Rummage Sales and Used Clothes

I love rummage sales. I would guess I save at least 90% off retail by buying my kids' clothes at rummage sales. They don't look like paupers, either. They both dress in name-brand clothes that look new. They wear better clothes than I do! Some of the brands they wear include Gap, Old Navy, etc. Not that I'm brand-specific. More about that in another post, though.

I buy a lot of stuff at rummage sales. Not only can I find clothes for the whole family, but also toys and books, garden stuff, even a chest freezer. Don't be afraid to buy used! My view is that once you take a new item of clothing home from the store and wash it, then it's used anyway. Buying brand new clothes is like buying a brand new car. Both depreciate in value the minute you take them home. Clothes just depreciate in value a lot quicker.

A friend of mine has two small children. She buys all their clothes brand new. She buys the clothes on sale, but still pays at least $10 per item. Her kids dress in the same brands my kids dress in. I usually pay about 50c and item. We had a rummage sale together. She priced her kids's clothes between $4 and $6 an item, on average. I priced mine at 25c to 50c. I sold more of my clothes, and she ended up taking a lot of her clothes to Good Will. I took my clothes there, too, knowing that I still broke even as far as what I paid for the clothes in the first place, how much I used the clothes, and still making a small profit off them.

Eventually, we all assume, someone uses the clothes at the bottom of the food chain. Eventually, years after having been passed around, rummage sale to used clothes store to rummage sale again, the clothes end up in some church give-away pile. No one really wants them. So if you know, ultimately, that these clothes you're buying right now, eventually no one will even want them anymore, then why are you paying $20 apice for them? Do you really need to be at the top of the clothes food chain? Who are you trying to impress?