Where to thrift for home goods
Have a home that you’re looking to furnish or update? Doing so with secondhand items can be a great way to save money and lower your footprint, as you’re giving a piece of furniture a second chance before it might get tossed into landfill.
We’ll be taking my apartment tour video as a use case for this guide. It took six months for me to completely furnish our apartment with thrifted pieces, but I knew that the best furniture pieces at the right price would come in time. The inspiration for my home is mostly from minimal and mid century modern styles. I used keywords like white, mid century, vintage, and minimal to find products that would suit me. Other times, I would use very generic keywords and simply dig through the mass of items online.
Where to thrift
1. Craigslist
A great option to find locally sourced items
You can also haggle with the seller if you'd really like to get the price down
If possible, combine the trip to pick up your new purchase with some other errands
Items purchased from Craigslist are below:
West Elm sawhorse table - $60, originally $300
Tripod table lamp - $20, originally $70
White ladder bookshelf - $40, originally $65
Grey sofa (similar) - $300, originally $700
CB2 arc lamp - $120, originally $200
Plant stand - $5, assuming new would be $20
White chairs - $90, originally $345
Bamboo utensil holder - $5, originally $45
Dishes - $20, original price unknown
Oven mitt and pot holders - $5, original price unknown
Wooden hangers - $35, originally $60
2. Office Furniture Liquidators
Look for offices that are moving to different spaces, or office furniture liquidator stores
Office furniture is often high quality and expensive
Items purchased from offices below:
Dining table - $40, original price unknown, but after doing some research of similar items from the same brand, I would dare to say from $1500 - $2000
3. eBay
If you prefer looking online, eBay Amazon and Etsy are also some options for buying used products
When buying online, change search options to look for things in your local area, or within a smaller radius to lower your shipping footprint
Items purchased from online:
Korean midcentury cutlery set - $50, original price unknown, but estimating at $200
4. Friends and family
Oftentimes, your friends and family will have unwanted items they're just waiting to get rid of
Items received from friends and family:
Two couch pillows - Free, original price unknown, but estimating at $30
Dresser - Free, original price unknown, but estimating at $200
5. Thrift stores
If you have great thrift stores in your area, consider visiting a local shop (may be more time consuming)
For a few online thrift stores, check out this Buzzfeed article which states where you can buy and sell used furniture
