Affordable Style, Part II: Buying Used

A few weeks ago we shared some tips for getting good style value while buying new. Today we want to share some tips for buying used clothing. We'll cover two sources: thrift store/garage sales and eBay.

Thrifting (and garage sales)

While shopping at thrift stores or garage sales can be a great way to save a lot of money, it can also be more time-consuming than buying new, because you have to sort through a wide variety of merchandise. Your time is valuable, so you have to take this into consideration.

Some folks like to browse through thrift stores to see what they can turn up, and this can yield some great finds, but it's also going to take the most time. If I'm on the lookout for a specific clothing item, before I go to buy new, I like to stop by a couple of local thrift stores for a quick, targeted search for the item.

When thrifting (or going by garage sales, or buying used in general), you'll want to have some familiarity with labels to help you know whether you're looking at a quality item or not. Fortunately, today's smartphones make it a lot easier to do on-the-spot checks if you run across an unfamiliar label.

Condition is obviously an important consideration when buying used. In addition to surveying the garment overall for holes and tears, pay special attention to cuffs, collars, seams, elbows, and buttons. These are the areas of a garment that will tend to show the most wear.

Even if a garment does not fit exactly right, keep in mind that an article in great condition may be well worth the purchase and some investment in tailoring to get the proper fit. Waist suppression and sleeve or cuff length on jackets and pants is generally pretty affordable. But be aware that sometimes there might not be enough material to lengthen the sleeves in a jacket.

Finally, if you live in a larger metro area with multiple thrift stores, we've found that, generally, those stores closer to the affluent section(s) of town will tend to more consistently have a greater selection of higher-quality merchandise.

eBay (or Etsy or other online used clothing markets)

There are some great deals to be had on eBay and other online sources for used clothing. However, because you won't be previewing the items in person and thus won't be able to try them on, there are a couple of online-specific points to keep in mind.

First, learn how to measure your existing well-fitting clothes and do so. Online used clothing sellers use some unique measurements beyond the typical chest size and sleeve length measurements (including a differently-measured sleeve length standard), so use the instructions at that link to determine your measurements for eBay purposes. However, different folks can measure the same garment using these methods and still come up with different figures, which leads to our second tip...

Either buy so cheaply that it won't be a big loss if the item is in poor condition or doesn't fit, or else buy from a seller with a decent return policy. Most folks selling used clothing on eBay offer adequate return policies, but always be sure to take a look at the return policy before buying the item, just to be sure.