This post had me nodding right along with her! My mother and I had this very discussion about six months ago. The chains- Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc seem to be getting a *bit* pricey for a store with the word "thrift" in it. There's one "chain" store I won't even go to anymore in my town, because all the clothes are priced the same per item, regardless of condition. Plus they're not usually even separated by size- just a rack of jeans. I don't have time to dig through three racks of jeans to find something in my size only to find a huge stain and a $15 price tag.
I've started going to consignment shops for clothes as my first stop, not my backup. They used to be more expensive than thrift stores, and I usually reserved them for work clothes. Now I find myself buying my jeans there too. They're organized and do not accept anything worn out or torn. There is also one church run thrift store in town that still has thrifty prices, so I hang out there a lot.
Have you noticed this? Are we crazy? Or did the big names just figure out that the middle class shops there too and adjusted their prices accordingly?
16 comments:
I, for one, am now going to avoid going to these high prices thrift shops. It's yard sales for me!(thanks for linking to my post!)
Tracey
I complete agree!
When I lived in an urban area, I bought all my clothes brand new from my favourite shop for less than thrift store prices (ie. less than $10/item) by watching the specials, finding items with small imperfections, and being cozy with the manager. I'd find items from that shop at 'thrift' stores for double the cost of what I'd paid for them new!
Now, I live in the middle of nowhere at the end of the world and the best place to shop is the... dump. Which isn't as horrible as it might sound; there's a covered building where people can leave things for others to pick through. I've found some really nice clothes there. We have a thrift store, too, but prices are only 'meh.' I go there only on the first Saturday of the month when they have an 'all you can stuff in a bag for $5' sale.
You are not crazy. My sister in law, mom and I have found the same thing! I won't go to the one in town because it's expensive and and not appealing to be in.
I choose to drive 30 minutes to take items (and shop at) to a St. Vincent de Paul thrift store that has a highly organized manager who requires organization in the shop.
Thus it is the cleanest, most fresh smelling, and organized thrift store I've ever been in - with friendly, conversational, helpful employees.
I go out of my way to shop from them and donate to them because I want to support such excellent work.
Pricey thrift shops will no longer get my business.
Sweetie, your not crazy. It is the same way here. The consignment shops are getting pricey too. I usually don't do yard sales because I work nights and there is no telling what I'd come home with due to exhaustion! I have gotten some nice things from freecycle though. I've gotten rid of some things too. Stuff the boys have out grown etc.
Be Blessed!
I was venting to my husband about this last fall, when our Goodwill moved to a newer bigger location and stopped individually pricing things but rather started "color code" and rack pricing them instead. The thing was the inventory from the old story (that WAS individually priced) still had their tags on them. I did not know that the tag on a button up shirts that said 99 cents was an invalid tag--so I went and grabbed tons of these awesome 99 cent button up shirts for my boys, got to the register and she informed me they were all from the $4.99 rack and would not honor the tag on them- I was FLABBERGASTED, not that $4.99 is a ton (for used I think $3 MAX) but to see that a week prior at the older more run down location these same shirts for only 99 cents really irked me. I didn't spend a dime and haven't been back since-and now take all of my donations to the homeless shelter another town over
You are not crazy- I have noticed this as well. I frequently go to one of the "chain" stores, mainly to browse. The clothes prices have gotten to the point where I can go buy it brand new for just a fraction more. A fraction being, like a dollar. It's ridiculous. Even their household items are not worth it. The "chain" I go to has bargain Mondays, though, where a certain color tag is only $1.29, regardless of what it is. So, I limit my purchases to those (provided the item is worth the $1.29 even).
Every once in ahwile I'll come across a steal, and snatch it up. But more and more lately, I find myself coming away empty handed and heavier of heart.
Perhaps it's time to start locating those consignment shops again!
I am seeing inflation in thrift stores, groceries, etc. It will keep rearing it's ugly head as long as Washington keeps spending so much money!
I've noticed it too. I've also noticed that my local Goodwill is always crowded on Friday mornings. Now the colored tag sale stuff is always picked over too. I can't really afford Salvation Army's prices anymore. My favorite is a food pantry thrift store. I just bought a great pair of jeans for my daughter for fifty cents there.
Yes, I've noticed it, too. My theory is that it's trendy these days to shop at thrift stores, so they've raised prices accordingly. But I feel for those who truly have to shop there and can no longer afford it.
Thrift stores I believe are affected by crisis too. We just have to learn how to live beyond our comfort zones now. By the way, there's a new social networking site dedicated to parents and kids, it's called Bluepixo.com - it's a place for Moms, Dads, and Kids! Now, there’s even a chance to win a free iPod Nano! I'm inviting you to please sign up. I hope to see you there!
Yes, I actually started to notice this a few years ago and stopped shopping at thrift stores for the most part. I have found that I can get brand new items at stores like Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl's etc for a few dollars if you are willing to dig through the clearance racks. My daughter's are outfitted almost exclusively this way now, and a lot of mine and my husband's wardrobe comes from those racks as well. Why would I pay $4 for a worn, faded, sometimes stained or torn item when I can pay $4 for a brand new one?!
Same here, and worse, in the Salvation Army store there seems no rhyme or reason to the pricing. Some stuff that is in same shape goes for widely different prices; they need to keep employees from charging different prices for the same condition clothing.
My favorite now is a thrift store which has a faith-based outlet to help homeless people. Not only are their prices right, but everything is organized by size, type, etc. AND they have sale days when there's 1/2 off and more.
Yep, the thrifts have raised prices, and the quality of merchandise has gone down too. I agree, that the big retailers discount stuff to the point where Goodwill isn't so competitive. I must say though that I have found some very nice maternity items at the thrifts which tend to be harder to catch on the clearance racks. Maybe I will start exploring the out of the way thrifts more... the others are too crowded.
Shout out for eBay: I bought 3 pairs of Ralph Lauren jeans, all in great used condition, and I was the only bidder on each pair. No searching through racks, any flaws clearly shown in pictures and noted in the description. Ebay is very searchable, so I know right away if what I want is available.
Downside to eBay: the cost of shipping. I bought from 3 different sellers, so the cost of shipping was more than the cost of the jeans themselves. I spent about $35 total - still less than the cost of 1 pair of RL jeans at regular price. Caveat: the RL jeans that got me hooked were only $10 on the clearance racks at Marshalls, so with diligent searching and patience one may beat eBay prices.
Hi Catherine--which thrift store do you still shop at for clothes? Although I'm a big thrifter, I also wear a size 16-18, so I rarely look for clothes at thrift stores. It seems like the prices at the Salvation Army have risen noticeably over the past couple of years, but I haven't noticed a general trend.
One thing to remember is that the vast majority of thrift stores are run to raise funds for the organization, not as a charity for the community. Rising property taxes, increased rent, and other economic hardships affect thrift stores, too.
All of that said, I am soon going to have to start looking for a teaching wardrobe for my fiance, so I may run into this problem myself soon.
I co-write a thrifting blog with a couple of friends of mine (we're also in Wichita); I might bring up this issue this week and see what folks say.
I've had the same observation as Tracy. Over the past few years the deals have gotten worse at the thrift stores and better on the clearance racks (IRL and online).
I'm lucky as far as jeans because I'm unusually tall and can stand back from the most disorganized rack and see which ones might be long enough for me!
Lorett
Post a Comment