Beyond the thrill of a great deal, there’s a lot to love about thrifting. Of course, there’s the fact that buying secondhand leaves a smaller carbon footprint. For me, personally, I love the idea that a vintage item at the thrift store had an entire life of its own before I crossed paths with it. Once, at an antique store, I unknowingly picked up a Japanese crystal planter that was used to store dog ashes. But that’s a story for another day.
There’s nothing I love more than wandering the aisles of a thrift store for vintage goods. But not everyone lives near a thrift store. Or, if you’re like me, you might be hitting up the thrift store too often and want a change of scenery (and, quite frankly, fresher inventory to dig through). So, where can you go secondhand shopping other than the thrift store?
Obviously, people are constantly decluttering and liquidating, so there’s always secondhand stock to be found if you know where to look. Besides thrifting, here are seven different ways to shop secondhand.
Flea markets and antique fairs
As a toddler, I hit up the West Wind Capitol Flea Market with my dad every weekend, long before I discovered the joys of the thrift store. At the flea market, there’s a good mix of regular people looking to offload garage junk and vendors flipping new old stock. There’s typically a small entry fee, but prices are usually pretty cheap, and you can bargain with sellers. (Though, I personally hate haggling.)
If you’re wondering to yourself, where can I buy gently used clothes, the flea market is a great place to start. I love grabbing $1 to $5 clothes from vendors who sell barrels of deadstock from the Goodwill bins. Fair warning, though: Sifting through endless piles of old clothes — many with questionable stains — is definitely not for the faint of heart!
Antique fairs are much more curated than flea markets, so they usually don’t have dirt-cheap prices. However, they’re definitely worth checking out if you’re someone who loves to shop secondhand for older collectibles. There’s something for every type of collector, whether you love Corelle dinnerware, Fenton glassware, Art Deco jewelry, or comic books. Every so often, I stop by Manteca’s free monthly antique fair by the Promenade Shopping Center to browse for collectibles from local dealers.
Garage and yard sales
You can usually find local yard sales by paying attention to those neon paper signs stuck to traffic lights or perusing Facebook listings. Yes, it’s kind of awkward to pull up to someone’s house for a yard sale and leave empty-handed, but you never know what you’ll come across. One of my best yard sale finds is a genuine Italian leather purse for only $10 — what a steal!
Sometimes, there are citywide yard sales organized by local real estate companies. You can find participating addresses online a few days before the sale to map out your shopping route.
Libraries
These days, the library is my favorite place to hit up because it’s 100% FREE. However, I do occasionally like to shop secondhand at the Friends of the Library book sale corner for cheap books to add to my personal collection. Books and media items are typically $0.25 to $5 at the book sale section, and the whole thing’s based on an honor system where you slip money into a cash box. Obviously, don’t be a monster and cheat the system — profits go toward supporting your local library!
Every so often, the library has a huge outdoor or event room mega sale where it offloads as many donations as possible. Personally, I’m looking forward to the Central Valley’s Great Valley Bookfest to grab a bunch of 25-cent cozy mysteries!
Rummage sales
Rummage sales follow the same concept as a Friends of the Library book sale. They’re typically volunteer-run and profits benefit something like a nonprofit organization, club, or church. Prices are fairly cheap and standardized — you don’t really have someone Google-lensing the eBay price for every single piece. The last rummage sale I went to was raising funds for a veteran organization by selling off donated craft supplies. A note to the wise: Bring cash!
Consignment shops, used bookstores, and record stores
One of my favorite things about living in Berkeley was how easy it was to shop secondhand at consignment stores. After class, I could just wander around a used book, record, or clothing store for hours on end. At these types of shops, you can sell your clothes, books, and records for store credit or cash. Since these stores are very curated, they often offer more niche and current items — thrift store selections, as any savvy thrifter knows, are a bit more arbitrary.
Estate sales
I went to my first estate sale this past weekend and picked up gorgeous garden items! If you want to find local estate sales, I recommend researching local liquidation companies. I came across the Central Valley’s “Estate of Affairs” service after literally googling “estate sales near me.” This particular company does sales all across my county (and even for a few cities in the Bay Area). The sale that I went to was conveniently nestled in a quiet retirement community just a mile away from my house.
I know that some estate sales can be pretty intense, but I didn’t encounter a line or ridiculous crowds at my local sale — granted, I do live in a small city. The company shared the address and items for sale the night before the sale, and I planned my trip accordingly. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the Walkman that I was eyeing, but I did find some vintage pieces that I could resell.
Depending on the asset liquidation company, the prices are usually on par with your typical thrift store prices, if not a bit more expensive. You may, however, get half off deals by the last day or hour of an estate sale. I went pretty early in the morning and still found the prices to be relatively affordable — think seasonal tchotchkes for under $10.
Online resale shops and platforms (local, like Marketplace, or worldwide, like eBay)
These days, it’s super easy to go thrift shopping online. As someone who has recently forayed into the vintage reselling scene, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention online platforms for secondhand goods. If you want to shop local, you can try Offerup, Marketplace, and Craigslist. With these sites, you really have to wait to see what people are listing, and you want to be discerning about potential scams. If you want to get specific with your secondhand search, you can also look up keywords on global reselling platforms like eBay, Poshmark, and Mercari. The downside with these places is that you usually have to account for shipping fees, but there’s a broader marketplace for shopping.
While thrift stores are super trendy now, it’s worth keeping in mind that there are other avenues for buying gently used items. With these tips in mind, hopefully you can find some hidden vintage treasures and great deals as you shop secondhand.
