Thrifting can cost up to 80 percent less than buying new retail items, with savings cutting costs down to just $5 to $8 for clothing and household goods, according to Red Racks Thrift Stores. With National Thrift Shop Day on Monday, August 17th, stores across the country are offering even more savings.
“We have an Oreck XL commercial-style vacuum for $10. These go for well over $200!” Conner Wilson, a consumer in Phoenix, Arizona, said at his local Goodwill store.
For Wilson, a thrift store is the ultimate treasure hunt, and he hunts every day!
“We have this amazing old steamer trunk, union-made Everlite from Canada,” Wilson said. “We are talking about time capsules. Manufacturers aren't able to make things with the materials that they had made yesteryear, and so you end up with better products that last longer, that look better, and ultimately are way cheaper.”
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The biggest sell: just how far your money can go.
“We're probably going to get out of here for under $100 and probably have $1,000-plus worth of stuff,” Wilson said. “Incredible, and this is daily for me!”
With National Thrift Shop Day coming up, Goodwill says shoppers should check their local stores for extra deals.
“You have varying discounts depending on the location,” Mjellma Gashijoco, Goodwill Manager of Social Media and Communications, said. “But at ours specifically, on Monday, August 17, we actually have 50% off store-wide, which is incredible. I know I will be shopping that day for sure.”
With back-to-school shopping underway, Gashijoco says these deals can help outfit a dorm room for less.
“We found this practically brand-new Keurig machine for only 10 bucks,” she said. “We found this cool cupboard. When you are shopping furniture at these big box retailers, you're looking at spending over $100 for something like this, whereas here you're getting it for eight bucks.”
Local thrift shops are gearing up for their day in the national spotlight too, like Delivering Dreams of Arizona.
“All clothing will be 50% off, and at our furniture and home goods store, everything will be 35% off,” Michelle Peralta, Delivering Dreams Thrift Shop Volunteer Manager, said.
Those sales are running both Monday, August 17th and Saturday, August 15th, giving shoppers deals from the closet to living spaces.
“This is an amazing vintage green leather chair. This will be about just over $25,” Peralta said. “We have an all-white solid wood baby crib. This is $75 dollars.”
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Many thrift stores like Goodwill and Delivering Dreams of Arizona are non-profits, so money spent also gives back
“We have four programs that serve children living in poverty,” Peralta said. “Every purchase has a purpose.”
Morgan Tefft, a 20-year-old volunteer at Delivering Dreams of Arizona and a regular thrift shopper, is always looking for on-trend and sustainable fashion. She says the price tags at thrift shops are hard to beat.
“Some of the shirts and pants at $3 is such a steal. You can't touch that price in a big box mall store any day,” Tefft said. “I'm a student. I'm on a budget. I need those good deals.”
For shoppers, the secret is keeping an open mind, and the thrill of finding the next deal.
“It's like the last bastion of treasure hunting that I think we have in the world,” Wilson said. “And I can't stop finding the best things in the world!”
This story was originally published by Jane Caffrey with the Scripps News Group in Phoenix.
