A reply

The first blog on my blogroll is a thrifting INSPIRATION. She gets deals I only dream about. So do other people. People who buy $20 1940's dresses off the Halloween rack at Goodwill and sell them on eBay for $1,360. I am not even kidding.

Anyway, I'm still learning. :)

So, Selena posted about changes in thrifting. I started to add a comment to her post, realized it was 3402978192872937 words long, and reconsidered. I frickin' EDITED myself (nearly impossible for a verbose, detail-oriented perfectionist like me), and figured I better just post it in my own space. So, go read her post there and then stick around here if you want to subject yourself to my garrulous and loquacious and waxing commentary!!

And, can I just say??? Editing oneself is HARD. "EVERYTHING'S important!" :P

*******************************************************************

Selena! Girl, that is SO funny. I was just thinking that ["it's not what it used to be"] today! I'm working on a post on my blog about what a complete and useless WASTE of time the garage sales were today. Blech. I had a decent day, overall, and did get something that *I* considered a good value to me, though it is not a "steal."

But, yeah. I thrifted very intermittently when I was younger, like in high school. In college, I was fortunate enough to have a FREE college thrift store - and what I mostly got were clothes - J. Crew leather boots, London Fog down coat, Levis jeans, a bookshelf for my dorm room ... free, free, free. The nice volunteer ladies (all professors' wives) were BEGGING me to take things off their hands, every week. I felt guilty, but they always said they had more than they knew what to do with. They originally started taking donations because they had so many international students (especially from Africa) who just about maxed themselves out paying for tuition, and they didn't want these poor families with kids to freeze their tooties off in the lovely, inviting, Chicago winters. :P Isn't that nice???? I loved that place. They had free baby clothes and baby furniture, even - and toys! Plus, the local neighborhood/community was VERY well off - there was really nice stuff donated.

I spent a pretty penny at the local thrifts, too, and loooooooooved my camel wool coat for $7 ... but those days are gone!!

I hit 4 garage sales today (decided not to stop by several, though I saw signs), and you know what? I didn't buy a SINGLE thing. I was thinking of you, too, wondering what you do when you ARE hunting and chasing and deciding whether to drive that extra two miles to another random sale. You also often cross my mind when I walk by the shoes at thrift stores, because I HIGHLY DOUBT that I will ever find Borns for $8, or freaking $400 boots ... but shoes are honestly not my thing. I just don't know how! But you are very inspiring!

Today, I think I am glad I passed on the run-of-the-mill garage sales, since it was all old, dumb, nasty junk. Dumb toys (not even anything good), manky old clothes, stained burp cloths, used foot spas ... and overpriced!

Also, I do not appreciate being misled by an advert of a "great, overflowing" yard sale to find only 6 3x3 piles of stuff in the front yard.

I really have only been thrifting in earnest, regularly, for about a year or so, but the two things I notice are THE PRICES, and the selection. Old stuff - vintage, I mean, not just OLD - just is not that common. It's not terribly common here, anyway, being in California, as compared with other parts of the country, I suppose. That is why I am SUPER DUPER excited to spend a weekend in Philadelphia this September, and I'm planning my thrift list, etc. for that Saturday! Hee.

Even the estate sales - I remember going to one a long time ago, with my mom, and I guess we only went because it was in the neighborhood, not because we needed anything. Um, how about finding $300 worth of signed traveler's checks in a book I picked up?? We turned that in, of course. Earlier in the year, I also found a wad of $72 on the floor of the garage at another estate sale, but that was because the guy dropped his change envelope, and he never even knew! I wonder if it was bad that I actually did sit there and count the money first, instead of just handing the stack back? :P.

At the organized, professional estate sale that I'm on the mailing list of, prices are at least double what I think would be a steal, or good price, and SOMETIMES they mark it down half price on Saturdays. Mostly, though, as you said, it's just a wholesale dumping of the contents of a house, including half-used kitchen cleansers and laundry detergent, cans of soup, clothes and shoes right out of the closet ... :(. I guess a lot of the better stuff gets bought up the first day.

I would say there is a combination of two things that impacts what is available at thrift stores now, and maybe impacting the garage sale market. Firstly, I honestly think the internet, and craigslist, and ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, have changed how knowledgeable people are about pricing things. Especially Antiques Roadshow, and maybe magazines like MS and such. People know more - people know what to look for - it's easier to research (even a know-nothing like me has learned a few things!). So prices go up since people can check eBay to see what used old junk is going for.

Also, retail stores have amazing sales - I never realized until a couple years ago that some stores have REGULAR (several times a year) 75% off and 90% off sales. It's too tempting to resist. Some stuff is great to buy new. I know of many moms who stop thrifting and hitting garage sales because they can get brand new children's clothing for the same prices. The internet has helped to disseminate this information collectively - there is so much I would NEVER have learned on my own. The sharing and communication aspect is a monumental shift for me. And, since this stuff is so cheap, and people prefer buying new, they probably don't bother with trying to resell for pennies on their original nickels and dimes. I think this post-modern, not boomer, generation is the "disposable" generation. We haven't lived through rationing or deprivation, we were raised on consumable, disposable goods, and we do buy cheap and replace often. It's a change of mindset. This is a big contrast to my grandfather's generation - going through war shortages, he was a monumental hoarder. I think I get this gene from him - then again, I didn't go through a war!

Anyway, today was just a bummer with lame junk at garage sales, and limited, nasty selection at the thrift stores.

Honestly, though? I talked with one guy, and it's like - when I talk with people about what I find, I mentioned the goods and the times that I DID get something worthy - nothing is mentioned of all the FRUITLESS searching and unsuccessful attempts. People who don't' thrift like this might not understand. Thrifting, and shopping in general, is basically a matter of statistics - going more often, especially at the right time, once you figure out the schedules, even, and you'll hit pay dirt (or plenty of dust!) eventually. Not $35,000-a-year-in-book-resales, necessarily, but still saving quite a bit of money for nice, good, or even just limited availability stuff.

There are times when I don't find anything, and that's okay. There are times when I am only looking for one thing - or when I DO find it, it's about 5 times more than I want to pay for it. Suddenly I start seeing it everywhere. Yes, full 4-pc sets of the pink Gooseberry Pyrex mixing bowls!! But NOT for $75 or $60. :(

The gas is okay, because I don't make special trips - everything is basically on the way, in a loop, otherwise I go only on weekends, or if I'm in the area. It's worth it to check, especially now that I've figured out which stores have commonly had the old stuff I'm looking for.

Thrifting is always going to be around, but it's shifting to REsale, i.e., Target salvage, damaged goods, returns, etc., and not necessarily so much vintage goods.