When it comes to clothes, I’ve changed my approach a bit over the years.
When younger, I really wanted to dress well. Professionally, I bought good clothes for the office. That’s not exactly a personal finance faux pas, as appearance can matter to some degree depending on the type of work you do. At the very least, dressing sharply for work won’t hurt – let’s put it that way. I enjoyed the Anniversary Sale from Nordstrom. Really, the guy who has posted about picking up pennies was actually more than willing to pay up for clothes! I even bought pretty good stuff for weekends too – that was probably where I cared the most, actually.
Since then, I’ve toned it down quite a bit. I’m really not into shopping for clothes at this point. When I do, it’s just a few times a year during sales, and I try to get in and out of the mall within a short period of time. Stereotypical male shopping experience. The places are more modest now, by the way.
That being said, I’ve never gone to the point of getting second-hand clothes. The closest I’ve gotten to doing that was only once, and it was more of a joke than anything else. I was going to a “70’s” party, where everyone was expected to show up in their tackiest disco-era outfits. Of course, nobody actually owns such outfits (nobody I know, anyway!), so I imagine people just went out and looked for weird outfits.
This is where I went to a thrift store, and actually bought pants and a blazer for a grand total of $2. Yes, I bought a gaudy, purple outfit for this crazy 1970’s party – and wore it. But you know, $2 is actually a pretty good deal for a one-time funny event like that. That’s less than the cost of buying coffee at some places!
But that’s the furthest I’ve ever gone in terms of second-hand clothes. At this point, I don’t care to buy any for myself. My youngest kid wore a few hand-me-down shirts from friends kids when a year or two old, but that’s it. I mean, clothes at that age are meant for the parents to think their kids are cute, the kids themselves couldn’t care less!
All this being said, while it’s not for me, I totally respect if people buy them. I guess I’ve never given it much thought, but I’m curious if you’ve gone down the path of buying second-hand clothes for yourself.
My Questions for You
Have you ever bought and worn any?
What kind of deals have you gotten?
Am I missing out on a nice way to save?
In high school and early university, I was appalled at the thought of buying second hand clothes. I was also spending beyond my means but this all changed when I hit my financial rock bottom in university.
I started buying second hand clothes in my early 20’s and never looked back. It’s easy to tell which clothes have never been worn and the brand gives you a good idea of the quality. After years of buying second hand, I have a mental block against spending more than $5-10 per item. It takes more effort to shift through second hand clothing but it is well worth the savings.
Goldeneer – great example, actually, of how a person can actually get more practical and spend less after gaining some life experience. With less money you hated second hand clothes, but with greater financial means you now like the savings. Sounds like financial enlightenment. Maybe I need to remove my mental block on 2nd hand clothes.
I have bought second hand clothes plenty of times. There are a lot of thrift stores where I live that only sell recent items (recent as in one year or newer) that are from the malls and upscale stores. If I can get the same exact item for cheaper, why not?
Same exact item for cheaper sounds pretty good. Who doesn’t like a discount?
Hi, I ve never bought second hand clothes because I think in the long run it is more costly.
When I was university student, I bought cheap clothes. When I started professional life I still bought cheap clothes but some good ones from time to time. I would say I was 80% cheap and 20% good quality. When back to grad school again I went for only cheap clothes.
Now, as my income has improved over the last ten years (not much, really, but some) I have managed to buy only good quality clothes as they have proven to last a lot.
This is my strategy: each 5 years I renew what is needed. In the meantime I dont visit any shop and don’t do any clothes shopping. Good quality clothes have proven to last at least 4 years and some more than 5 years. The key is not to wash them so often. I know people wear a pants and then throw it into the washer machine by night. That’s a mistake and it is hurting natural resources as more water would be polluted and electricity wasted for no good reason. In addition to it, each time you wash your clothes you are wearing them and you reduce its durability no matter how careful you are and no matter what special expensive “shampoo” you use to wash them.
So, my strategy is 1) Buy good quality clothes, say 5 pants and 5 shirts for spring-summer and another 5 pants and 5 shirts for winter. 2) Wear one different pants and one different shirt each day of the working week. 3)Do not throw it to the washing machine until you use them for a fourth or fifth time. This way you will have clothes that last for at least 5 years and still look great!
Another benefit is that if you buy today your 10 pants and your 10 shirts that you plan to use for your next 5 years, you are saving money as clothes get more and more expensive each year. I think in the case of clothes it is much better to buy a lot today than go buying a bit here and there. You have more control over your expenses when you just buy clothes once every 5 years than when you do it more often.
But what is good quality clothes? In my humble opinion it is brand clothes but not necessarily fancy boutique stuff. I consider good quality that last a lot, brands like Dockers and Haggar (Ok, Im not getting money for promoting those brands)
I think there is something to be said for quality. Really good quality (not always correlated with cost) clothes can last quite a long time and still look and wear really well. Sometimes it really is worth the investment, and it could pay off over time. New cheap clothes might work in the short-term but could hurt in the long-term.
I agree buying quality is very important and it’s easy to buy quality items that our second hand and have never been worn.
Buying items that have a perfect fit and style is also important to me. This can take a few trips to the second hand store but it is generally worth the savings.
I definitely have bought second hand clothes. I got a couple of long sleeve dress shirts for work from a goodwill for $3 each. They probably would have been $20 new on sale or $40-$50 new not on sale. There wasn’t anything wrong with them either!
Lance – $3 sounds pretty good! Could stock your entire wardrobe of work shirts for $30 or so at that rate.
I don’t recall ever buying second-hand clothes, but I’ve certainly worn them. When I was a kid, I remember regular visits to “the re-sale store” in a nearby town. That’s where my Mom got most of my clothes, supplemented by hand-me-downs from my older brother. As a kid, I didn’t mind. Today my fear of bedbugs alone would keep me from buying most things second-hand! 🙂
Kurt – yeah, that’s a fear that would keep a person from making such purchases. Hadn’t thought of it. I wonder if power washing some clothes after purchase would be enough to ease the fear of such an unlikely event?
We buy second hand clothes for our son. It only makes sense since he grows like a weed so never actually wears down the clothes completely. We then donate them and take the tax write off.
We are also big believers in picking up coins off the ground! We even go coin hunting together. I know about the drive-thru coins. They’re ubiquitous, but we so rarely go to fast food places that the opportunity there is rare for us.
Yes, with younger kids especially it makes sense as they grow so fast. Plus, they’re not going to care anyway!
Not all Goodwill’s are alike. I have had a lot of success at a few buying tshirts and shorts and found nothing at others. Depends on the location. If I find stuff in nice condition thats cheap I’m game.
Good point, some places might have different offerings than other places. You never know.
My kids and I have all shopped for second hand clothes. There is a chain where I live that are aimed for teens and only accept designer brands. We can find jeans there for $5 that are “on sale” for $40 at the mall. As for me I go to a Goodwill in a very nice area and have found work clothes and even some special occasion dresses since often women don’t wear them that often. Also, I stocked up on some extra large pants when I was facing some surgery and figured I only needed to wear the larger sized for a few months so why spend a ton of money. I was only recuperating at home anyway – who was I impressing!
I do draw the line at second hand shoes though 🙂
That’s great to get brand name things (that appeal to kids of that age) for such a price. Goodness knows they can be so expensive otherwise!
As a kid, my mother was the garage sale queen. With the exception of what my grandparents sent for Christmas and shoes (my feet grew a full size every year), I don’t think I ever got “new” clothes.
As an adult, I really didn’t shop second hand stores for clothes until this summer when I needed interview clothes. I’ve lost about 55lbs and while at my old job, I could get away with wearing things that were baggy and didn’t quite fit right, that obviously isn’t the look I wanted for interviews. But I’d been laid off; we’d added a kid to the family, and I still have another 20lbs (or roughly 2 sizes) to lose. Not a situation in which I wanted to spend $60+/item of clothing. I’ve managed to find some nice suit jackets and dress pants that I can mix and match for about $5/piece (hello 80% savings), so I won’t feel bad about not being able to wear them in another year.
That makes sense, if one anticipates size changing, why spend a ton of money? Seems like a wise approach.
I’m happy to shop at outlets and low cost retailers. I haven’t bought 2nd hand clothes, although may daughter has gotten some great finds at the resale shops.
Barb -that’s about where I’ve been: happy to shop at lower cost places, but not really taking the next step to 2nd hand. But, clearly it works for many people, including your daughter apparently! Whatever works for each of us. I’m getting closer to that point.
We don’t buy second hand clothing, probably because we never know who used them before. We do watch for sales though and go to outlets. Not to mention we don’t purchase too many things anyway and the ones we get are of good quality, so it’s not out of the ordinary for them to last 3-5 years.
This is similar to my mental block on it, thinking about who might have used them before. I get it. Though I’m reading comments here about deals that can get me to look at this differently perhaps.
In highschool and college, I had no money for nice clothes but we had a great Goodwill in the area. I bought Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren, and other nice brands at $7 per jacket, $1 per shirt, $5 slacks, $10 suits. I always looked good in interviews and around campus and nobody was the wiser.
For those that balk at second-hand clothes, once you wash your brand-new clothes they look the same as all of your other gently used clothes (whether bought new or not).
Good point, on the washing part. Great deals by the way, those are pretty low prices. One can almost build a wardrobe for not that much.
Oh yes. When we first started out we pretty much had to do it to keep shirts on kids backs. Now it is just kind of a sport for me. Find a nearly new quality (think Ann Taylor) item for less than $10…. it’s a game with prizes!
That said, I also buy new stuff too.
Absolutely! I buy second hand clothes for my son, I think it’s a no brainer for kids since they outgrow stuff so quickly. But I’ve also bought “used” clothing for myself. It depends on where you shop. The thrift stores can be hit or miss but there are always more “upscale” consignment shops for adults. I have bought pants for work for $1 each and also dresses. They were all high quality name brand stuff – I need to look professional at work.