Finding what looks to be a great deal at a thrift store can create a sense of excitement — you can quickly talk yourself into not passing up such a good deal. Mandi of Vintage Revivals has thrift shopping down to an art, and there are 8 questions she says everyone should ask themselves before walking out the door with a new thrifty treasure.
Mandi is always trying to make something from nothing and keep budgets down, so when this girl goes thrifting, you better look out. That said, she doesn't just buy something to buy it; she takes great care in picking up items that will only benefit herself or the project she's working on. On the list of 8 questions were a few that hit home to me. How? Well, because I'm totally guilty of not asking them and ending up with a little heartbreak. They are…
• Do You Have A Place To Put It? It doesn't do you any good if you can't display it or it will take you 6 months to have somewhere to work on it.
• Is This a Game Changer? Quite often I tell myself I have to have something based on price, quality or condition, but many times I've taken an item home and it hasn't been as wowie-zowie as I had hoped. I thought I could flip it, alter it or change it into what I wanted and it just wasn't happening. Can you picture your room without it? Does it make you want to change things up entirely because it's just that awesome? No? Well then leave it!
Make sure to check out the full list of 8 items over at Vintage Revivals. Do you have questions or standards you check off before leaving a thrift store? Share your tips below!
Read More: 8 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Buy From A Thrift Store from Vintage Revivals
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I have always been of the opinion that if I can sell it on again for about the same price, always take the risk. Most things you buy in a thrift/charity store will sell on auction sites for the same price or more.
I would hate to not get something, and regret it a few weeks later.
The second role doesn't really apply to small items. Is the recipe box a game changer? Not remotely, but it was $5 and contained a lot of recipes from the 70s (some of which look kind of disgusting). It was fun to take a look at how a complete stranger in the 70s might have lived. I love collecting vintage (or just old) recipes.
3. Does it have bed bugs? Two units in my apartment complex got infested with bed bugs and now they're treating all of the units with chemical sprays every 3 months and weekly inspections. I have a new baby and I now hate my neighbors.