Over the past decade, secondhand shopping has become the preferred method of finding new clothing and even home goods for many people. Due to environmental concerns and the ability to find truly unique items, secondhand shopping is an amazing way to shape your personal style and save a little money along the way.
One of the problems many people face when getting into secondhand shopping is the overwhelming amount of options in thrift or consignment shops. Consignment stores can carry items from clothing, shoes, couches, home decor, and a LOT more. Plus, things aren’t laid out according to trends as they are at a typical retail store, so it takes a little more intention to find the perfect pieces. To help, we’ve come up with a guide to prepare you for your next trip to a consignment store so you can become an expert secondhand shopper!
1. Map out your dream style – find pieces that fit the bill
Before you head out to the consignment store, spend a little time thinking about what your personal style is. You can assess your current style, and how you’d like it to change. This applies to both your wardrobe and home decor! Think about what colors, textures, materials you enjoy the most, and the dream aesthetic you’d like to achieve.
One great tool to use is Pinterest — spend time browsing through others’ boards and saving styles you enjoy the most. You can create your own boards to help direct your vision once you head out to go shopping.
2. Come in with a time frame
Your goal for secondhand shopping is to avoid becoming too overwhelmed to enjoy the experience. That’s why we suggest defining your current and aspirational aesthetic, and it’s also why we’re going to suggest creating a time frame before heading out!
This doesn’t have to be a rigid, budgeted time sheet to carry around. Simply think about your goals beforehand and create a set amount of time you’d like to spend looking for clothes, furniture and/or home decor. Set aside a half hour or so to browse through and try on clothing, and if you don’t find anything, that’s ok! You can call it a day and move on to another section of the store.
3. Keep an eye out for sale events
A way to become a pro secondhand shopper is to stay up to date on sale events in your area. Turn Style hosts many sales throughout the year, and it’s a great way to come in and find amazing items at even lower prices than you’d usually find in our stores. No matter where you shop, sales are always exciting events that offer truly unique selections of both clothing and home goods.
If you’re interested in a Turn Style sales event, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, where you’ll be the first to know about an upcoming event!
4. Quality over quantity
With many affordable options out there in the secondhand shopping world, it’s easy to over-buy cheap things that may not last you very long. If one of your reasons for secondhand shopping is to reduce clothing consumption, prioritizing quality over quantity will be essential. It’s for this reason that Turn Style only offers the best quality of clothing, furniture and home items. We want to provide our shoppers with items that will not only fit their personal style, but last them for years to come. You’ll find unique inventories of name-brand clothing and furniture that are all in amazing condition — almost like buying them brand new!
With your style newly defined and a set of goals before shopping secondhand, buying quality over quantity will be easy for you to achieve.
5. If you don’t find anything, try again!
The beauty of consignment shopping is that each time you step into the store, you’ll find a completely different inventory. Consignors bring in new items every single day, so each experience is unique. Plus, we have several stores in Minnesota, Colorado and Arizona, so if you don’t find something that catches your eye in one store, head over to another! If you come to a store with a specific article of clothing in mind, you may be disappointed when you don’t find it. Luckily, with how often our inventory changes, it’s worth stopping by every now and then to see if there’s something that fits your personal style.
