For 99.999% of the thrifting public those days never existed. Not saying that it's impossible but you're talking about finding a needle in a haystack. I've been a hardcore thrifter for 20+ years and the most valuable thing I ever found was a Nakamichi cassette deck worth about 500 bucks. That being said I still consistently find little gems on a regular basis. That's enough to keep me going back.

Yes—and here's the thing: It's a labor-intensive process that requires a good deal of skill to master. The whole gist of this sub is finding pieces that are ridiculously overpriced—not only for thrift but in general. Time and time again, we see 1st Dibs and eBay LIST prices taken out of context and slapped on something. But nobody is paying that price on 1st Dibs...do they really think people will pay it at Goodwill?

I'm curious to see how long this is sustainable.

You're right that the Goodwill days are gone, but I think someone or something else will come in at some point to fill the void. Maybe not a national company, but there's definitely a market for volume liquidation.

The problem is when Goodwill (and others) get stars in their eyes and don't want to leave "money on the table" when their actual business model is built on VOLUME and not on selling shitty lamps for $180.

But then they would make a sale and have more space for new inventory! And gasp someone might sell that item elsewhere and make a profit!!! That's not their profit!! They deserve all the profit!!

It seems iike a poor business model to me but what do I know. I understand online listing of stuff even if I don't like it. What I don't understand is pricing things in store above their condition, and like it's ebay instead of in a dingy corner of Knoxville that not many people are walking thru.

I haven't been in a big thrift store for a year probably. There's still a few small ones that are old style thrift but their low traffic goes both ways, they don't get a lot of stuff in.

I was excited to find a glass basket my great aunt had, on ebay for $95 and at a thrift store for $9.50 on sale 30% off

Found a piece of mint Lalique at Goodwill with no price sticker. Checker said it had to 'go to the back' for a price. Never saw it again.

My grandmother passed away recently. It was very difficult to sort through her stuff. Even the things we knew had value we had little interest in putting in the effort and time to sell. All at once there’s grief, and a massive project while the rest of life marches on. In the grand scheme of inheritance, the physical possessions were a teeny tiny percentage of the value of her estate. I can tell you, not everyone is googling every little thing they donate. When upper class people move, they aren’t listing things on eBay If they have a few bucks of value

The thriving business model absolutely does not allow for googling every single object. Do they pull out things that they recognize as expensive? Yes. But they don’t look for the value of most items on the internet

I found a $100-120 items brand new for $50 two weeks ago. It's not like a steal or anything but it's something I've been on the lookout for for a few years and I'm thrilled to have found. I think my last great find was a perfect silk sweater that I just noticed today that my cat had ruined. I don't imagine I'll ever be able to replace thst sweater for $3 again

Extending the life of material things. Sustainability.

the smell of storage

The faint smell of mould and dust really brings me back to childhood.

The fact that I'll never have to do it.

Finding unique, one-of-a-kind items you’d never see in a regular store and the thrill of knowing you scored them for a fraction of the price

I’m in Southern California and I can’t find thrifts that sell jewelry. The only luck I’ve had for vintage older pieces in person is to check pawn shops near historic/cute/charming/vintage city centers. Several cities here have old fashioned city centers with shopping and I sometimes find pieces in the pawn shops closest to those.

Thrift stores are usually second/hand shops, we call the op shops in Aus. Kind of like flea markets but with permanent shop fronts. They usually sell things that get donated.

There are also antique/vintage op shops that tend to have more curated stuff in but all of its second hand.

Maybe try Etsy or online - just beware of people labelling stuff as vintage when it’s junk off aliexpress. I usually get by google image searching the item.

I like to buy stuff new with the tags and give as gifts. I tell everyone that I bought it at the thrift store anyway!

I shop primarily for myself and my partner. Sometimes I find something utterly fab for a friend. I'd say a good 90% of what I wear is thrifted. The rest is clearance or Ebay.

Massive pile like Smaug. Laughing evilly.

Mostly keepers, gifts and passing on bargains.

I love gifting. I think I end up finding more for others than I do myself.

I'm a reader here, not a usual poster. I just use charity shops as SHOPS, if I want some item of clothing or houseware, that is where I look (except undies/socks!).

So I don't do "hauls", though did get lucky last summer and got three pairs of trousers in one go - must have a size twin, or she WAS a size twin!

My finds would be very boring compared to some of the ones here.

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Oooh, vintage red! 🌶️ And is that Medium Green, or just Forest?

Excellent find

Yay! You scored!

Nice! How much did you snag them for?

There’s a time/money consideration here. Plenty of flea market and antique stores have good things.

Goodwill has odds and ends. I only found one cool thing are Goodwill. You will spend a lot of time hunting at thrift shops if that’s your focus.

The coolest pieces are online and at estate sales.

My advice: Start by visiting reputable antique dealers. Learn the styles and how to identify valuable antique glass. Browse eBay listings, and become familiar with the style you like and the market for it. Then hit up estate sales.

Acquire carefully.

Little charity shops, non corporate types. Old people yard sales, etc.

I personally haven’t found anything after dozens of trips to different thrift stores, but I know goodwill usually sorts their stuff pretty thoroughly. A lot of the time Uranium Glass ends up on their website rather than on their shelves. Your best bet is probably the smaller scale and local places.

I live outside Chicago and the Goodwill here never seems to have anything, I buy everything online.

Any big box thrift store will be hit or miss . Sometimes I don't find shit for 2 or 3 weeks ... then bam! Someone didn't notice what they were putting out . I also put my light to everything that is questionable ... I recently found dark green ug "southern belle" bell and a fridgeair frosted carafe that I would have passed on had I not had my light . That's the fun in the hunt for me ... 🤷🏼‍♂️

I work in the retirement home business as a maintenance manager,suggestion would be to figure out a way of having contacts at retirement/long term care homes.I personally get left so many vintage items when someone moves out and in most cases family throw in garbage.

Please do your homework, know what you’re talking about. Just because something is old does not make it vintage or antique. Don’t sell anything with chips in it. Clean anything you plan to sell. And I would stick to just a few categories at first.

As someone who buys vintage homewares, small imperfections that don’t detract from the overall look suit me okay - just make sure they are well listed, well photographed and the price reflects the damage. My personal opinion is, a small bit of wear and tear should be expected. That’s just me though.

Also name brands don’t mean that much to me. I just want unusual things that I couldn’t find in a charity shop. Normally when I’m shopping I have something very specific in mind and I don’t really deter from that.

High quality items rather than just plain old second hand items offered as Vintage.

Many thrifts in my area now sell on eBay/Poshmark/Depop etc, so there’s less interesting stuff on the racks.

I was looking for something pretty specific at my neighborhood Goodwill this week, and noticed two things: 1, nearly everything is obscenely overpriced, and 2, there was so much stuff stuffed on the shelves that it was nearly impossible to “sift” through and see anything.

Yeah, I'm in Ohio and have had to try a lot of different locations and stores to build up a mental database lol. I rarely go to goodwill anymore, unless I am in a rural ass town, but it hardly is worth it!!!

Same. All my life and the intrigue is gone. I often wonder where this is going to end. Is this madness just a fad or an insight into the future of the clothing industry.

I'm wondering if we're going to end up with swap stores, only because we're all sitting on closets full of inventory devalued by the sheer amount available

I used to get such a thrill finding labels that fit me, or trying on clothes just to feel the cut and fabric of a high end piece. That's truly dead for me

WV here & our local thrift was selling not-new but still cute target Cat & Jack tutu’s for 2x what they would cost me at target

It’s because everything has been commodified lately and everyone thinks they can make a quick buck off of flipping stuff from goodwill because they saw some other dumbass doing it on TikTok.

Also Goodwill and other thrift stores are trying to get some of that action by selling all of their good shit online. Levi’s actually has started selling their vintage jeans on their website and literally pay Goodwill to take their vintage jeans out of circulation before they even get to the stores.

That’s the key right there. “Oh, someone actually likes this? Okay, let’s charge an unreasonable amount.”

I recently found a fantastic lamè bias-cut backless gown with a silk velvet train in the drapery section(!),

https://preview.redd.it/52p0d3zwrzjf1.jpeg?width=3022&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5cadcf2cb2f3081141ab149b65fa79f0107b87d0

for $8, turns out it’s a Jessie Franklin Turner, she was the first American couturier, she’s in the Met! Such joy.

Years ago I bought a standing floor fan. It had metal fan blades and was a very nice quality fan. Had it for years and one day it stopped working.

I was sad because it was such a nice fan and you couldn’t buy that style again anywhere.

Well, a couple years go by and I’m visiting a thrift store and there is my fan - a brand new one - just sitting there for $5.

Still have it.

A Keane, still in a frame from the 60s with a sealed brown paper back.

$6.99

The cashier was ecstatic I was buying it "another lady had it in her cart a few hours ago and I was happy she put it back, she didn't seem right for it. You do."

A little box of rectangular sticky labels. I paid $1. When I opened it there was an envelope with $680 in it.

I found someone’s silver and jewelry stash in socks at the goodwill bins.

It was a bin everyone had picked over since I’m there just for fun and I’m not trying to feed my family I am never fighting at the front.

I needed some crazy socks to cut into leg warmers for a 80s costume. The first pair I picked up had something hard in it and when I unrolled the pair there was silver jewelry inside. I picked up all the other pairs. I didn’t even open them in case staff would take them. I must have looked weird buying a bag of old socks.

In the end it was silver jewelry and a set of 6 silver cups and part of a tea set and some small spoons.

It was all worth about $600.