My four-year-old daughter LOVES looking for the 50% off tags. She’s wearing a plaid GAP skirt and jacket that we purchased at Goodwill last year.
I started this series back in January – reporting the items I’m being secondhand each month. Because we are feverishly downsizing, I have been intentional about NOT shopping as much. Even still, I managed to find some great deals – on items we can use.
Here is a round-up of the items I bought secondhand in February. . .
My local store had a 50% off books/media day – and I found some great educational books on sale. I spent $5.09 on all the books pictured above. My favorite way to buy books from Goodwill is in the bags. They have a flat-rate and usually have 8-12 books inside.
Both of the bags of books were priced at $2.99 and after the 50% off coupon, I paid $1.49 each. I scored big time with this grouping of Phonics Tales books in one of the bags – they are perfectly aligned with where my first grader is reading right now. And $1.49 for the whole bag – that’s $0.15 cents a book! He has really enjoyed the stories and I’m so glad I found them at such a great price! For price comparison, I found a set of 25 of these books going for $46.79 (on sale!) over on the Scholastic website and $56 on Amazon.
I also got a nice hardcover, 3-ring-binder-style book on Dinosaurs – $1.29 – 50% off = $0.64 cents. And three other paperback books at $0.50 cents each.
The only other item I bought secondhand in February was this Travel Bingo game for $2.99. It appears to be brand new. This retails for around $9.99 new.
Total spent = $8.77 plus tax
Total saved by not purchasing at retail prices = I’m estimating we saved about $60!
Here are some of my tips for thrift shopping:
- Have a list of what you’re looking for. Thrift shops can be overwhelming – but have a plan, for example looking for girls jeans or pants, and you’ll find yourself much less overwhelmed and your success rate goes up.
- Make sure to look on multiple racks, even if it’s not the size you’re looking for. I often find the treasures accidentally placed in the wrong size grouping.
- Look a size up. Different brands fit differently. Look a size or two larger and you can either buy ahead of find an item that will fit, even though the size is larger.
- Look closely for stains, snags, frays. Take the time to look over the clothing. Hold it up to the light. Do you see grease or food stains? Fraying? Missing Buttons, Tears?
- Pay attention to the tag color on sale. Often thrift stores will discount a particular tag color.
- Watch for coupons and sale days. Many thrift stores have a sales calendar available (I know Goodwill does), which tells you what tags are on sale when. Military and seniors can often save an additional percent. My local Tacoma Goodwill branch has a Facebook Friday coupon (every Friday) for 25% off a $20 purchase.
- Try it on to be certain. If you can, try on clothing at the store – they usually have dressing rooms! Check a store’s return policy.
- Go often. There are many times I stop into a thrift shop and walk out empty handed. It’s a treasure hunt that is sometimes fruitful and sometimes not. Be patient and you’ll find the deals!
Have you found any great secondhand deals lately?
Send in your secondhand treasures and if I feature your score here on the blog, you’ll get a $10 Amazon gift card!
- I’ll be featuring one secondhand score each Sunday
- If I feature your thrift-store or garage sale treasure here on the blog you’ll get a $10 Amazon gift card!
- Please email me a photo at thehive@queenbeetoday.com – include in the email a short description of what you found secondhand, what you paid for it and what you think it retails for. Use subject line Secondhand Treasure when you send the email.
- Try to take a photo that is not blurry and is in good light (try natural light, no flash, if possible). The better your photo the more likely it will be to make it on the site. People want to see what you got!
- If you bought something secondhand and restored it or improved it somehow – I’d love before and after photos!
Anne says
If folks have school-aged kids, Scholastic Book Orders are a great place for those sight words and blends phonics book sets. They are probably about $15/set. I got my sets free with teacher bonus points 🙂