my passion for shopping thrift

Essential check list: 1 bottle of cold water, 1 wire-form, flip-open standup laundry bag, cash money, checkbook & good attitude.

Destination: Favorite thrift shop

Crossing my fingers for a 50-cent-an-item day.

Yup - today was the day :)

If you shop thrift, you already know that the key to finding treasure is good luck. But, visit a thrift often and skill adds to the luck. Knowing the layout & inventory of a thrift store helps me organize my shopping. Because I buy to sell, I immediately head to the area of thrift where I am most likely to make a profit for my day’s work. Straight to the dresses, jewelry & handbags. Jackets, Sweaters and skirts next. Pants last. Shoes almost never. So, I shop in that order.

This is my best tip for thrift: Flip open that laundry bag! As you find items that look promising, toss them in your laundry bag. Don’t use valuable gathering time by examining each item before you put it in the bag. When your bag is full or you have finished shopping, take your stash to a sunny quiet area and examine all items carefully. There is no value in buying a once-gorgeous vintage dress if it is covered with stains, missing buttons or ready to disintegrate. Missing buttons, body odor, and split seams all go to my discard pile. I don’t have the time or patience to mend :) and body odor keeps coming back for a visit.

The following is my lucky list for good karma at thrift — which I don’t always follow as carefully as I should.

Remember to return every discarded item to where it was originally found — folded or back on a hanger.

°Never ask for a discount. Thrifts are usually non-profits.

°When possible round UP the amount due.

°Let other shoppers with fewer items check out first.

° If another shopper admires an item in my pile, I give them the item. Good karma. (This is my way of proving that an item doesn’t own me.)

Well, today’s laundry bag delivered a Dana Buchman 3-piece, reversible, evening pantsuit. A French designer ooak tunic with a stove pipe collar. A full-length designer dress by Yeohlee , a Vera Bradley bag, sequins, shoes made in the U.S.A. and 30 items of clothing for $24 — more inventory for my jumble of used merchandise selling at incognitoinmaine.etsy.com and in local shops in western Maine.