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Shop In Consignment Stores And
Save Money
By
Stephanie Foster
Saving money while
getting good quality is hard. It gets worse when the
time comes to buy furniture or other relatively
expensive items.
Of course, you could always just head to the thrift stores. Run by various
charities, thrift stores offer used furniture of varying
quality. I’ve seen couches as low as $30, although most
people probably wouldn’t welcome that particular couch
in their living room.
If you want to go a little higher quality, consignment stores can be the
answer. They are more picky about what they accept, and
many have discontinued merchandise from stores, not just
used items.
My husband and I recently bought a couch from a consignment shop. We knew we
couldn’t afford much, and it was quickly apparent that
even the low end new couches were out of the question.
The very few we could consider price-wise we couldn’t
stand either in terms of appearance or comfort.
The couch we bought at the consignment shop is amazing. It was about $350 –
not cheap, certainly, but much less than just about any
new couch. It is in beautiful condition, filled with
down, and was more than $2000 brand new. We love how it
looks in our home.
When you go to the consignment shop, be ready to ask if the price can go any
lower. Our couch had been marked at about $470, but when
we hedged, that being more than we wanted to spend, the
salesperson went to the computer and discovered that the
couch was due for another markdown. Saving $120 on a
couch is certainly worth a few minutes. That’s about 25%
off the price.
Even if you’re looking to decorate with higher end items, consignment shops
can have amazing deals. We had more fun looking at
furniture that would fit beautifully in our dream house,
whenever we may buy it.
You can find consignment shops for clothing as well. I particularly enjoy
buying baby clothes from consignment shops. My
daughter’s holiday dresses always come from consignment
shops. Why pay $30-100 for a dress she’ll only wear
once, and probably has to be dry cleaned if she’s ever
to wear it again, when there are beautiful dresses
available for $5-15, and many of them have been worn
once or never? Everyday clothes for babies are available
as well, and are typically in much better condition than
you find at the thrift stores.
You may hear grumbles from family members who aren’t struggling with money.
My inlaws had a terrible time understanding why I would
buy used clothing for my daughter when she was first
born, until they took a good look at the quality I was
finding and the relative prices. My mother-in-law has
gone shopping with me now, and she was one of the most
vocal opponents to her first grandchild having just
about anything that had been used by another child. I
enjoy telling people about my better finds, the new
items with tags from the store still attached, the jeans
in perfect condition – even those who have plenty of
money will be amazed at what you can find.
About the Author: Stephanie Foster is a work at home mom who tries to
save money and have fun with her family. Visit her
website for more tips on saving money.
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