Getting Deals at Thrift Stores

This is one of the many videos on You Tube of people who find deals at Goodwill and other thrift stores and resell the items.  These videos will give you some hints on the deals you can find at thrift stores.

 Like all bargain hunting, remember, just because you can buy it cheap doesn't mean it's a good deal.  Buy stuff you know has value, or look it up on your phone before you buy.

A few years ago, while out of work, I discovered the Goodwill "Outlet" store in Winston'Salem, North Carolina, about ten miles from me.  Located on Peter's Creek Parkway, it's actually a big Goodwill complex.  There's a large, standard Goodwill store, a job training office, and the "outlet" store.  As I quickly learned, it's not what you think of as a typical outlet store.  The Goodwill outlet is where stuff goes first.  They literally dump hundreds of similar items in huge, rolling bins that are about ten feet long, five feet wide, and a foot deep.  As soon as they roll a new one out, local buyers descend on it like vultures, looking for good stuff.  Here's the crazy part, you buy stuff by the pound.  Nothing has a price.

I was new to the scene a few years ago, so I avoided the feeding frenzy bins and poked around in the bins that had been out awhile.  There were tons of bookbag type backpacks, and lots of women's purses.  So I bought a whole bunch of both for about $40.  It worked out to about $2 each for the purses, and less for the backpacks.  I wasn't even on Craigslist or Ebay then, I just shopped the stuff around to local boutique shops and women in my apartment complex.  This was just a side thing.  But I ultimately made about $120 off the purses and backpacks, and donated the leftovers to another thrift shop.

Two days ago, I was browsing Goodwill, and found a Green Day (the band) coffee table book, in pretty good condition for $2.  I had a Goodwill gift card I was given (yeah, they actually have those), so it didn't cost me anything.  I'll probably keep the book, but I could make a few bucks off it on Craigslist, I bet.

Goodwill, Salvation Army, and other thrift stores are one good way to find items to resell on Craigslist, Ebay, through consignment shops, or at flea markets and swap meets.

As I'm typing this, I'm wearing a pair of New Balance shoes that I bought at the Goodwill outlet over two years ago for about $2.75.  You never know what you'll find.