but they are a church none the less. One would have to be pretty jaded to deny the good the Salvation Army does. Again the percentages may or may not be ideal but even if only a little goes to charity, the general nature of the Salvation Army is laudable enough to make one feel better about buying from them rather than from some random for profit business. My own church encourages us to work with the Salvation Army because of their undeniable virtue.

There are bargains to be had at any thrift shop. It just feels even better when a piece of your expenditure goes to helping the less fortunate too.

It seems like there is no end to the scams people will come up with. Two examples come to mind relative to thrift shops. Deseret Industries has donation trailers that they take around to various locations. One enterprising appliance repair shop decided they didn't need to haul their junk to the dump. They just took it over to the DI trailer and filled it up. That is on the front end of the thrift shop production chain.

Another scam I couldn't hardly believe is that people will actually take the price tags off low priced items and put them onto higher priced items. It's not exactly like the more expensive item was overprice to begin with but some people are not satisfied with a deal unless they cheat on it.
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