Why Can’t You Shop At Thrift Stores Anymore?

(This is my opinion. Maybe other people have a different experience.)

I used to love Goodwill. I have lamps, silver plated candlesticks, milk glass… just a bunch of random great stuff I purchased there over the decades. I don’t own anything worth much, but I own some stuff I think is really cool. Little online antique purchases are usually what people with good memories (but little money) get, to fulfill a piece of their history.

But these days the thrift store I used to frequent the most is full of overpriced junk.

I had a conversation with an employee, as I was donating some stuff a few months ago. He said even though they pay him, he has nothing good to say about the company. Wow. My thoughts exactly.

It’s true, though. There are a million reasons not to bother dropping money at that company’s resale shops. However, they now funnel all of the good, donated stuff, into the Goodwill auction site. You will never find cool stuff in the brick and mortar stores anymore.

The auction site, has all of the things from their stores that have any value. And hiring people just to work in your stores, hardly seems like it’s filling a true humanitarian need. However, deals are still to be had at the auction site. I have noticed there is way less traffic than on Ebay and you can get some seriously cool stuff for almost nothing. (Which is how it should be. This stuff is DONATED to them. Asking for a lot of money for it is kinda sketchy, since it doesn’t really go to any real humanitarian need.)

I recently went on the site looking for a stereoscope and the photographic slides that go with it. (These trick your eyes into seeing the photo in 3d. My teenage sons are seriously impressed!)

It was what you did for fun in the evening after chores. Way before: streaming, cable TV, black and white console TVs. These were made when radio shows were just starting and Hollywood was creating it’s first silent films. These photos are from the late 1800s-early 1900s. Happily, I found a complete stereoscope for about eight dollars plus shipping.

Then I found a set of 29 cards to use with it on ebay for less than $30. They both came today and I have filled a purchasing wish I’ve had since I saw my first stereoscope, at age 16. (I just bought another set of thirty six cards for $16.)

Auction sites are not as popular as they once were. If you have something you’ve always wanted: look on Ebay (or Goodwill auctions) and they will probably have something that fits the bill. If you can’t find it there: look on Etsy. Ebay seems to have fallen out of favor.

I love buying antiques from online sources. I usually do not want to go to an antique store and look until I find something random, and overpriced, to buy. I think going “antiquing” like that is not how people shop anymore. Luckily, every couple of months I think of something cool that I’ve wanted for years (like: the stereoscope or the huge barbed wire collection I used to have. My family is from Kansas. I was heartbroken when the 100s of barbed wire sticks I had were lost in a move.) and I can find these things with very little searching: online. The last time I went to a physical auction: my granny was with me. So: decades ago.

Here’s to today’s version of finding antique treasures. I genuinely love finding physical things, that remind me of people I’ve loved and lost. Cueing that memory that’s tucked away somewhere in my heart. The emotions come out, and I have a moment to reflect, holding things that have outlived their original use.

See you at the online antique auction,

Crazy Green Thumbs