Why Buy Used? A Guide to Thrift Store Shopping

I used to avoid thrift stores before I became a vintage dealer. I understand for some folks there's a certain distaste factor involved in used stuff - I definitely felt uncomfortable at first. You eventually get used to the atmosphere so that’s less of an issue for me now. It can also be intimidating to see piles of stuff and try to figure out whether there’s a quality item somewhere in the clutter.

I visit thrift stores several times a month now. I realize some of them have a controversial reputation as a charity (Goodwill specifically). But if even some of my money is going to help people, I consider that a win over buying at Walmart and Amazon. Plus you are giving something new life instead of sending it to a landfill. It doesn’t matter which thrift store you buy from, all of them are saving usable products from the dump.

That said, here are some tips to help deal with the thrift shopping experience:

1. Take a buddy - it’s more pleasant to go with someone else. You get two sets of eyes scoping the shelves and you have a comfort buddy.


2. Understand that anything you buy needs to be cleaned. Run it through the dishwasher or saturate it with cleaner and rinse. I consider 5-10 minutes of elbow grease to be part of the trade-off for getting a deal on price.


3. Carefully inspect everything and make sure there’s no damage you can’t live with. It’s amazing how often I spot an issue after I get home.


4. Keep hand sanitizer or wet wipes in the car for use after you leave the store. You’ll feel better once you’re clean again!


5. Try to be patient. For whatever reason a lot of (slow) older folks tend to thrift shop. I usually skip past to dodge them and circle back when the row is clear.


6. When in doubt on something, don’t buy. Stick with what you know. Or if you decide to get it, realize you’re taking a chance and only spend what you’re willing to risk/gamble. 

I feel like thrifting is a worthwhile option for anyone, regardless of income level. Sometimes you find older decor items that just aren’t made anymore which bring funky personality to a man cave, etc. If you have kids it can be a godsend for keeping up with growth spurts without spending a ton on new clothes every year. I also think young adults who are getting their own apartment should definitely check out thrift stores for cheap dishes and furniture. If you haven't gone to a thrift store, try it from time to time. You might get converted to the idea just like me!

Review: Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey - Full, Unopened Vintage Bottle of 59 Year Old Liquor!

This week I went to an estate sale and found myself in the basement. At the far end was a small room lined with shelves that had its own door, I suspect it was intended as a root cellar. The owner had mostly stored opened paint cans and miscellaneous tools in there. Barely visible was a dusty cardboard box with some writing on it. I pulled it out and it was a Jim Beam decanter in a plain white box. As I turned it around to read what was stamped on it, I could feel it sloshing around. It still had liquor inside!

At this point I was pretty excited. In 4+ years of vintage picking I hadn't come across any old decanters with actual booze in them. Once we were home I did some research on old bottles of Jim Beam. There were plenty of people theorizing that it would be bad in some way. I read one article that proclaimed it would not keep aging in the decanter because bottling halts the aging process. I didn't feel very confident about any of these opinions because very few of them were from people who had actually opened an old bottle and tasted it.

After all that reading I was committed to opening the bottle. I had confirmed that there probably wasn't a huge windfall coming my way if I sold it, plus I'm pretty sure eBay won't let you sell without a liquor license. The main pitfall seemed to be checking the cork to make sure it still had a good seal. On inspection I could see that the old tax strip had not been broken, so it had not been opened and resealed. So far so good!

My husband tried to uncork the bottle but it was sealed in pretty tight. It had a ceramic stopper and we assumed it was cork in the bottle. We were in luck again because it turned out to be a cork with a plastic coating over it, so the cork itself had not been exposed to the liquor or the elements over the years. We both sniffed and didn't pick up anything off about it. My husband wiped down the lip just in case there was dust or gunk on it. Then we poured it out of the decanter and into an empty bottle.

We poured a shot glass and both took tentative sips. It didn't taste weird in any way. Unfortunately we're not bourbon drinkers so we probably aren't a good judge of how well it held up. Personally I felt a head-to-head taste test was in order....

So a day later we went to our local liquor store to get a bottle of Beam bourbon that had been aged 9 years like our vintage bottle. Unfortunately none of the current Beam offerings are aged 9 years, the closest we could find was Jim Beam Black. The bottle of Black simply said "extra aged" although some searches online turned up the tidbit that a few years ago it was aged 8 years (later dropped from the label, no official word if the aging was also changed).

We poured out two shot glasses of bourbon -- one aged 9 years plus 49 in the package and the other aged a theoretical 8 years. We sniffed both and right away could tell a difference between the two. The older Beam had a prominent Rum-like smell and the new Beam had a mild alcohol smell with a hint of buttery or sweetness to it.

Next we tasted each, just a small sip held in our mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. The old Beam had a strong flavor that reminded me quite a bit of Rum. Holding it on your tongue had a distinct fire to it and when swallowed it had a potent alcohol bite. The new Beam had almost no flavor other than a slight medicinal quality in the mouth. New Beam had a milder bite to it going down as well. I'm not a drinker so my take is purely based on the inexperienced impressions of someone who doesn't drink (like at all).

However my husband does drink Vodka and craft beer on a regular basis. His impressions were pretty similar to mine. We both agreed that the old Beam had a very Rum-like quality to it. He said if he continued to drink the new Beam he would use it only as a mixer but he would consider drinking the old Beam on its own over ice.

If you come across an old bottle of liquor, don't be afraid to open it. It may taste better than the new stuff!
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What's It Worth? Using eBay to Price / Value Your Vintage Finds!

I just recently created an infographic for a process I use a lot. When you sell vintage items, you need to figure out what price to put on them. Sometimes you can search on Google and see what other people are charging. Other times there just aren't similar items out there to find. I had this problem a lot when I first started.

Eventually I figured out how to get some of this information from eBay. Here's the graphic I created that shows how to do this:

Step One: type in your search and hit the "Search" button. Step Two: Click "Sold Listings" on the bottom left menu. The page will reload and eBay will show you sold listings instead of current listings. You can get a pretty good idea of what people are willing to pay based on these sales.

So what can you do if there are no matches in current or sold listings? Well you can try searching for a more generic version of the item you want to sell. That's not always a good option. In this situation, comparing to other Pyrex patterns wouldn't be useful information.

When I strike out on eBay I turn to Worthpoint. This is a paid service so it's probably not worthwhile for the casual eBay seller. The cost is about $20 a month. In return you get access to several years worth of price information from eBay and other online auction sites. You can find most products in their database of 300 million records.

The final option if neither of these work for you, go with your gut. What would you pay for this piece if you wanted one for yourself? Ask a few friends what they would pay if you like and form a consensus. In my family we tend to be pretty frugal. I figure if I'm willing to pay $50 for something, odds are pretty good that other shoppers would too!

Just be forewarned - if you are an avid collector your opinion probably isn't terribly valid. Collectors have a tendency to significantly overvalue their collection based on what they paid, not on what the current market will bear.