[disneysteve]

Great story. We don't buy nearly as much secondhand stuff as we used to, mainly due to time constraints. When we need something, we don't have the time to go searching the thrift shops and yard sales to find it, so we end up buying it new. We still hit the thrift shops for certain clothing items. Just last week, we spent about $20 getting some pants, sweatshirts, hoodies, etc. that would have easily cost a few hundred dollars if purchased new. In fact, we were able to get some things that we never would have considered buying new. My wife got a nice fleece Disney character top. I know those things are $40 or more new and we'd never spend that much. At the thrift shop, it was $2.

She was also looking at leather coats, but unfortunately didn't find one she liked that fit well. Many of them were major brands and easily $200 or more brand new. Here, they were $30 or less. Maybe next time.

I used to sell on ebay regularly and spent a lot of time at yard sales, flea markets, church bazaars, auctions, etc. Although most of my buying was merchandise to resell, the side benefit was I often found great buys on things for us to keep.