Bags of miscellaneous toys (including individual army men, odd Lego pieces, action figures, Hot Wheels cars and etc.), classic Poison or best of Neil Diamond CDs, cheap DVDs such as Zoolander or an overabundance of Harry Potter (or other flavour of the year) films, Twilight books, VHS machines and a wide-assortment of video-cassettes (perhaps a best of The Beachcombers collection), vintage clothes and knick knacks — make up a thrift store’s arsenal of gently used wares and wonders.
Discarded by one person and highly regarded by another.
Pawn shops display guitars, appliances, electronics, outdoor and sporting equipment — you name it, pawn shops and thrift stores have it, priced to sell. And don’t forget garage sales, rummage sales, yard sales and flea markets in the summer. Bargains a plenty, for those not afraid to take a chance on an oldie but a goodie.
Buying used, is often times the way to go, even though some shudder and shake in dismay at the thought of used clothing or silverware.
With prices on some goods skyrocketing in the brand-new department, finding a gently-used treasure is the bees knees and the cat’s meow.
Thrift stores and pawn shops are virtual gold mines. Of course, donating older items to thrift stores is key, as a person purges to get rid of the old to make room for the new. Or simply, to accumulate less.
And why not make a few bucks pawning off old DVDs, CDs, guitars, electronic goods, books, dishes, and the whole gamut of remnants past — face the facts, I’m sure you don’t watch or use many of the aforementioned dust-collectors anyway, except for maybe your Lord of the Rings trilogy on VHS or maybe that faux snake-skin guitar you got as a kid.
Reality shows on TV are huge at the moment with Storage Wars, Auction Hunters and Antiques Roadshow — all based on buying used but not abused.
We love seeing how much some collector’s item or out-of-print book sells for and we tend to enjoy finding an unbelievable bargain at the bottom of a barrel or in a basement.
There’s nothing quite like getting up early on a sunny summer Saturday, cup of coffee in hand, venturing off to look for sale signs throughout the community in hopes of finding a sale with a plethora of good stuff.
Kids also enjoy checking out toys and picking up something for 25 cents or a buck.
Recently, I picked up an old Intellivision video game system and games for a steal of a deal and an old typewriter, for nostalgia sake.
At a thrift store, a person can purchase a whole wardrobe including jeans, shirt and shoes for the same price just one of those garments might cost at a regular store.
Even designer items can be found, if you’re willing to look. The nice thing about thrift stores is, the money raised on thrift items most often goes to charity. Somebody’s old exercise bike could help buy food for someone in need and the exercise bike could help the buyer get in shape.
My parents love shopping at thrift shops, they’ve helped support the thrift store industry for decades and they’ve saved quite a pretty penny in the process too.
And I don’t blame them. It’s amazing what you can find, especially at garage sales.
I’ve found comic books, books, movies and collector’s items. The thing is, after a garage sale, those items on sale that didn’t make the cut end up in thrift stores in local communities. So it’s win-win.