The Goodwill about 12 minutes from my house is spacious, clean, and well-organized, and the store near my mom is also pretty nice. Others I have been in are not very pleasant – musty and messy. Sadly, the Salvation Army store near us is just awful.
We go every month or so. Every navy blazer (I’m thinking at least 5?) my S has owned has come from “the Will”. He also has a nice selection of name-brand (Polo, J Crew, etc.) button-down shirts and some good ties. Never seen any really high-end stuff, but D and I have picked up some cute items from brands like Banana Republic, Talbot’s, and Joe’s Jeans. Then there are the occasional items that you did not come in looking for, but were lucky to find, like a vintage Flyers jersey or a bud vase that matches my china pattern.
Whatever we donate is clean. But I still wash (or have cleaned) whatever I buy there.
Some years back, I was in Tulsa, OK for business reasons, had lunch at a nice restaurant on the way to the airport, and had time to kill so I went into the consignment shop (hospital associated) next door–and arrived as they were putting some rich woman’s entire discarded last-year’s-hot-fashions wardrobe on the racks. I ended up spending $50 on an enormous pile of clothing that suited my daughter perfectly. Pleated silk skirts, pretty sun dresses, designer cotton blouses… Sadly, her shoes were the wrong size.
My daughter and I both like consignment shops and Goodwill and Value Village–but generally you have to go early and often, I find, because the EBay pickers and vintage clothing store owners–people who shop Goodwill looking for things to resell–show up every day. At least that’s true around here.
Almost all of my clothing comes from Goodwill or Salvation Army. I prefer the quality of higher end clothing than what I can get from Target or the like and I find it easily at thrift stores.
Buying at thrift stores (and similar financial decisions) means that we have enough saved to send 3 children to the state flagship as full pay (or equivalent cost) without any debt.
I love bargain hunting and Goodwill is part of it around here, we have 3 modern clean ones within 10 miles or so. I only rarely find things i want there but the trip is fun, D and I used to do it before she went away to college.
We have a consignment shop (charity for local hospital) that is much better in terms of signal:noise ratio, a little more $ than GW (sometimes) but better stuff.
I love going to thrift shops in towns I visit too. One in Oregon linked to an animal shelter had all kinds of terrific outdoor wear, ski stuff, etc. I think D’s college town may have a couple but I haven’t been there long enough to check them out.
I’m fine with going in and walking out empty handed if there isn’t anything I see that I want.
I have read that the decline in quality clothing available at Goodwill stores, will mirror the general overall decline in new clothing quality. If you are fortunate enough to live where the Goodwill still has clothes donated from a few decades past, you will be able to find some nice things. As those donation sources dry up, it will all be as crappy as what we see on the racks at most department stores. Garments that were never meant to last more than one season are not worth buying second hand. Their life is already over and they have no second life. We already have enough old clothing to make all rags we ever need.
I do a lot of shopping at our flagship Goodwill.It’s supposedly the largest in the US, with actual departments, like a real store. It’s used to train people in several retail jobs, and it’s not unusual to see a group of Goodwill students picking out interview clothes. It’s also the store that inspired Macklemore’s “Thriftshop” song.
Both D and I have found many, many pieces of top brand name clothes, even designer items (recently spotted a Bob Mackie gown). I also once found our exact kitchen chairs right after one broke, and replaced it for $5. They’ve discovered that they’d been under-pricing their expensive brands of shoes, so the Merrels, Danskos, etc. are no longer $5 or so. I’m sad about that, since I’ve lost enough weight that even my old shoes no longer fit. Having to buy a new wardrobe AND shoes while still losing isn’t cheap, even at Goodwill!
Yes, I DO wash the clothes before I donate. I fold them too. But I also wash anything I bring home before wearing. We get a good tax break every year because I redonate everything as I have been shrinking and D has been growing. H won’t buy clothes there, but he has amassed a great black history book collection from thrift shops and added considerably to his CD collection.
We also shop at Value Village (Savers in some places). I skip the small “boutique” Goodwill in the trendy part of town, because they seem to cater to younger buyers who are size 10 or smaller.
I got to thrift stores all the time, but never for clothes. I find a lot of yarn there for charity projects, and puzzles for a few hours of cheap entertainment.
^ D found a hot pink silk charmeuse Bob Mackie at a Palm Springs thrift store. $35 and FABULOUS Long,loads of fabric and highlighted by rhinestones. Not the best of taste but the crowd in PS loved it later that week.
I bought one navy velvet dress from GW, when I was there donating a stereo. It jumped out at me and looked to be D’s size. Per the advice of the school nurse, i left in the sun for a day and then washed it in hot water and put it in the dryer. D LOVED the dress and wore it for many happy years.
I have a gorgeous silk shantung suit I got at GW one day. I think it was $12 or so. I have worn it to a number of events. And yes, I had it dry cleaned before I wore it.
Both of my kids are musicians, DS got s set of tails, and his camel hair top coat at GW…for a song…in excellent condition.
My husband needed very quickly a navy blue blazer. I did go to the mall and shop for him…but he is a small size. I found a gorgeous (by accident…really I wasn’t looking) navy cashmere blazer which is one of his favorite items of clothing.
One day, I went into our GW, and someone had donated 9 pairs of NEW with tags Vineyard Vines slacks…in DH’s small size. $9 a pair…sold.
The GW near me is actually very nice…neatly organized, with bright lighting and a good amount of merchandise. Sometimes I just go there to walk around.
I go all the time, once or twice a week, to the ARC store which is bigger in my town than GW. Last summer I bought 4 huge bags of fabric, and it turned out most of the pieces were from a very expensive quilt store that had gone out of business years before, $5 a bag, worth $150 or more retail (most fat quarters still had the price tags on them) . I buy a lot of craft kits that someone bought and never completed. I have a Christmas stocking I’m working on that I paid $5 for and the same kit on ebay is $150. My mother buys books. All of my plates and dishes come from thrift stores because I like mix and match. I find a lot of Pampered Chef stuff still in the boxes. I don’t buy much clothing, but have bought London Fog raincoats and this year an LL Bean ski jacket. I bought a brand new Landsend swimsuit for my daughter, $2 at ARC but $65 in the catalog.
My SIL is addicted to the Goodwill stores in the Seattle area. She buys almost all of her and my brother’s clothes there - name brand and barely used. She is an artist and loves putting together funky and very stylish outfits. I like going with her when I visit because she can always find great stuff for me.
I mostly buy books from charity shops. And I’m always on the lookout for rare and antique china. I shop in charity shops for two reasons. 1) the profits (at least some of it) go to good causes and 2) it keeps stuff out of landfills
My daughters entire kitchen is furnished with thrift store finds. She has Willaims Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, All Clad, Cuisenart, wuestalf knives (oh I know I didn’t spell that correctly), beautiful new dish towels, paper towel holder, toaster, blender, mixer, utensils, beautiful Cuisenart saucepans, and stock pot. Nice Oneida stainless flat wear.I don’t think any one item cost more than $5. Dishes were $1 each…or less.
Oh, and lots of nice well framed prints for her walls. Really nice ones.
“Ha, I’ve gotten some great shoes from resale / consignment … Just not Goodwill.”
I would not buy used boots or sneakers - chances are, they were worn on bare feet. I would buy sandals that look like they were worn once. Those are easy to clean. For fancy brand new shoes, RealReal is the go to place. I got several pairs of Laurent and Valentino sandals and pumps from there - brand new, in boxes with Saks and NM price tags still on them.
I’m more of a bringer than a buyer as I’m starting to downsize, but a few years ago I bought a set of Cutco steak knives for $10 (which I sent in for sharpening and got back a brand new $150 set), so I know the hidden gems are there to find.