Thrifting

[drocpsu]

Outstanding Dropscu! Those look near perfect.

Thanks! They are. One shoe has a minor scuff on the side of it, but it's nothing a bit of polish won't take care of. I honestly think these shoes have never been worn outside, (and possibly inside). The leather soles look basically untouched.

[Furious Styles]

I got a medium heavy tweed Guess blazer for $9.99, and it came with $2 left in the pocket. Can't beat that!

[jonATL]

Isaia sportcoat from 2010. Small moth damage on the inner arm. $6.

[cforsyth]

I've been thrifting a bit the last couple of weeks. I found a Hickey Freeman houndstooth blazer for $6, a Brooks Bros. navy blazer for $6, and what seems to be a grey flannel Brooks Brothers suit for $7. I also found silk several ties, including a vintage Hermes tie for less than $1.50 a piece. On my last trip, I found a cool double-breasted trench from JCPenney for $6 and a pair of vintage British Walkers longwings in awesome shape for $15. Anybody have suggestions on the best way to sell the Hermes tie?

[Furious Styles]

I've been thrifting a bit the last couple of weeks. I found a Hickey Freeman houndstooth blazer for $6, a Brooks Bros. navy blazer for $6, and what seems to be a grey flannel Brooks Brothers suit for $7. I also found silk several ties, including a vintage Hermes tie for less than $1.50 a piece. On my last trip, I found a cool double-breasted trench from JCPenney for $6 and a pair of vintage British Walkers longwings in awesome shape for $15. Anybody have suggestions on the best way to sell the Hermes tie?

Those are alot of good finds--are they all in your size?

[cforsyth]

Either in my size or close enough that I think they will be after tailoring.

[jonATL]

Two vintage polo ties. Really not much to get excited about, but they're pretty solid examples of vintage polo.



Also a three-piece charcoal pinstripe flannel suit for $7. It works as a beater suit, as it's from a random tailor in Hong Kong.

[piperty]

First time thrifting, picked up these three ties for $1.50 each. The two plaid ones are wool, while the other is silk. I was out looking for a blazer, but couldn't pass on these. They also had two Christian Dior vintage ties, but they were not my style at all.

[WhyHelloThere]

I found a nwot WeSC raw selvedge denim in my size for $9.99. It's my first time trying out raw selvedge and I've always wanted a pair!

I also found a nice pair of walnut-ish(?), made in US, Johnston and Murphy brogues for $14.99. It says Aristocraft on the insole but have no clue what year it's from.

[charliebrown2]

I've been kind of wondering...are there people out there who thrift mainly to sell on ebay for profit? Is this generally a moral no no?

[Fred G. Unn]

I've been kind of wondering...are there people out there who thrift mainly to sell on ebay for profit? Is this generally a moral no no?

I don't think it's a "no no" at all. I don't really do it, but I did find some basically new Alfred Sargent loafers once for $30 that I flipped for $120. There are lots of eBay flippers out there and some have some really great stuff. The key is to really know what will sell and what the values are. Pretty tough way to make much $$, but if you have access to a thrift store that gets great stuff for cheap, do it.

[JBarwick]

The thrift thread on SF is a great way to learn if you are new to thrifting. Those guys write a ton though and have like 10-12 pages a day so sometimes its hard to keep up.

[DXLi]

I've been kind of wondering...are there people out there who thrift mainly to sell on ebay for profit? Is this generally a moral no no?

I don't think this is immoral at all. You entered into a business transaction with the thrift store in good faith. You then entered into another business transaction with someone else in good faith. You aren't responsible for how the thrift store prices their goods, and you aren't receiving charity by buying from their store. Also, consider that their business model isn't designed to maximize margins.

[charliebrown2]

true that, I just don't know if we're taking something from someone else who needs it more. Tis all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Longshanks]

true that, I just don't know if we're taking something from someone else who needs it more. Tis all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I've seen discussions on this in the StyleForum thrifting thread so if you want to put in a little leg work you could probably find their thoughts on the topic.

A very brief and probably imprecise summation of the arguments I've heard is:

Most of the businesses that are "thrift stores" take in the clothes/other items, sell them for whatever value they believe they have, and then put that money towards charity work, i.e. Salvation Army or locally run stores that may put the money towards anything from pet charities to veterans' aid groups. Do less fortunate people shop at thrift stores? Yes. But the "business model" (and therefore the "morally good" work) of a thrift store is in no way being impeded by you reselling a high value item that you purchased from a thrift store at the price they wanted for it. Even if you brought an item up to a register and said "This is such and such brand, it should be selling for such and such hundreds or thousands of dollars more than you have it marked for," they'd probably just ask you whether you wanted to buy it or not.