Thrifting Slump

[SecondhandSophisticate]

You know, ChrisMiss, maybe we should do an attunment:  We all pick a time, let's say
9 PM EST on a Thursday evening, (everyone adjust your time for your time zone) when we all stop for five minutes, breathe deeply, and focus on ALL of us finding our "stuff"  when we thrift!  You know, send each other positive energy, put it "out there" in the universe!  A Universal Meditation of Positive Thrifting!  Cookie and all:  what do you think?

 

[Big Daddy Audio]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but meditating has little to do with it.  We all have a Reticular Activation System (RAS - pronounced "razz") and all you have to do is switch it on.  Cookie seems to have stumbled across it.

How it works is that we get so much input in society today that we tend to ignore most of it; our brain simply filters it out on a subconscious level.  It's kind of like walking down a busy city street that is very noisy - your brain will ignore everything that it doesn't deem important.  In a thrift store, there is so much stuff that too look at all of it would simply be time-prohibitive.  If you let the RAS do it's thing, you will find what you look for.  It's not that it (the stuff you seek) wasn't there before - it's just that you weren't looking for it.  I'd bet that there have been dozens of copies of Deenie in various thrifts that Cookie visited within the last 2 years, but until she wanted/needed it, it wouldn't register in her conscious mind.  On the other hand, you can't "will" a thrift store to have that Heywood Wakefield bedroom set for $200.00.  However, if it's there, you'll find it, unless you're not looking for it.

BTW - my filter has been turned on "high," and while I'm slumping, I'm not really mad, because I don't really need anything right now, and I'm strictly in an "upgrade" mode, which really tends to save me some coin.  Things that I may have bought a year or two ago I am simply passing on.

That is all.

 

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Totally with BDA on this one-- having what you're looking for on your mind will help you spot it more readily. How many books of Deenie, do you think, were lurking all this time but Cookie hadn't been searching for them then?

I have a friend who's very in tune to reading thrifted book titles... I can scan the same section and just not see what she sees.

Very rarely am I able to thrift something on cue, though. I've had some good luck here and there-- but my best finds were things I had no idea even would have existed at a thrift, and I just came across them.

But hey, that's what makes thrifting so fun!

[alexandra]

When you're an artist, you have to develop your "eye" and when you're a musician, you must hone your "ear."  And so I do believe it goes with thrifting.  Time and experience allows us to develop a way to quickly spot what we yearn for, and just as quickly pass by the fodder.  Experience tells us if the price is right.

For me; I love Lilly Pulitzer clothing, Ralph Lauren and Izod Polos, and cashmere sweaters.  I know what Lilly prints look like -- I can scan a rack of slacks without pulling out a single one, and if there's a Lilly in there, I'll see it like a beacon in the  night.  As I walk down a row of shirts, I look at the collars -- I'll know a good quality polo shirt collar without having to pull the piece out.  And for cashmere, I look at collars and shoulder seams.

When you have identified the key features of the things you seek, you can scan without having to focus -- and that makes it all go much more quickly.

When I am in a true slump, I look for something new.  Thanks to this forum, I have a much easier time when I go into other departments.  Because of slumps in my clothing aquisition plan (you find less cashmere in the winter, more in the summer, etc.), I've honed my eye on finding glassware.  And thanks to the Thriftshop romantic, I've been able to develop my eye in an area where previously, it didn't have such a sharp focus.  The newsletters on this site really do help and I think they've made a lot of us better thrifters.

I think one way to fight the slump, is to develop focus -- and if what we're looking for is not there, at least we determine it quickly enough so that we haven't wasted a lot of time!

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Sprocket]

Thanks for all the excellent advice...I went thrifting yesterday and tuned in to a few things I've been looking for.  One very funny, and odd thing happened.  I spotted an old Epiphone acoustic guitar that needed some TLC.  The price was right so I snatched it up.  As I was leaving, the cashier said that there was a case for that guitar in the back...she went to get it and handed it to me.  It was a soft case...like a big, guitar shaped bag.  Later at home, I opened the case and found five 'personal massagers'..lol  One is huge...like 12 inches long and very realistic....lol   I guess the slump is over!

-Sprocket

[alexandra]

I absolutely can't comment on the "personal massagers," but the case you were given is referred to as a "gig bag" -- just so you know!

I am dying to find an old cheap guitar at a thrift or garage sale.  Mostly, the ones I see are greatly overpriced.  Once the instrument is damaged so that it isn't playable, it is worthless -- so it irks me to see patently damaged guitars for more than twenty dollars (but hey, that's just me).  But... on to my desire for an old guitar.  I am just dying to find one I can decoupage and paint in some sort of outrageous way.

I know I could probably do the same with a cheap new instrument -- but I can't bring myself to destroy a playable guitar (and yes, I hate the musicians that smash them -- better to donate them to an aspiring but underpriviledged musician).

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

ps. I own a couple of Epiphones -- they make good guitars!

[silentwords621]

Thrift shopping is hit-or-miss. When I wanted to find something 80s-inspired for the Duran Duran concert I went to last month, I struck out and ended up going retail (except for the boots I got on Ebay).

However, when I went thrifting on the 4th I got a few cute tops, two belts, and a chic bag. That time, I didn't have anything specific in mind.

While I do agree with those upthread who said visualization works when trying to find stuff while shopping, I also believe that not trying to find that "perfect item" helps as well. Stumbling blindly upon something can work wonders too.

[ChrisMiss]

Stumbling blindly onto stuff is a good description of how I find many items.  Since I go to so many thrift stores and have such a long list of items that I look for everyone in the family I tend to look over the whole store and usually I do stumble across a treasure blindly.  I'm not looking for that item, it's just there calling out to me. 

[Other People s Junk]

I totally hear you on finding things unexpectedly.

On Friday I stopped into one of the local thrifts that I tend not to frequent, as it is clear across town and little and they hardly ever have anything.  I was in the area and had a few minutes, so started to look around.  I got to the book section and was thinking what a terrible selection it was and that they must not have anyone donate any good books and immediately saw the spine of a Choose Your Own Adventure.  And then 2 more!  My oldest LOVES those books and they are hard to find in our town.  You can't get them new here, and they are VERY hard to find used.  I was overjoyed to find THREE and all ones we didn't have!  I didn't find anything else in the store, but I was reminded that it is always worth going into a thrift store, as you never know what you are going to find.

[Magpie18]

On my way to somewhere else, I stopped off at the Discovery (American Cancer Society) thrift shop in Burbank.  Never been to this one.  I found a goldtone necklace shortener for $2.  I didn't think I would ever find one of those in a thriftstore.

FYI, a necklace shortener is usually an oval, circle or rectangle that opens up so you can double up on a long necklace.  It can be mistaken for a single hoop earring except  there is no thin part to go in your earlobe.

Now if I can just find some cheap chains I can remake as bracelet safety chains or necklace extenders

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Very cool! Well, keep your eyes peeled and you might find the other pieces you're looking for, too. Ya never know.

I think it really helps to have a little bit of extra knowledge about what you're interested in, too-- see, you saw the necklace shortener and knew just what it was. I would have had no idea, even though it's a nice, functional thing.

[Magpie18]

I suspect whoever was pricing the jewelry section of the thrift store didn't know what it was either or thought people just wouldn't pay much for it even though it was a well made ornate one.   $2 was priced quite cheap compared to the rest of the items in the case

Unfortunately, that was the only thing I found this weekend.

[secondhandnation]

The RAS Big Daddy Audio spoke of is definitely how I experience thrifting. Sometimes I can't make mine turn off into new directions.  For a while, I was all about things yellow and lavender for my daughter's bedroom.  I would see Easter baskets and merch and get woozy.  Now that she's gone and grown up, and changed her rooms colors, I have to refine to pink and purple...

I was in a couch slump earlier.  I wanted a smaller size couch, with clean, modern lines and felt quite hopeless about finding anything good.  All the thrifts around me were full of overstuffed, obese furniture that I cannot stand and which will not fit in my tiny living room.  I lucked out last week and found the sofa of my dreams - $25!  Plus it was a yard sale that was giving the proceeds to a woman who is going back to college at the age of 52, after being a single mom on her own for many years.  So I feel extra great sitting on it!

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Wow, I would love to see a pic of that sofa!  Can you post a pic? Or describe it? Is it mid=century modern?

SeSo

[secondhandnation]

I have no idea but will post a pic - once I clean out the rest of the debris in that room (I love getting great furniture finds but hate moving everything around, especially when it's so hot).