Thrift shopping is a wonderful time

There are five ways college students get clothes: free at an event, gifted, hand-me-down, on-sale or thrifted.

While each way has its own merit, my personal favorite, as you may have guessed, is thrifting. The whole process of digging for buried treasure in a dollar bin or finding something so ridiculous you can’t believe people spent money on it is so much more exciting than glancing through organized shelves. I used to enjoy shopping anywhere for hours, but when I realized that I had all the clothing I needed, the excitement faded. But the thrill and adventure of coming away with something unexpected (and cheap) keeps me coming back to thrifting.

There are so many reasons to shop second hand. It saves you money. You can get so much more bang for your buck at a thrift shop. You can spend less and buy more (or spend the same amount and just get more, depending on what kind of person you are). It’s an ecofriendly and responsible way to get new things.  Instead of buying new things that use up resources, buying already used items allows the things already made and the energy spent to make them to have double the use (or more if you thrifted something, donated it back, and someone else got it). When you purchase a thrifted item of clothing, you save yourself the energy it takes to earn the extra money it takes to buy something new, and you are getting additional use out of an item someone else also used.  

For some people, the idea of wearing some mystery person’s clothing is unnerving. Personally, I don’t think that it is any more gross than buying something at a store that someone else possibly tried on, but I’m not germophobic either. 

Draw the line where you need to, and only shop for the items you feel comfortable wearing or using. That could mean no hats, no shoes or no exercise clothes depending on your preferences. A word of advice: pick an especially strong laundry detergent for the first wash or two to get rid of that thrift store smell. 

Thrift shopping, like life, is full of the unexpected. You can walk away with bags of things, a single item or nothing at all. The key to an enjoyable experience is to go in with an open mind. Have only a general idea of what you are looking for (or none at all) and be open to new things. 

Seize the oddball items that come your way. It may be a ghastly mistake of fashion or a genius design, but if you let it get away, you will never see it again.