With a lot of people suffering from our current economic climate and shopping at thrift stores being trendy, as we all want to become more eco-conscious and practicing the re-use and re-purpose philosophies, Christmas shopping at your local thrift store is not just practical and financially friendly, but can also be fun and yield some amazing bargains and great finds. We have put together five tips for getting the biggest bang for your buck at your local thrift stores this holiday season.
1. Sale Days: Many times thrift stores will advertise their sale days or hand out flyers with this information. On Sale days thrift stores will usually be well stocked on merchandise and have colored tags on sales items to reflect the sale and sales price. You can purchase many items on Sale Days at a great savings.
2. Inventory Rotation: This is important as many times you can visit your local thrift shop and see the same items you have already seen on previous visits. Learning when inventory is rotated will make your visit more productive as you will not be sifting over merchandise that has been picked through countless times.
3. Best Shopping Days: Mondays and weekdays are better for finding items than weekends and Fridays. New merchandise is not put out all the time at all thrift stores and by the time the weekend rolls around items have been on the shelves and racks for days and have already been picked over and many times damaged from the many changing hands.
4. Don’t Bargain: Most thrift stores will not allow bargaining or negotiating, as the price on the tag is firm. But, if the item has damage and you can get the ear of the manager you just might be able to get the item at a discounted price. Also, many thrift shops will not sell an item if the price tag is not with it so make sure the price tag is attached or if it is a housewares item that the price or code written on the item is readable and present.
5. Shop Early: If you are an avid thrifter, you know the drill, you arrive at the thrift store before it opens and the parking lot is already filled with other eager shoppers and sometimes there is already a line formed at the door. Arriving earlier in the day is better as the store is not as crowded and merchandise is not as picked over.
The holiday season is underway so hurry and get yourselves to your local favorite thrift shops for some money-saving great gifts! To find a listing of all thrift stores in your area visit The Thrift Shopper. Also, if you are housebound or want to shop Goodwill stores all across the country from the comfort of your home visit Shop Goodwill and this is actually the Goodwill’s auction website and its super easy to register for an account and start bidding on hundreds of items from hundreds of Goodwill stores….AMAZING items and deals!!