Justin is what you might call a devotee of thrift stores. Now, I like a good bargain as much as the next guy, but Justin runs a blog called “Things I Found At The Thrift Store” where he documents his thrifty finds.
But of course, if you just go buy bargains, pretty soon you’ll end up with too much stuff. And just because it’s a bargain doesn’t mean you need it. So what does Justin do with all his good scores?
Answer: He sells them, online. He pays his rent that way, and has for six months. Of course, he doesn’t recommend it:
You have to have a keen eye for items that you know will sell. “Don’t sell what you don’t know.” A bus driver wouldn’t apply for a job as an Army helicopter pilot would he? You have to know what you’re looking at or you’ll waste a lot of money on stuff you can’t liquidate and end up looking like a hoarder with a garage full of junk. My item of choice was art, because that’s what I’m comfortable in. Having a fine art and design background I was able to find rare prints that had probably been turned in by someone who didn’t know any better. I found real screen prints by David Weidman, hand-colored etchings by UK artist Jo Barry, and ORIGINAL impasto oil paintings by Italian artist P.G. Tiele (which still blows my mind!) I also found art objects such as original McCoy pottery and vintage little sculptures and plant holders from various artists & eras that sold for amounts that still surprise me to this day. America is a nation of collectors and when they see an item they want or don’t have – you bet your ass they’ll pay for it. What happens is when someone passes, all of their stuff has to be dealt with by their spouse or relatives. Most of the time it’s in hasty fashion and a lot of the items get put in a box and donated to thrift stores – that’s just my guess. Whereby, I heroically pluck them from their dusty shelves and find a better venue for them to be noticed and subsequently sold. In some ways I’m helping keep these works of art from the trash or thrift store purgatory. In a way I’m helping to connect the items with someone who collects or genuinely cherishes that artists’ work.
The blog’s a pretty fun read. And it makes me want to go scour some second-hand stores.
Grant Hamilton
3 Responses to “Thrifting tip: Find ‘old shit that works better than new shit’”
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I’ll definitely be following this. My nomination for quote of the week: “America is a nation of collectors and when they see an item they want or don’t have – you bet your ass they’ll pay for it.” Ha.
Yeah, I thought that quote was dead-on, too.
I don’t think I have the expertise to make thrifting-for-a-living pay, but I like the idea of it.
From what I’ve gathered in talking to folks who spend WAY more time on this than I do, it seems the way to do this in Manitoba is to hit auction sales.
Thrift stores are OK but for some reason, around here it seems the real gems end up getting sold by a guy with a gavel.
I once saw a Manitoba Telephone Systems phone booth for sale, from the 1920′s! It was quarter-sawn oak, in almost mint condition…for a paltry 300 bucks. I’m sure it could have been resold for a lot more, but I was blown away that a simple object like a phone booth could have been so beautiful.