Tips for Buying Used Clothing

on December 19, 2008 at 12:00 PM

My friend Melody and I in thrift store finds.
My dress was $30!

Thrifting, second-hand shopping, a trip to Sally's (Salvation Army) -- no matter what you call it, buying used clothing is not only economical, but you can often find one-of-a-kind items. I had previously written about how to shop vintage and thrift stores with advice on keeping an open mind while shopping and how you can often score great jewelry. Cafe Sheri, who shares my love of thrifting, stumbled across this great article on Embracing the Thrift-Store Ethic from GetRichSlowly.org. Here are 10 of their best tips!

Discard your prejudices. Thrift stores and used clothing shops are not "nasty dirty places." Sure, some of them are, but most aren't. Explore!
Set a budget. Say you are going to spend $20 today, then see what you can find once at the store.
Go with a friend. Another set of eyes is always good for an opinion. Or go together and while going through racks, pick up things you think would look good on each other, too.
Try things on. Sizes vary especially if you are finding things from different decades. Also keep in mind that some places don't have fitting rooms, so wear clothes you can slip things over in case you have to try on in an aisle.
Examine each item thoroughly. Check zippers, buttons, snaps, and pockets for wear and to make sure everything works.
Check washing instructions. If you never go to the dry cleaners, don't buy the dry clean only silk shirt.
Use the tags as a guide to find quality brands you like, but don't limit yourself.
Diversify your wardrobe. You can use this "shopportunity" to buy colors and styles that you've been wanting to try out. Maybe it will yield a new look.
Stock up on accessories. Belts, hats, scarves...thrift stores have a ton of them and at a fraction of the cost.
Take your time. Be prepared to sift through every rack...that's how you'll find the good stuff.

For more tips on thrift store shopping, check out Embracing the Thrift-Store Ethic: 18 Top Tips for Buying Used Clothing.

About the author Michele Zipp

loves vintage and will defend skinny jeans to the death though she is highly superstitious and "death" is probably a bad word choice. She has a touch of the hoarding disease and enjoys sleuthing, the worst reality shows, and wearing high heels, even at the playground. She's an AP mom of twins, slightly crunchy but with a pedicure.

Filed Under: bargains, clothes, shopping

Comments (6)

MamaCatCat

on Dec 19, 2008 at 12:47 PM

Cool ideas!

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ILovemyBoys23

on Dec 19, 2008 at 2:25 PM

I have never shopped at a thrift store for myself but have shopped at Children's Orchard (which is a second hand store) for my boys (they have the best deals on kids clothes, we all know how fast they grow).

mommyquirino3

on Dec 19, 2008 at 3:14 PM

love it!!!....<3

scrappnmomma

on Dec 21, 2008 at 4:51 PM

its almost the only way i shop, used store clothing and found things i need for my home, or my kids homes.i buy my under clothes new as well as my socks. when i go to visit my youngest daughter,there a fantastic used store by her, and we buy beautiful clothes for her babies.their even name brands the clothes are clean, and no missing button, or rips. i just throw them into the washer/dryer when we get home.my grand daughters, get so excited for the new school clothes. i grew up poor (7) siblings, we always wore clothes given to us, what wrong with that? I see they had a story bragging about brad pit,Angelina passing their older kid clothes down for the youngest to wear, sad we come to making a story about this.

jeniryan3

on Dec 22, 2008 at 9:33 AM

I would LOVE to improve my thrift store shopping skills, but I suffer from thrift store shopping anxiety! I guess maybe it's my lack of patience(or something) when it comes to sifting through entire racks of clothing.