- Gear up
- This is personal preference. The bins can be dirty and messy. No one is hanging up everything neatly. Some people prefer to wear disposable gloves. I don’t bother with gloves but I use a lot of hand sanitizer. I recommend trying to keep your keys, wallet, and phone in your pocket or in a small cross body bag so that they don’t get in your way while digging through the bins. Your local store may not have carts so you may have to carry whatever you find. If there are no carts, I recommend grabbing a tote bag out of one of the bins when you walk in so you have a way to carry items. You can put the bag back at the end of your trip.
- Time your trip
- If you’re looking for items in ready to wear condition, the best time to arrive at the bins is first thing in the morning. Most places will add new bins throughout the day, but your selection will be best first thing. If you are looking for items to be upcycled or repaired you don’t need to worry as much about timing. There are always plenty of clothes to upcycle.
- Have an idea of what you’re looking for
- In my experience, bin thrift stores will have mostly clothes and books. There will also be items like bags, hats, and household goods but they only make up a fraction of the items available. The condition of items in the bins will vary widely. In theory the bins are for items that are damaged or not worth hanging in a traditional thrift store format. I have not found that to be the case especially with clothes. You can find new with tags items in the bins if you’re lucky. There are also lots of items in great condition. You’re also going to find button downs with the collars coming off, jeans with the button ripped out, and stained tshirts. You just have to dig to find what you're looking for!
- Know how much you’re spending
- It is all too easy to grab everything that looks good and then be shocked at your final total. Most of the items sold in bins are priced by weight. Here are some estimates to go by before you hit the checkout. While the goodwill bins are usually the cheapest source of clothing, that’s not always a guarantee. Something like a denim jacket might be more expensive when sold by weight.
- Adult shirts, skirts, and light items of clothing usually weigh a half pound.
- Heavier items like dresses and sweatshirts usually weigh a pound.
- Something like a denim jacket will weigh upwards of two pounds.
- Check out
- If your bin has carts, there is probably a large floor scale you can roll the cart onto and they’ll weigh it without you having to pull everything out. If you just have a few items, they’ll have a scale at the register for you to use. There may or may not be shopping bags to bag your items. Be prepared to carry them out or to take the cart to your car to unload the items. If you take the cart to your car don’t forget to return it!