Tag Archives: clothing

#NationalSecondHandClothingDay

national_secondhand_clothing_day

That’s a mouthful, but my calendar tells me that it is National Second Hand Clothing Day. I have a lot of feelings about second hand clothes. They range from: “No, thank you” to “Wow, that’s a stunning vintage jacket. Where’d you get it?”

I decided to take some time on this holiday to check out the best thrifting tips. Huffington Post has a great article listing 27 tips for secondhand shopping, here’s some of my favorites:

  • Bring a set amount of money
    • This tip exists solely because once you hit the jackpot at a store, you’re going to feel like you’re getting SUCH awesome deals, that money doesn’t even matter. Money is still money, decide how much you’re willing to spend prior to your shopping trip.
  • Don’t rule out the unusual
    • Don’t like the color of some pants? Small stain on a shirt? Nothing that some clothing dye, or even a good scrub can’t fix. Get crafty.
  • Come dressed to shop
    • A lot of these places don’t have dressing rooms, so don’t forget to layer up and be practical.
  • When you get home, wash it
    • Clothing and bedding should be washed int he machine with warm water or sent to the dry cleaner. That blazer may be awesome, but you certainly don’t know where it’s been.

On the flip side, make some extra cash by selling clothes that you don’t wear! Mashable crushes this concept with their list of awesome sites that allow this to happen easily and quickly. Here’s a few highlights:

Threadflip

Threadflip is scaling very quickly. You can search and sell by category or brand. This  makes Threadflip the best option for you if you are looking for something very specific. You also keep 80% of each sale, which is pretty solid.

Tradesy

Tradesy is a good option! You can find some nice brands on there and browse by brands specifically. The best part about Tradesy? They only take about 9% of each sale – which is less than any other similar site.

Thredup

For those of you who are skeptical (and a little grossed out) by second hand clothing, this is probably your best bet. This is for unused or hardly used clothing specifically. It doesn’t allow users to sell directly to each other, but rather, works kind of like a consignment shop. They buy the clothes from you and then resells to the community. They note that this is especially great for their kid’s section – perfect for selling those clothes that fit your rapidly growing children for, oh, 2 months.

So there you have it everyone – do you have any top second hand clothing tips? Where do you buy and sell from the most? Share with us!

My Love Affair With TJ Maxx

TJ Maxx

If you’re anything like me, you’re a ‘maxxinista’! My absolute favorite budget-friendly, high value store is TJ Maxx. It blows my mind all the time how I can get so many articles of clothing or adorable knick knacks for my home for such a little cost. I decided it was high time I put my wondering to bed and did some research on the glory that is TJ Maxx.

First, I checked out their website to get some facts. Here’s what they say:

  • Selections of brand names and designer fashions generally 20%-60% below department and specialty store regular prices on comparable merchandise
  • They have ‘buyers’ who not only trend-spot, but buy from everything from big-name vendors to boutique and up-and-coming labels.
  • These ‘buyers’ are opportunistic – basically, when a designer overproduces or another store overbuys, TJ Maxx swoops in and negotiates the lowest possible price
  • They also take advantage of opportunities such as department store cancellations or closeout deals
  • Only a small percentage of TJ Maxx merchandise is ‘past season’

While I was there, I also saw two awesome tips that you should all be aware of before I continue…

  • There are several deliveries per week – just because you didn’t find anything you liked one day doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check back a couple of days later!
  • If you like something, grab it. They don’t hold much in their stock rooms + store managers don’t even know what’s coming in until deliveries arrive. Don’t hold back or you’ll lose it!

Then, it was time for me to dig outside of the brand – how is TJ Maxx really doing this?! Do people know secrets behind the budget extraordinaire store?

The Budget Babe’s tell all article “The Truth About TJ Maxx” is pretty insightful. She says that it is a misconception that TJ Maxx buys leftovers from other stores. The Budget Babe claims that they buy directly from 10,000 vendors in 60 countries – same top quality stuff that you can see being sold for more in department stores. One of the reasons that they’re able to do this is because they agree to not advertise or announce the specific name brands they carry – giving dibs to department stores to do that. Pocket Your Dollars mentions that they simply use general statements like “department store brands” instead. The Budget Babe does tip us off to this: sign up for alerts from TJ Maxx and they’ll send you email updates about great new designer names so you’re tipped off on when to head to  your nearest location. Not a bad idea!

Another misconception The Budget Babe tips us off to, is that it’s rumored that TJ Maxx only sells irregular or damaged merchandise. This is entirely untrue! 95% of their goods are top quality with no flaws. The 5% that IS irregular is marked and priced as such – they’re certainly not trying to trick you. The world is not working against you!

On the other hand, though, Medium recently released an article debunking all of this. They claim that brands work directly with TJ Maxx to produce clothing with their label on it in return for a certain percentage. Medium claims that often times, they can be very deceptive with this in mind. So pants that “usually cost $88, marked down to $44” are not in fact ever worth $88 – they were intentionally made to cost $44 – quality, quality, quality.

Where does this leave us? Well, here’s where it leaves me – it’s entirely up to you who and what you choose to believe. If you’ve been a time-old TJ Maxx consumer like myself, and you like the prices and quality, then keep going! I know I will. Now you simply have the facts in case you’ve ever wondered.

Enjoy the weekend!

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