I know what you mean... I never see anything good when I go to thrift stores, or places like Tuesday morning. My friend is always going on about some great thing she found, but I guess I don't have the patience to go there so often. I am in the market for some cheap lamps I want to paint, so one of these days I'm just going to make a day of it and hit up a bunch of thrift stores and see what they have.

There are tricks to going and finding good things, like the studio pottery I found today that may be by a rather famous midcentury potter, and some mingei-vibe kind of midcentury Japanese pottery (one signed, one not).

I find that if I go in the late morning (before noon), or mid-afternoon, that's when the staff are just putting things out, and it's a completely different store from the rest of the open hours. The good things get snapped up within 24 hours -- mostly within about 1 hour, actually. The dreck gets left to be found by anyone at anytime. Most of what I buy has been put out the day I buy it, or maybe the day after. Keep trying when you find yourself near one, if you're interested!

Our Goodwill has changed over the years, now it's mostly clothes and small kitchen appliances, knic-knacs and toys. But I also know that new things are put out on Thursdays, and many people are lined up at the door to get in on that day. My step-sister loves purses and has found quite a few expensive name-brand purses by showing up early and two or three times a week.

The non-GW thrift store, the one with the Vera Wang gown, did have a locked display case with previously expensive name-brand purses.

I think when I get back to my regular house I'll try to establish a routine of hitting that GW early in the a.m. once a week. I'll have to find out what day is the best for new stock.

I'd like to have a "look what I found!" thread someday.

I've been donating many things as I replace them at the condo. I sure hope someone else isn't finding my cast-offs and saying "look what I found! An original such&such."

My problem when going into a goodwill store or an antique store is that I don't have the imagination needed to see the potential in pieces of furniture or accessories. I'm not a DIY'er so I don't see "well, if I strip it and restain it it will great in that corner" Or that colour will look great on that coffee table.

I wish I did but I don't.

Our GWs are mostly clothes, too, and kinda pricey for second-hand. Believe me, there have been MANY times I haven't found anything. I don't go on a regular basis, either, just when I'm near one and have the time. It only takes one fantastic find to make all the other trips worthwhile!

In the last year, I've purchased two paintings and one coffee table from GW and thrift. I like DIY stuff, but have my hands full with my house so I'm not taking advantage of the furniture needing work yet, and garage sales have better prices for that stuff anyway.

Ah, you're not alone. I don't usually find the best stuff at GW. I think the ones around here are sometimes over priced and it's hit or miss.

We have a few consignment shops. I visited them often when I first moved here, but never saw anything that interested me, so I stopped. I'm not a DIY-er either, so an item has to be ready-to-use or I'm not interested.

This is a thought...

When researching cast iron skillets (an interest of mine) I found that Goodwill has an auction site. It occurred to me that many Goodwills may be putting up for auction the best stuff - they may (probably rightly) think they can get a much better price through an online auction than by pricing it and selling it in the store. This is my theory on why in the last 5 years or so there hasn't seemed to be as much good stuff.

lizzie nh has it! I shop on the goodwill auction site pretty regularly. Not furniture...but I've gotten a lovely little oil painting and some fabulous costume jewelry for not-much-money.

"I find that if I go in the late morning (before noon), or mid-afternoon, that's when the staff are just putting things out, and it's a completely different store from the rest of the open hours. The good things get snapped up within 24 hours -- mostly within about 1 hour, actually."

Which means I'm not going to be in the running. I am at work every day. I guess SAH or retired folks do better with places like Goodwill and thrift shops, because people like me are not able to be in and out all week and all hours of the day.

Ann

You could of bought and sold that Vera Wang for lots of $$$$$$$$.

Same thing here, running. I teach and work long hours when classes are in session, so I am mostly out of luck. I don't really even have time to scour ebay and CL once the semester ramps up. I have time to cook dinner, exercise, spend time with DH and cats, and that's it. I can barely check in here!

However, I did take some days this summer where I went to various consignment, thrift, and antique stores. It was a lot of fun, but it still took a lot of time. OTOH, I found a place to consign something that is now on CL and bought a vintage coffee table from them, and I found a good upholsterer.

In our Gopodwill, Monday morning when they open is the best time....the 99 cent clothes haven't been picked over and they are just putting things out from over the weekend. I have been complimented many times on some of the Goodwill clothes I have bought.

I'm a regular thrift-store shopper and I do think shopping pretty regularly and before things get picked over are key to making "lucky" finds. There's basically no point to going on a Saturday afternoon, when serious hunters have been there before you.

It also helps to have an actual list of things to look for-- without a list, I tend to go into the store with a particular thing in mind and be disappointed if I can't find it.

With my list, I have several categories to look for and that keeps me from leaving in a huff because they don't have my dream lamp, and therefore missing a sweet set of spoons or something else I want but wasn't thinking of when I went in for the lamp...

My permanent list of things to look for: vintage picture frames, silverware, Haeger pottery, old books by two or three authors I won't mention because I don't want you ladies snatching up all "my" books, brooches, lamps, furniture made from bamboo, and (the impossible dream) nightstands.

running, you're right -- it's not for all segments of the population. I will say that there has been a huge uptick in the regular daily population at Goodwills since the economy cratered. These folks look like formerly relatively well-to-do people; I think they're unemployed folks, trying to find high-end things to sell or trying to buy labels like they're used to for the lowest amount possible.

I anticipate that if I go back to work this year, now that DD's in high school, I won't be able to snag the seriously wonderful items I used to be able to. That's just the way it is.