I’m sure I’ve tried this thread before but any effort is probably locked now.
I love a good thrift or estate sale find. I’m choosy and I don’t bring home anything that doesn’t have a place or a purpose and I focus on quality items that also might replace a lesser item at home.
I’d LOVE to see your finds from clothes to bags to shoes to furniture or other household items.
I went to an estate sale today - third day, everything except jewelry 50% off. I bought two items.
First this gorgeous and practical MCM cast iron skillet. Made in Denmark likely 1960-1980. Clean as a whistle. One on Etsy is listed at $85 - I paid $15
My second find…I may gift them or have my husband sell on eBay. Two new (unless they drank out of them with the sticker still on!) hand blown martini glasses. The base is nicely heavy and made of glass. I paid $9 total for 2 of them. They are quite pretty!
I love thrift shops. I haven’t scored any good deals lately (other than kid stuff for GD), but I make my rounds regularly in hopes of being there at the right time.
Beautiful! I would not recognize the brand to know if they were good or not but I also don’t hesitate to pull out my phone and do a Google image search!
Good timing for this thread as we just bought an end table for my H’s office at a charity thrift store. The table was originally marked $280 but was marked down a bunch of times. We paid $40. When we got it home, there was a piece of paper taped to the underside - a receipt from 2002 from an interior designer for $1100!
My best find a few weeks ago was a gown by a small, high end designer with shops here and London. She designs gowns for the red carpet, and also weddings. I believe a custom gown starts at $5000. So . . . I found one of her gowns in a local shop. They clearly didn’t recognize the name, because the price was $10. But – everything in the store was 50% off, so I got it for $5.
Ok, it doesn’t exactly fit . But I figure I could pay a few hundred in alterations and still be ahead. And no, I don’t have an event to wear it to. However, cough, cough, it would make a stylish Mother of the Groom dress. Just saying.
That’s the thing. Many people hear “thrift” and think the only thing you will find is someone’s used Old Navy tshirt. There can be GREAT stuff. New, vintage, classic, nearly new stuff!
We picked up those identical martini glasses in a pretty blue at a thrift shop!
An Ethan Allen chair. A beautiful dining table and chairs that my daughter reupholstered. An espresso machine, cuisinart ice cream makers for the entire family, burr coffee grinders, all like new.
Some nice original paintings and other artwork.
A 100+ year old ukulele in it’s original case for $15. I spent another $30 or so getting a new tuning peg (violin style) made and new strings, and it has a lovely sound. Also got a new case for it but kept the original one.
A Bob Mackie beaded purse, many designer clothing items. My son worked at a thrift store for a while during college and I think his entire wardrobe was/is purchased there. He loved the job.
Recently an Osprey hiking backpack with the tags still on.
We also have a few fun pieces of vintage mid century furniture that we’ve thrifted over the years.
A welsh wool hooded cape cape in bright blue. Like little red riding hood but blue. So beautiful. No idea where to wear it. It doesn’t even get cold where we live.
When we hadn’t been married long and were dirt poor, we found a beautiful teak dining table and four chairs at a consignment shop. I can’t remember the cost, but it was affordable. We still use the set, almost 40 years later. My mom recovered the chair seats years ago, so the chairs are special for me.
My husband is a pack rat, so I mostly search for clothes now, but I love hitting my local thrift shops. I weigh more than I want and my current job is does not require suits, so I’ve scored some great Talbots, AnnTaylor, Lands End, LLBean & J.Jill stuff. Three brand new pants with tags yesterday!
My daughter recently got married and wanted everyone in a black dress or suit. I got $200 Eileen Fisher shoes at Nordstrom Rack for $25, black stockings (I think it had been 15 years since I bought stockings and no idea they can cost $25 at Macy’s) at Marshall’s for $5, and my dress at the thrift store for $4 (not a name brand, but just what I needed).
The shoes were very comfortable and I thought they were cute.
I often get Pampered Chef stuff at the thrift store. I think people go to the parties and just buy ‘something’ but don’t really want it. I, on the other hand, love Pampered Chef stuff.
And lets not talk about the fabric store I have in my basement because someone died and all their fabric ends up at the thrift store and then into my basement.
Most recent - 2 pairs of Talbots pants that fit! $5 each at thrift store. Since we’ve retired H and I frequently go to a weekly fairly large outdoor flea market. We don’t often buy but it’s fun to walk around and look. I call it “sometimes one person’s trash is another person’s treasure and sometimes one person’s trash is just trash.” There’s everything. Last week I found one of those hard cushion steps for the dog to get on the sofa. I’d been wanting one for our getting older dog and it was in great condition for $10. The cover comes completely off and is washable.
I have three pieces of furniture I bought at a great used furniture place in northern New Hampshire in the early 1970’s. They are the only pieces of furniture I would take with me if I move from this house.
A slant top Larkin Desk that cost me $50.
An oak pedestal table with three leaves. $30
My dresser and night stand, also from the Larkin Soap Company. Set was $30.
I purchased a beautiful mid century teak dining table with slide-out leaves from a consignment store a few years ago. It was a bargain as those things go, but not a bargain like some of you have gotten. MCM furniture is very popular here, so no cheap finds, unfortunately. But it was less than a lot of similar tables I’ve seen advertised, so I was happy with the price.
. But I figure I could pay a few hundred in alterations and still be ahead. And no, I don’t have an event to wear it to. However, cough, cough, it would make a stylish Mother of the Groom dress. Just saying.