I agree about the Goodwills in my area--they are all pretty well organized and have some great value. I have 4 of them around me, and I shop at them mostly for books and household goods. However, those Goodwills do not have fabric. (Boo hiss) There is another huge thrift shop fairly close that has all of the designer labels for clothes--Chicos, Coldwater Creek, Talbots, etc.--for very reasonable prices, and I never find a stain or tear in the clothes. And that store does have quilting fabric fairly regularly. I feel so lucky to have such great stores nearby.

Here in the OKC area, you find all kinds of selling tactics. the TS closest to the house has a color code of 5 colors on charts, the color at the top is 90% off, next 75%, then 50%, the two at the bottom are "original" price. Last time in I bought 6 pillows, 6 pictures (decoratiing my office), 2 baby outfits for $28, oh yes a paperback book "original" price $1.49, others are discount days, monday, seniors at 30% off, Tuesday military 30% off and a lot are strictly 50% off all the time. Some are 10 items for a $1 (clothing) on Sundays. I think the larger the city the more varied the pricing but around here the Goodwills and Salavation Army tend to run higher all t he time, Except for specials. Keep checking there are great finds out there especially checking out the cotton clothing for quilting or wools (if you can find 100%) for felting. I find lengths of fabrics in the bedding/rugs depts.

I pay attention to 'brands' only at Goodwill! I will not, even for 50% off purchase something that has a brand from WM or Kmart, for example. The product probably could have been bought at clearance and the quality..well, its WM or Kmart! I love to find JJill, LizWear, LLBean, Lands End, Levi, Gap or such.
Almost my entire wardrobe is from GW!!

I shopped one in upstate SC, where I once lived and jeans were $7.50 each, here in Asheville. NC they have gone up to $4.50 from $3.50.

So no, they are going up and the SC location has massive unemployment.


The old sewing machine, non-working in dumpy pressboard cabinet was marked $65.00.

I did get a nice chest there on Friday for $35.00 but I have looked for at least 10 years to get one.

Happy 4th,

Sharon
Sharon

My daughter is a thrift store queen! She has a beautiful wardrobe of brand name clothing that hardly cost her anything. She can almost always find a bargain at the Goodwill or Salvation Army. I am slowly learning from her.

We have several GW and SA in our area. One GW always has a sale going on. Kids clothes are buy one, get one free and most womens clothes are too. The SA just 40 minutes from us has a $5.00 bag sale day on Fridays. She gets a bag full of name brand clothes, shoes and jeans for $5. She finds most of the grandbabies clothes that way also.

I think they are seeing an increase in customers because the prices are going up everywhere else. So they can raise their prices as long as the prices are still less than elsewhere.

The Goodwill store here sucks! Most is manufactured goods that didn't sell in the stores and was donated. Nothing good. The Church Thrift Stores are the best around here.

I go to a store in N.J. called Unique, I never get the great fabric finds like some of you but the rest of the items are very reasonable. Mostly I look for childrens toys, puzzles, and books for my classroom. Our budget is limited so I pay out of pocket for the extra fun things that they love.

I bought brand new jeans at Walmart for $9....Why should I pay $8 for threadbare jeans?

I live in south carolina and all of our Good Wills are very expensive you could buy it new for a couple more dollars so I don't shop there