There’s nothing like spending a sunny Saturday with an iced matcha, raiding your local thrift store. At least, that’s how most teens and young adults feel. Digging through piles of other people’s clothes to find that one blouse you’re going to cut the sleeves off of and sew into something new. The feeling of making trash into your treasure.
I love personalization — sign me up for turning any two shirts into one much cooler garment! However, as thrift stores become increasingly sensationalized, I struggle to find those same rocks of clothing to harden into diamonds for a reasonable price.
Goodwill, and many other corporate thrift chains, have wised up to resellers and their desperate audience. Local thrifts are often raided of the best pieces an hour after opening. Early in the thrifting craze, I turned to a different way of buying used. I dug my heels into shopping online, and I like to think that I’ve gotten good enough at it to give out some advice.
Depop
The first thing that I often tell people who can’t find what they’re looking for in person is to avoid Depop until you’ve exhausted other options. Does Depop often have cute clothes, and does it attract a similar demographic of sellers? Yes. Is that where resellers jack up prices to be sky-high? Also, yes.
To me, it feels like everybody uses Depop. The chances of you winning a bidding war over an Ed Hardy bikini from 2006 without dropping half of your spending money on it are low. Additionally, most “vintage” or “Y2K” clothes sold for such prices are from discount department stores like Ross or Marshalls.
eBay
Almost all of my best thrift finds have come from eBay. I’ve gotten older, and I’ve bought rare merch for some of my favorite artists from eBay. It’s a goldmine for sports fans, especially those with niche tastes like mine. The digital camera is back on the rise, and I got mine from eBay for only $20. The ones being sold at Target right now are double that price for half the reliability.
eBay also casts a wider net when searching for specific clothing, since it’s been around longer than Depop. The people who are old enough to have lived through and sell their old clothes from eras we consider “vintage” are much more familiar with eBay. They also aren’t trying to scam teenagers.
The biggest caveats to keep in mind when seeking a positive experience on eBay are the sellers’ attitudes. Some eBay sellers are long-time collectors and can be quite rude, especially to first-time buyers. Luckily, eBay has many filters to hone your search to top-rated sellers and avoid bids likely to get cancelled.
Mercari
Another great second-hand shopping platform is Mercari. Mercari users’ age demographics are closer to Depop’s than eBay’s. One thing I really like about Mercari is that there seems to be an honor system, both among the people and ingrained into the website.
Like eBay, Mercari is used by many collectors. Most of these collectors are younger, though, which makes it a little less daunting to message a seller or make an offer. It’s also easier to sell on Mercari than on its competitors.
One thing that often wastes people’s time on Mercari is seller inactivity. I’ve learned that it’s important to check when a seller was last active or to shoot them a message if I’m really interested in an item. It saves a lot of time and money to double-check before clicking buy.
Since COVID-19 shutdowns, online shopping and thrifting have been on the rise. By combining both, you’re getting the best overlap of deals and items. Whether you’re looking for new jeans, a camera, or some K-pop photocards, there’s a versatile landscape of places to find what you need at your fingertips.
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