#second hand shopping

[technowings]

I miss when ebay was actually like an online yard sale - collectibles, things they didn't need/want, stuff you could only get from other countries directly from real people, mystery finds from in person yard sales, etc.

Now you have to wade thru the muck of drop shipping from China and who knows if anything is really real.

Trying to shop less on Amazon but the search results are clogged up with temu. Clear out the temu, its all aliexpress, seeing, and similar mystery companies that may or may not be legit.

I just wanna buy second hand stuff from actual people! I want to give the things another chance to be loved! I want my home to contain things with character and history!

[wastelesscrafts]

Hi I was wondering where you thrift your clothes from? Bc I saw you wrote € on your hot weather fabrics post and I'm from Germany and also looking to thrift more than buy new but there's not many good options around where I live 💜

Thrifting sources

I'm lucky because I have multiple second-hand shops around where I live.

My main thrifting source is Vinted, an online second-hand marketplace. The app's available in a large part of Europe, the USA, Canada, and the UK. I've had a lot of good finds there in terms of clothes, fabric, notions, books,...

I wouldn't recommend the app if you have issues with impulse shopping though.

[staycoolbutstillcare]

just stumbled upon my DREAM couch on fb marketplace. She’s green, she’s Ethan Allen, rolled arms, I mean, just absolutely everything a girl could want in a couch… but we aren’t in the market for a couch right now 😭😭

[envirogoth]

Thrifting tip: make a mental or written note of commonly found brands that appeal to you- in terms of sizing (how it fits you or if it sells your size at all), material, style, etc. this can help you more readily know if you're going to like a piece or not, especially if it's something you cant/won't try on, or if you're unsure of if you like if or not.

this is the cool thing about thrift stores- it acts as almost an archive of brands from a variety of stores, sizes, collections, etc. instead of going to 1 store with the same styles from this one time period, it's a variety.

in a reblog I will list my favorite brands to look for while thrifting

[absiil]

Jumpsuit that i thrifted and dyed brown

[siniirrphotography]

https://villavalkea.fi/

[green-wiv-envy]

What went wrong with Depop

I remember the first items I bought on Depop. It was back in 2017, actually before I had developed an interest in sustainability. I had just dropped out of university and was working part-time at a local pub. It wasn’t a great time in my life to say the least.

It became a bit of an outlet. For a shopaholic like me, branded items being sold for a fraction of their original price was a no-brainer, and was pivotal in getting me over my aversion to second-hand clothing.

I would see items in shops and think to myself “I’ll just wait six months and buy it for cheap on Depop”. It’s how I got my Topshop Hurricane snake print boots. It saved my hide when I bought some ASOS shoes in the wrong size and then they ran out of the right size, only to stumble across them later on the app.

I didn’t just use it to purchase high street items; Depop was the first time I dipped my toes into the waters of vintage clothing and I found some real bargains on there (although the stench of stale cigarette smoke on the floral maxi skirt I ordered still remains in my nostrils to this day). I found a genuine leather white mini skirt and a Burberry trench (although perhaps that should be third-hand as the seller had purchased it from a vintage clothing store).

I personally never sold on Depop, as I found it was only really the sellers who committed to selling their items (and usually keeping a steady flow of new stock) or those whose items adhered to a tightly curated aesthetic. The layout of Depop is very similar to that of Instagram, and having items in the same style, colour or brand is pleasing to the eye and increases the likelihood of shoppers following the seller (and thus receiving notifications of new items to sell). This approach was much more successful than the sellers with eclectic mix that honestly represented the cast-offs of their wardrobe. Many of the items I bought were a casual seller’s first ever sale, despite usually having around a dozen on offer.

This was not a problem in the beginning- at least not from a shopper’s perspective anyway. But it was a sign of troubles to come.

Those who realised there was money to be made by reselling second-hand items sourced from charity shops (not an inherently wrong thing in my opinion, but a somewhat controversial in sustainability circles online due to the allegation that this denies low-cost clothing to those in a local community who most need it) went into overdrive, hiking up their prices.

The magic word was ‘y2k’, a banner under which anything could be sold for £20 and above, creeping close to the original RRP or sometimes surpassing it!

The app became increasingly challenging to navigate. For maximum visibility sellers would list just a blurb of tags regardless of whether they were relevant; a Topshop skirt manufactured and sold in 2013 could simultaneously be tagged ’90s’ and ’00s’ when the skirt itself frankly bore no resemblance to the clothing of either decade. Brand names would just be used for the sake of increasing their chances of appearing in search results. The rise of even faster fashion brands in the late 2010s became increasingly omnipresent, lowering the overall quality of the items on sale.

So when Vinted launched in the UK, I immediately signed up. At the initial stage the app was pretty glitchy; it would only show a few dozen items and then was unable to download more and at one point was entirely in French. But it soon came to find its footing and since then has firmly established itself amongst young people in the UK. I erroneously assumed that Vinted was a relatively new company, but actually it was founded in Lithuania in 2008 and has since expanded into over a dozen other countries.

It would be fantasy to pretend that Vinted is a shining city on the hill- Shein and its ilk are arguably just as prevalent as they are on Depop (with the small caveat that sellers aren’t charging nearly as much) but its search engine and filters are much better than Depop’s. The layout of the website and the range of items sold bear more resemblance to the early days of eBay (before it became an Amazon copycat dominated by mass-produced new items sold by large companies). I also suspect it will follow a similar trajectory to Depop, starting out as a cheap, sustainable and user-friendly platform that is ultimately undone by its popularity, with sellers asking for unreasonable items for low-quality products leading to a migration to whatever new reselling platform senses an opportunity. But for now, I enjoy Vinted as much as I once did Depop (and perhaps more than is good for my bank account).

[colourerupts]

Dude I love shopping second hand I just found the SEXIEST items and they were just- unwanted anymore??? Don’t mind if I do, stranger on the internet who lives in a completely different state. I GOT YOU.

[xxxcertifiednerdxxx]

It is 1:30 a.m., and I am thinking about how thrift store prices are becoming higher both bc of inflation but also I suspect bc the exploitation of trendiness.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that people are buying more secondhand stuff, bc that’s much more environmentally friendly and also wallet friendly than buying new! But also there do seem to be people who treat thrift stores like the cool new store to shop at and not a legit way to fight back against corporations and capitalism and also just to survive.

Sure I want to buy everything I see at the thrift store, but I don’t. I don’t need to take something I only kind of like that someone else might need. There was a really good post thread where people talked about how things aren’t supposed to be bought at thrift stores only to be turned into something completely new, bc what if someone needed what it originally was? Just try to prolong what you already have for as long as you can. It is possible to renew your joy with what you already have.

Thrifting is already becoming infected by overconsumption. And I don’t think reselling something that you thrifted but found something about it you didn’t like is the worst, but just buying something only to sell it again to make a profit is kind of a jerk move. Nowhere near as jerky as the 1% or anything, but still not cool.

Idk where I’m going with this. I’m probably preaching to the choir. I don’t know a lot about this, I’m still trying to learn more. I’m not the most sustainable person, I know that. I’m just in my feels about how thrift stores aren’t what they once were.

[attrapedream]

i downloaded vinted 2 days ago xO check my profile ig🏃

https://www.vinted.fr/member/100172449-eddream

[thefuturesbright]

I didn’t know how to necessarily talk about this but It has been something that been bugging me and that’s Mercari’s fee

Cause here’s the thing okay? It does shift the burden away from the seller but now, as a buyer, I don’t want to buy anymore unless eBay doesn’t have it. And even if the seller says no offers I’m sending an offer, not because I want to piss the seller off, but because explain to me how this item that’s $27 is now almost $10 more because of the service fee, the payment processing fee, and my state does taxes don’t know about others, and shipping if the item doesn’t have free shipping? As a buyer that’s…not consumer friendly? Idk how to explain but it makes me not want to buy

[priory-of-stars]

tomorrow's cozy shopping list:

An old man jumper to embroider on

A book (used preferred)

A candle that smells like warmth

A heartwarming coffee

Wool for my new scarf

[daisy-dupes]

Curated by Daisy Dupes: FP x The Rose Bowl Flea Market

Some of my favorite Vintage 1970s and 70s-inspired items from the virtual flea market!

More to come xx

1970's Plum Suede Coat | $550

Size XS/S - only one!

Handmade Suede Shorts | $200

Size S - only one pair!

Lattice Sheer Mini Dress | $168

Size M - only one!

Suede And Crochet High Waisted Skirt | $225

Size 24 - only one!

Handmade White Crochet Romper | $400

Size S - only one!

Black Lace Balloon Sleeve Blouse | $168

Size XS/S - only one!