Thrift Store Confidential

Food for Thought......

Looking for the best thrift bargains right now? Want to avoid buying thrift store merchandise you can't resell for a profit on Ebay? This cinema-inspired guide (because I live near and frequent Hollywood) will take  you up and down the thrift store aisles ,detailing  my years of  experiences shopping thrift. In my case, on the treasure hunt for antique and rare books, vintage designer clothing and accessories, designer costume jewelry, and what ever collectible is hot or about to be!  Check this Guide for 1)Props-  great thrift stores I've shopped, with locations, 2)Action-  HotThrift items to scout and list on Ebay right this minute. 3)Scenes -The Many Secrets to successful shopping, and 4)Flops -what not to buy.

Props: Take a Bow: The Assistance League thrift stores of  So. California (Newport Beach, Escondido, Encinitas). The Assistance League is a charity that funds worthy causes chosen by its members. Over the past decade, I've visited 3 of these stores in my general area. All 3 thrift stores offered quality, and in many cases, upscale items - furniture, art, collectibles, great vintage costume  jewelry - but at modest, even reasonable prices. One example: I bought a stack of 1940s clothing patterns for $.10 each and later resold, one by one, for a hefty profit. If I'd wanted to spend more, I could have purchased Roseville, fine pearl jewelry, or Asian art. I think of them as Antique stores without the attitude: Upscale merchandise (no odor, usually) at great prices. The Assistance League is national. If any AL stores are in your vicinity, check them out!

 Action: I'm going out today to look for Polaroid cameras. I would hurry up and  find some, if I were you.The Company announced yesterday that they were scrapping camera production. I've seen many different Polaroid models in the past, thrown into the mix of disposable & cheap plastic cameras. I always avoided buying a used Polaroid, because of the high cost of film. Forget that silly notion. Go out, at once, and find a Camera! They are going nowhere, but up!

Scenes: I have always liked Monday at the thrift stores, because that's when the staff puts out the weekend donations. Generally the"pickers" (thrift store shoppers) aren't out in force, because they: 1) hate Mondays, 2)They're at home, packaging their Ebay sales from Sunday night, or 3)haven't recovered from a weekend of shopping  flea markets and estate and yard sales. That generally leaves me enough room to wander the aisles and take my time browsing at the newly marked merchandise. If you aren't a yard/estate sale shopper, try Monday afternoons at the thrifts. That's also when the items that didn't sell at a yard sale, show up (sometimes some very good, overlooked items).

Flops: I think the Da Vinci Code was a fairly good read, but they published trillions of them. And, honestly, every thrift store I frequent has at least 2 or 3 copies, in and out of jackets, on the book shelves. Not only does the supply of this book greatly outweigh the demand , but most everybody, old enough to buy on Ebay, has read it. Even if it's $1.00 or less, skip it, unless you want to end up re-donating it. On the other hand, if you come across a signed, first edition/first printing --

That's "Cut", as they say, for now.