A good thrift day has a rhythm. You wander the aisles, pick things up, put most of them back, and every so often something makes your heart skip. A reseller at All Put Together says one recent outing was her day to win on art at the thrift store, and by the end she had a cart full of finds priced from $1.99 to $9.99, plus a haul from a friend’s storage unit.
She spent the morning hopping between several Goodwill stores and a Value Village, with her friend Sal along for the ride. Here is how it played out and what a seasoned thrifter looks for.
Her day started at the big Goodwill in town, which she says usually delivers quite a bit of stuff.
The Goodwill Cart, Piece by Piece
Among her picks were an easel for $3.99, a set of four speckled plates for $9.99, a carved wood cat for only $1.99, and an iridescent stone piece for $6.99. She also chose a brass bell for $7.99, which she calls up there in price but worth it, since she is always on the hunt for brass bells.
A mystery bundle wrapped in paper towel and newspaper, labeled as a shower curtain, was priced at $1.99. She laughed that nobody even knew what it was. A gouache-style watercolor painting at $3.99 also made the cart, in part because she loved the blue. It was filthy, she says, but did not appear cracked or repaired.
She was just as quick to put things back. A folding screen had damaged wood from odd screws, a glass fish was broken, and a donkey figure, even though donkeys have a following, did not make the cut. Her rule seems to be to look closely for chips, cracks and repairs before the price ever matters.
A Few Stops, Several Passes
Later stops brought more candidates. A glass swan was priced at $2.99, and a small pottery piece at $1.99. She picked up a Lenox piece at $7.99 that came with a candle and liked its shape. A set of salt and pepper shakers on a little plate was $4.99.
She also passed on a number of things. Corked pots that were once hot sellers no longer move for her, and she skipped a pink glass dish for that reason. Pewter, she notes, is rarely as durable as other metals and tends to be scratched and dented.
The Value Village Surprise
The star of the day came at Value Village. She had brought a donation with her so she could use a 20% off coupon, and she says the store keeps its big art along the back wall. There she found a piece by Roger Long, a Lake Oswego based artist, which means basically Portland.
She says she had visited his studio space just a couple of weeks earlier with a friend, where originals were going for hundreds of dollars. She bought a small one there. Now she found another at Value Village for about $12 with the coupon. She called it insane and said it was her day to win on art.
The artist is older now, she says, and his abstract pieces went quickly to other dealers in the area. His favorite subject, she adds, was fish.
The Friend’s Storage Unit Haul
Back home, she unpacked pieces from a friend who was clearing his storage unit. He had planned either to re-donate the items or to see whether she wanted any first, and he pulled out a lot of things he knew she would like.
There were framed floral art pieces, including one with a green frame she is keeping for a green gallery wall, one with curved glass, and a pair of ornate frames. She also took a crystalline glazed vase, a type she says she now knows to look for after passing on one that would have been worth a lot.
Two items are staying with her. One is a nesting Kokeshi doll set, and the other is a painted loon that reminds her of a favorite TV series and of watching On Golden Pond with her grandparents. She also picked up a crucifix with metal caps on the wood ends, signed on the back, for only $5. She says ornate ones sell well, and some European pieces can fetch hundreds of dollars.
The Signature Piece From the Local Artist
The finale was another Roger Long piece. His studio visit had produced a work that her friend dug out of a pile and decided not to buy. It was very dirty at first, but she washed it up and it came out looking good.
She points out the sand worked into the glaze as his signature. If you see a piece with sand on it, she says, it could be his, especially if you spot the characters or his alphabet on the back. She now has two of his pieces.
How Reseller Arrangements Work
Many viewers wonder how deals with another reseller work. She says it is usually a mix. Sometimes it is an exchange, and most of the time she pays what the item cost, based on the sticker on the back or what it would likely have cost at Goodwill that day. In this case, some pieces, like the loon and the nesting doll, were gifts, and she paid for the rest.
What to Take Away
Her day is a good model for any bargain hunter. Check the condition carefully, learn the signatures and glazes that signal value, and keep a short list of what sells for you. Pay attention to what you pass on, because it teaches you what to buy next time. And do not forget the friends who share your tastes, since one of them may be sitting on a storage unit full of treasures.
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