i love thrift shops. i just visited our local community center on tuesday and they sell clothing for $3 a bag. i did some school shopping for my kids (and scored an ann taylor cashmere sweater for myself!!).

stacey

Our small mid-west town has three independent thrift shops plus a Salvation Army store.  Most of my lamps have come from thrift stores. Have never paid more then $4.00 for any of them. The best buys are  usually in the small appliance department. Recently, I found a food processor that looked brand new, at the local SA. No box or instructions, but for $6.00 I thought it was a bargain. Before purchase I was able to plug it in and it did work. Love it so far, and the brand web site has provided any necessary information regarding instructions. DD was looking for a toaster oven, and by chance stopped in a local thrift store. Found one in the original box, behind a bunch of mixers. The box also had remnants of Christmas paper inside! It must have been a gift someone never used or wanted.

Pat, I have to have time and really be in the mood to shop for clothes at any store.  As you know, thrifts do present their own set of challenges. 

But I love buying lace curtains, placemats, tea towels, fingertip towels, cloth napkins and other "fripperies" at thrifts, like those 1940s tablecloths I'm wild about.  I just found four lace placemats and the houses look like my style house.  No matching napkins, but I already have napkins that will blend or contrast, depending upon what look I want to achieve.

One of my best finds was a red-handled kitchen knife sharpening steel in it's original box, for only $0.50! 

I have drawers of laces and trims, bottles and tins of buttons.  Lots of embroidery threads too, for all kinds of projects, material remnants, did I mention crocheted doilies and potholders?

Look in any decorating magazine, you can go to thrifts, keep an open mind and re-create the same kinds of looks with your personal twist.

But, I have shopped successfully for clothing, found name brands, sometimes with tags and extra buttons attached.   

I love thrift store shopping.  This past wk. I found several winter or long sleeve shirts for my dgd.  My favorite store lately is the Salvation Army.  On Wed. they have 50% off everything in the store.  My dgd is stocked up for winter.  She has been wearing 12 - 18 month so I have been getting 18 - 24 month clothes.  I have bought almost every item for $ .49 each.  She is a very, very, well dressed baby.  There have been many Easter and Christmas dresses on the racks lately and they are also $ .49 each.  What a bargain.  I got a brand new still packaged twin sheet for $2.00.  I would never have paid the original $24 it was priced at.  I also got a baby quilt (white with puffy pink quilted hearts) for $1.49.  I got 2 Baby Einstein videos for $ .49 each and 2 educational videos for my ds for the same price.  I love thrift stores.  If it were not for thrift stores, my babies would still be naked from birth. LOL

If you keep your eyes open, the Goodwill here has $1.10 an item days.  They also have a discount card, which you have to pay for, which isn't a good deal in my opinion because it's just 10% off. 

I haven't gotten a single peice of clothing at a thrift store since I moved, which is depressing. The stores just have no selection, esp. if you're not larger or maternity (and even then, the selections look pretty limited). On top of it, their prices are ridiculous. I am not going to pay $5/each for Old Navy shirts you can get new for $6.

I used to shop nothing but thrift stores for clothing, but have had to start purchasing new. I flew to a wedding in MI, and shopped at my favorite thrift store--Value World in Ann Arbor--and paid the extra baggage fee to get it home. For $36.00, I got an entire suitcase worth of clothing. Yes, I paid an extra $15 for the baggage on the trip home, but it was still a heck of a lot cheaper than having to purchase new! And, I got really nice stuff, including several name-brand peices from Abercrombie & Fitch ($2.50 for pants), Bebe ($1.20/each for several shirts), and some others. 

The one store we have near here for charity does good furniture, but like sunshinetreva, I am also an apartment dweller and so have little need of this most of the time.

I miss my thift stores. 

I love the thrift store at a church here- everything is a quarter!   

latenightleader:

I love the thrift store at a church here- everything is a quarter!   

I'll bring quarters!!

I scored big at my favorite store I got a box with new dresses for my 13 year ( total of 11 ) and I found 10 old aprons I love them

I take my dd thrift store shopping all of the time. She loves getting unusual clothes and could care less about what is popular at the moment. I am pretty picky about my clothes so I have a hard time with thrift stores, but then again, I have a hard time finding something I like in a regular store too. I don't like most fashions, but prefer something that is classic, tried and true. I have to come up with something nice for my neice's wedding in October, but I am sure I will end up making something rather than purchasing.

For value there is a catholic thrift store in the area and you can't really beat their prices. I have found a couple of very nice sweaters there, but if I go to Goddwill or S/A I can often get something new on sale for the same price. Why would I thrift shop then?