The Surprising Thing You Should Pay Attention to Next Time You Thrift
We’ve shared thrift shopping tips before, like How to Leave a Thrift Store and Love What You Bought, Unexpected Items to Look for When Thrift Shopping, The Art of Getting the Best Deal When You Thrift Shop and even Thrifting Secrets from Someone Whose Home Looks Like a Million Bucks.
But before you head off to your next shopping trip, listen to this one last piece of advice from master thrifter Tavia (of A Lovely Minneapolis Home Full of Thrifted Buys & Frugal Finds). She revealed something that she always pays attention to when she thrift shops, and it thoroughly surprised us.
“One of the joys I find in thrifting is also the people. I feel like thrift shopping brings you into community with others. You’re all searching for something and I always have great conversations with the folks who are next to me digging.”
“My knowledge about where the good thrift stores are has almost entirely come from word of mouth.”
“It can be a very human and humbling experience to share conversation with a person while you’re holding the belongings of yet someone else. Having these conversations can also give you insights into where others have shopped. My knowledge about where the good thrift stores are has almost entirely come from word of mouth.”
I fully admit that my usual thrift style is having my head down digging for deals or barreling through the aisles of a store with tunnel vision. But paying attention to people, as Tavia mentions above, can lead to learning about where you should shop next or maybe even the backstory to something. Heck — you could even find a deal yourself by simply paying attention to the way another shopper’s eyes light up when they spot something. If you ever hear someone say something like “This is such a great deal, but I don’t have the room…” you should probably investigate!
Have you ever found a deal or learned about a piece you were buying because you paid attention to the people around you when you thrift or second-hand shopped? Share your stories in the comments below!
See Tavia’s full house tour → A Lovely Minneapolis Home Full of Thrifted Buys & Frugal Finds
Read more of Tavia’s thrifting advice → How to Leave a Thrift Store and Love What You Bought