Your Guide to Online Thrifting

Hi, my name is Caitland (hi Caitland), and I have a shopping addiction. Real bad. I get an hour-long lunch break at my job…five minutes of that is scarfing down food so I can spend the other 55 minutes driving to and from stores or shopping from my phone. There is nothing that can lift my spirits quite like a new outfit can. And, for me, the only thing better than getting a new (or new to me) dress is getting it at a ridiculously good price. So I am here today to share my insider secrets of online shopping and thrifting–where to find great deals on amazing clothes (even the best name brands).

Poshmark.com

Poshmark.com is my newest addiction. It’s a place where you can buy and sell your clothes, accessories, handbags, shoes, etc. It’s an online shopper’s paradise. You can search by name brand, keywords, size, price, categories–pretty much anything you want to search by. There is even a feed for “Just In” and “Price Drop” (hello?! Could it be any easier?). You can also “like” your favorite items, and if there is a price drop, you’ll get an e-mail (and a notification if you have the app installed). See other similar apps/sites vinted.com and depop.com

ThredUp.com

ThredUp.com is another great site to buy and sell clothes, even for children! If you are looking to sell your clothes, you can actually ask ThredUp to send you a bag, and for some of your items, they will actually pay you up front instead of having to wait for them to sell on the site. An exciting feature for buyers is that you can put something in your cart and keep it there for 24 hours if you are trying to decide if you like it enough to buy it; after 24 hours, ThredUp will release it from your cart. You can create “personal shops” that are essentially saved searches for exactly what your looking for, and you can go right to it every time to see what’s new in your personal shop. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that some of these brands you can find on Zulily.com for an equivalent price, but it all depends on what you are looking for. You won’t find Anthropologie or J.Crew on Zulily, but that’s the beauty of ThredUp.com.

ShopGoodwill.com

I bet you didn’t know that you could shop at Goodwill from the comfort of your own home! Goodwills from all over the country will post name brand clothes and every other imaginable thing Goodwill carries on ShopGoodwill.com. It’s set up a lot like Ebay where you actually have to bid on the items, although there are a few “Buy Now” items. The best part of all? It’s not sorted by color, and you can actually shop by size. Also, there is a search feature so if you are looking for really cheap Kate Spade, it’s easy to find just what you are looking for!

Facebook Groups

Ohhh, this is both addicting and exhausting. But if you really put your mind to it, you can come out with some amazing deals, even on stuff more than clothes. I’m sure many of you probably already know this, but for whatever area you live in, there is likely a yard sale group. If you are on a desktop computer, you can use the search bar in the upper right hand corner to search for anything specific you might want to look for (this feature isn’t available yet on mobile). And if you find a thread or post you want to follow, instead of commenting on it, you can click on the arrow in the upper right hand corner of that specific post to “Turn On Notifications” as well as “Turn off Notifications” if it’s something you no longer want to see. And it never hurts to do a little searching on Facebook groups in general…it seems to me that there is a yard sale group for EVERYTHING. Home goods, clothing, kids’ stuff, antiques, etc. And while you can get sucked in for hours waiting for the next big deal to come up (that coveted $100 wooden swingset, you know the one because someone still feels the need to say “NEXT” after 88 other comments…c’mon people, are 88 people really going to pass?!)

Surprise Wear & Grab Bags

This site just launched a few days ago, but it’s based off another “Stylish surprise” that is very near and dear to my heart (Modcloth’s Stylish surprise, which, in my humble opinion, is better than Christmas). But because Modcloth’s only occurs very few times a year, I sought to find similar concepts and happened upon SurpriseWear.com. Basically, you pick your size (in either bottoms, tops, dresses) and they will send you not one, but THREE of that item for a very decent price ($15-25). Now I know you think I might be crazy for spending money on something that I might hate or might not fit, but it’s just really fun to do, and it might surprise you with something you would never pick out for yourself. While I haven’t participated in SurpriseWear.com’s first sale (mainly because they sold out in my size before I had a chance), I have participated a few times through Modcloth’s Stylish Surprise and had very good luck. That’s not to say everyone does. The other really fun part of this, and I hate to give away my secret, but there are swap groups on Facebook so your “trash” might very well else be someone else’s treasure and vice versa, and all it costs is shipping to swap.

Do you enjoy online thrifting? Do you have any secrets to share with us?