Anyone else love thrift stores!

I used it on my cats for fleas and one ended up with blood in his urine! I've been very cautious since then.
Anne said:
Ohhh...I'm not sure about that, Happyflowerlady... I remember reading that it only kills soft-bodied insects, such as worms, aphids, etc. Somewhere I read that we should never take it internally or give it to pets, as it could penetrate our mucous membranes, etc. Don't recall where I read it, but it makes sense. I'll have to do some more googling on that one, as it has been a while since I looked for information on that.
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Love Thrift shops, called Op (Opportunity maybe??) shops here in Oz. one on the corner of our street, good place to get rid of our own discarded stuff too. One street in Town has at least three all next door to each other, great pickings.

I love the programme Auction Hunters, two guys buying up abandoned storage units and all that is in them.
 
veejay said:
Love Thrift shops, called Op (Opportunity maybe??) shops here in Oz. one on the corner of our street, good place to get rid of our own discarded stuff too. One street in Town has at least three all next door to each other, great pickings.

I love the programme Auction Hunters, two guys buying up abandoned storage units and all that is in them.
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i love that show too, Veejay, especially the one that ended up being full of used tires. I try to watch all the auction shows. Guess Antiques Roadshow would be my favorite.
 

I ought to get myself banned from Op shops! Honestly half of my house is furnished from them. Especially small storage cabinets for craft stuff, why pay 40 bucks for a stand with plastic drawers when you can by a nice wooden one for for 5 or 10 and slap a coat of paint on it? I don't buy clothes for myself there usually, except the best dressing gown in the world, like a lovely snug warm tent, love that thing, that I got for a dollar. :D

I used to buy clothes from them for the 'oldies' in the aged hostel though. The laundries in those places ruin their clothes and they loved getting new things handed out. The staff and I would just leave them in their rooms when they were in the dining room and they'd wonder where they came from. :smug: Most of the things were brand new, still with the tickets attached so no hygeine problems with it. Had a deal going for bulk from the Ops so it didn't cost me as much as it might have and was well worth it to see them wearing their 'new' finery.
It's always been incredible to me how many never got any clothing bought for them by their families. They'd get a kiss on the cheek, a box of chocolates and a goodbye. It was so sad.
Some would be ashamed of their old clothes, I know my mother would have rather died than be seen wearing something raggedy looking. (She got Op shop things too, but I never let her know that. :cool:)

I love American Pickers too. Also Hoarders, just to remind myself not to get carried away when I'm going through the 2nd hand shops.
 
I used to enjoy hitting the local thrift shops and have found a few gems over the years. Not that I need to buy one more thing ever anyway! ..but after reading about bedbugs, think I'll reconsider any future trips to those stores.. think I'm done.
 
I find the op shops here have got quite expensive, i have been decluttering and have given them quite a lot of clothes and kitchen goodies.
That was a lovely gesture Diwundrin you would have made those old people happy :bighug:
 
R. Zimm said:
I check out local thrift stores sometimes to look for a particular item for my latest project for World Domination or just to see what's available. Today I picked up a 14 inch flat computer monitor that runs on 12v. They let me test it and I got it for $8!

It came with the 12v wall plug (which I might need for something else anyway) and the monitor has built in speakers which also work fine. I had spare VGA cables and audio cables so I did not have to buy anything else.

Anyone else love to go thrift store shopping?
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Ooooh I love love love strolling through anything that resembles a flea market!
 
That Guy said:
Oh so long ago, junk stores were so much fun. Then . . . they became fashionable antique stores and the prices got just plain silly.
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Back in the 60's and 70's they were glorious "treasure troves". Now everybody thinks any piece of crap they have is a "priceless antique", give me a break.
I started "junking" as a kid in the 50's with one Grandma. And I know my stuff! I can spot a fake a mile away and it really makes me chuckle to myself what some folks are trying to pass off as an original or an "antique".

I will still occasionally go in a junk/antique/flea market and wander around, but rarely buy anything.
 
I remember as a kid the furniture we had was the cheapest stuff you could buy because we were too poor to buy anything else. Now rich people proudly display that same furniture as priceless antiques. It's a crazy world.
 
rkunsaw said:
I remember as a kid the furniture we had was the cheapest stuff you could buy because we were too poor to buy anything else. Now rich people proudly display that same furniture as priceless antiques. It's a crazy world.
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Yeah I don't get the "shabby chic" look. It looks like old crap that the paint is all peeling off of.
 
Anne said:
I love thrift stores; garage sales, etc....but, like SeaBreeze, I've become a bit leery about getting clothing there because of bedbugs. UGH. I do still enjoy looking and finding things that I know I can wash and won't have to worry about such things.
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I love them too, my favorite way of shopping, accessories for my home or myself more so than furniture. I no longer buy many clothes either, but get plenty of other bargains. (The clothes I do buy I put in a garbage bag in my trunk, tie it tightly and wash as soon as I get home. I've been doing that for years.) We have a lot of consignment stores and their sales are excellent, so I shop them regularly.
 
Whew!!! Sure am glad I don't go to thrift shops that are loaded with bedbugs and fleas and gucky old rusty, dirty disease laden stuff.
We have a Goodwill, a Homeless organization-based thrift shop that is run by volunteeers, and an incredible place called
"The Closet" that is run by the ladies from 7 Churches in a nearby formerly wealthy town, where the goods come from estates, mansions and older families.
Never... ever... have we seen stained, dirty,or unwashed clothing as it is all screened before putting it out on the floor. My wardrobe is almost totally from designer companies... Haggar, Tommy Hilfiger, and golf clothing that sold for $85 for a shirt... and all and any of this at $5 for everything you can fit in one of those Walmart style wire handled baskets. Suits, coats, slacks, shirts and shoes... almost all in near new condition, and in my bride's case.. many items with original price tags.

DVD's $.25, VCR's $.10, Books on tape $.50... Books of all kinds $.10 to $.50 and a huge library. TV's $3 to $5, and flat computer screens $10. Decorative baskets of all kinds $.50, Pictures from $.50 to $5, and full 60 place settings of name brand china for $15. Hand tools $1 to $5... including Snap-on type name brands. Bought a gold plate Casio watch for $4.

The entire town supports "The Closet", so the turnover is tremendous. Many, many volunteers keep everything looking good and all clothing is sorted by size and often by color. Operated in an old Walmart.

We live in a CCRC that has a number of well to do widows, who I thought would never buy at a "thrift" store. My bride hesitantly took them to see our "Closet" and they about went crazy... coming back with bags full of clothes and household decor.

No apologies... we love our thrift stores here in central Illinois. In Florida, not so much. We've searched out those run by churches, finding them to always be clean and well run.

Yup... the thrill of the hunt, and for frugal people like us, the trophy is paying pennies on the dollar.
 
My friend and I vacationed in the hill country of Texas this year, we hit many thrift, resale and goodwill stores between Dallas and Fredericksburg....we had her suv loaded down with bargains, mostly household items....great fun, also I live near Canton which is home of First Monday Trades Day which is a mega flea market that is held once a month....lots of 'good hunting' there.
 
The only problem I have with a thrift-shop like Salvation Army is when a person pulls up in a new Mercedes and walks to the door in their Hermes scarf and Dior dress, then acts like an animal tearing at the bargain bins that are supposedly for the less well-to-do.

It might not legally be theft, but certainly from a moral and ethical viewpoint it's pretty crumby behavior.
 
I realise that bedbugs also hide in the room under wall paper and in crevices as well as in upholstery and bedding but I understood that the best way to get rid of bedbugs and mites from bedding and mattresses was to expose them to strong sunlight. I regularly hang our pillows on the clothesline on hot sunny days.
 
Jillaroo said:
I find the op shops here have got quite expensive, i have been decluttering and have given them quite a lot of clothes and kitchen goodies.
That was a lovely gesture Diwundrin you would have made those old people happy :bighug:
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Jill....We find that the Salvos are the most expensive......they used to be cheap.....
They're all run as a business now with paid staff and the prices on some of the old stuff they're flogging is just ridiculous....We hardly ever look there now.....
We've found the church op shops to be the best.....good prices too....
I picked up a pair of men's Levis for our son for $2, nearly new......probably double that at the Salvos. :aargh:
 
IMO $4.00 for a pair of nearly new men's jeans is hardly expensive.

Remember that the Sallies have suffered a couple of big warehouse fires over the last couple of years and need to keep the income up for their charity work.
 
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Sometimes thats the only way to survive when your low in funds.. my daughters when they were young. as I was
a young widow I found it so hard to pay off my husbands funeral so their school uniforms and shirts were all from the op
shops , once found 6 metres of material just like the school uniform colour and it made her uniforms for the rest of their
primary years.. so it helped me so much and I in turn gave them support in their selling when they needed a hand..
St Vinnies they were .. the church ones are one of the best op shops as things are so cheap .,. $1 and $2 a item..
so you can often get all you need and still able to manage ..and when you get rid of your clutter its always good as
your trash is another`s treasure..
 
lovely photo of your camping spot SeaBreeze.
I like going to our local Salvo's thrift shop and looking for garden magazines and other books, and movie dvds that might be worth watching.
 
Yeah I check out a thrift store or a flea market once in a while. That's where I get my coffee and tea cups.
 
Sometimes thats the only way you can manage isn`t it Drifter,? times are hard for people
at times and at least they don`t have to go with out.. you can often get good bargains
as well.. I am all for thrift shops.. they sure make life a little easier ..
 

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