Vivienne: And tuxes, too, right?

Tinka:  Yes.  You may have to have it cleaned, but it’s not going to cost you a whole lot — you will get a $1000 gown, and it will cost you $65 to clean it.  So if  you’re trying to save money on your wedding — and weddings are very expensive today — I think it would be a good idea for you to go around to thrift stores, and see what you can find.  You may not find what you’re looking for, but it’s worth the try! A lot of these gowns are brand new, never been worn — they might have been tried on, but they’ve never been worn. And most of them have a price tag of $500 – $700 – $1000. There’s some Vera Wang, and there’s other names that you would know, if you now about bridal.

Vivienne: So if you just got engaged, and you’re planning your wedding next June, start prowling the thrift stores now looking for that perfect dress, and save a bundle!

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Boosha: You stick with us and we’re going to show you a lot of the secrets of Second Market Shopping.

Tinka: We’re going to show you brand names; we’re going to tell you where is the best place to go, and what’s the best time to go. The 1st of the month is when you want to go thrift shopping, because if you go by the 15th all the things are just about gone, okay! Usually re-sale stores stock once a week. So either the Monday or the Saturday you want to go first thing in the week.  You also want to….

Boosha: Find out what day they are gonna have a bag sale, if they have a bag sale.  Could be a Tuesday or Thursday, could be on Saturdays, could be Wednesdays and Saturdays. And different stores are going to have different prices on the bag sales. Even if clothes are 50 cents or a dollar, you are still going to get a better buy by buying a bag, in quantity, everything that fits into that bag will cost you anywhere from $2-5 depending upon the store.

Tinka: That’s like Boosha said, when you go to a garage sale, you pick all the things that you know you want and take them up. Offer — don’t embarrass the woman. Offer her a decent price, and say, “can we work with this? Can I get this, you know, for this amount of money?”  If she says okay, fine. If not, then you have room to dicker about what’s going on. In other words, she will say “I want $,” and you say “You know, I am trying real hard, can I get it for $4.50?” she’ll probably give it to you, because she doesn’t want to bring it home.

Vivienne: And what’s the general rule of thumb for bargaining and dickering for people who aren’t used to that?

Tinka: If you know you would go to the store and you’d buy this item for $60, and it’s in the box at a garage sale and it looks brand new, and she wants $40 for it, offer her $25.  She will probably take $25.  Please don’t offer her $6, don’t offer $4 or $2. Because truthfully, would you like somebody to do that to you, if you had paid that kind of money for it?

Boosha: And the other thing you can always ask someone, instead of saying “well, I’ll give you $5 bucks,” say, “well would you take less?”

Tinka: Don’t ever say to someone “I will give you.” Because, one, it makes them defensive, and two, put yourself in their shoes, okay.  If you think that that item is worth a certain amount of money, you don’t want someone telling you “I’ll give you.” You want somebody to tell you, “what would you take.” or “I only have so much in my purse. You know, what’s the least amount you would take?”

Vivienne: And especially in these days, because the economic times are so bad, people are selling their treasures for a very low amount and its hurting.

Tinka: Right!

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If you drive up some place and you see they are selling junk, drive away, don’t even waste your time. You don’t want to buy something — I don’t care how much you like it — don’t buy it unless you know you are going to wear it.  Otherwise you’re going to have a closet full of clothes that you don’t wear.  Make sure that you are going to wear it, or you know somebody they would love to have it, or that you can resell it.

Don’t buy something that has a stain on it and think you can get it out.  Don’t buy something just because you like it, and it’s ripped and you know you can’t fix it.  If you know you can fix it, buy it, because you’ll love it when you get it home.  If it doesn’t have a label and it looks good, or it’s a label you don’t know what it is, as long as it looks good and you like it, buy it, because you can’t go wrong. But don’t spend your money on things that you are not going to use.  Only buy what you need, and what you are going to use.  That is the secret.

If you are buying glassware or china, buy the best you can buy.  Don’t buy something that is cracked or chipped.  Don’t just spend your money because it has a name on it.  In other words, if it has Wedgewood on it, but it’s got a big chip, unless you really love it, don’t buy it.

You don’t want to buy a piece of glass that has a chip in it — it has no value, unless you want to keep it for yourself. If you’re re-selling it, you want a perfect piece. Now, if you don’t care and you just love it to death, and it has a little tiny chip where you can turn it and you can’t see it, that’s fine, and you’re going to love it! And if you’re paying a quarter for it, you’re going to love it even more!

If it’s really heavy, and it’s not chipped, and it’s lead glass, even if it doesn’t have a name on it, it’s still a beautiful find.  It’s something that someone paid a lot of money for on the first market, and you are getting a real deal on the second market.

It’s just a matter of a frame of mind; you have to be willing to stop your car, get out of your car and dig through a little bit of someone else’s garbage. Sometimes you can find the most fabulous treasures.  People are just buying, buying, buying, and not wearing, wearing, wearing, and they get all these things and they have to get rid of them. I’ve been to some of the warehouses, and I mean, they are stacked to the ceiling, in big plastic garbage bags, but if you keep looking, you can find almost anything.

This is a lifetime gift. Once you learn to do this, you can survive in the hardest of times, because you are always able to give what you need to your family at a much lesser cost than you would normally pay.  If you have small children, pass it on to your children.   This knowledge, this common sense — they need to learn about the value of things, and not just labels.

And that’s what we are going to teach you – is how to buy quality. The names, and what to look for.

Vivienne: If you want to be notified when Second Market Shopping with Tinka and Boosha becomes available, please sign up below; you will be emailed as soon as the video is ready.

Vivienne, Tinka and Boosha

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Tinka: Truthfully the thrift stores today are not like they used to be. They are very clean. They are almost like going into retail department stores. Especially like the ASPCA or the goodwill or the church stores. Most of them the clothing is clean, it is set out and a lot of it is actually sized, so you don’t have to go through every rack to find your size. They are making it easier and easier, and it’s going to be a wave of the future, because most people cannot afford to pay retail. There is a market for retail and there is a market for the second market. The second market is for you. Garage sales, thrift stores, church resale, rummage sales, pawn shops, consignment shops. If you go in your directory for your town you can find this information. Mostly the church thrift shops are very very good.

Boosha: Go to the best neighborhoods — if you go to a neighborhood that is kind of questionable, you’re not going to find the best stuff. But people that have houses, woman all the time buy stuff, put it in their closet and never even take the tags off of it, and they never wear it.

Tinka: You can find paintings, you can find glass, you can find antique books, there is nothing that you can’t find on the second market if you’re willing to go around and look.

Boosha: You find these things all the time, you just have to know where to look. And that’s where Tinka and I are going to help you.

Vivienne: If you want to be notified when Second Market Shopping with Tinka and Boosha becomes available, please sign up below; you will be emailed as soon as the video is ready.

Vivienne, Tinka and Boosha

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I’ve got video of this item too — I’ll try to get it posted here soon.

BB,

Vivienne

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Secondhand Chic: Finding Fabulous Fashion at Consignment, Vintage, and Thrift Shops, By Christa Weil

The Official Price Guide to Vintage Fashion and Fabrics (Official Price Guide Series), By Pamela Smith

Valuable Vintage: The Insider’s Guide to Identifying and Collecting Important Vintage Fashions, By Elizabeth Mason

Vintage Clothing 1880-1980: Identification and Value Guide, By Maryanne Dolan

Virtual Vintage: The Insider’s Guide to Buying and Selling Fashion Online, By Linda Lindroth, Deborah Newell Tornello

Retro Chic: A Guide to Fabulous Vintage and Designer Resale Shopping in North America and Online, By Diana Eden, Gloria Lintermans

Shopping for Vintage: The Definitive Guide to Vintage Fashion, By Funmi Odulate

Antique Trader Vintage Clothing Price Guide, By Kyle Husfloen, Madeleine Kirsch

Vintage Fashion: Collecting and Wearing Designer Classics, 1900-1990, By Emma Baxter Wright

Vintage Style 1920-1960 (Schiffer Book for Collectors), By Desire Smith

Vintage Fashions for Women 1920S-1940s: With Values, By Kristina Harris

Ladies’ Vintage Accessories, By LaRee Johnson Bruton

Vintage Hats & Bonnets 1770-1970: Identification & Values, By Susan Langley

Just click here to be taken to the Persephone’s Haven bookstore Second Market Shopping page, or click on the titles of any individual book above to get taken to that specific book.

If anybody would like to post their review of any of these books, you can just put a comment on this post.

Happy reading!

BB,
Vivienne

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