Do You Resale Shop?

Regular readers know that I am a bargain shopper, I truly like the challenge of hunting for a deal. In fact I'm such a shopper I even teach a shopping class at the library! My resale shopping started out of necessity when I was a 22 year old single mom living in a big city with very little extra income for clothes. Even though I can now afford to buy something without a sales tag, I don't. I just can justify paying full price and I would much rather spend my money on gifts, travel, books and good food.

Living in the Chicago area is a treat, there are excellent resale shops scattered throughout the city and suburbs and I've been a regular customer at a few of them since the 80's. I also love to resale shop when traveling. I have found some wonderful items in Los Angeles, London, small villages in Ireland and Spain and more.

In Chicago I regularly hit any Salvation Army or Goodwill store I pass as well as a few excellent shops including: My Sister's Closet, Ragstock and The Daisy Shop (couture resale). And of course my FAVORITE store in Chicago, The Antique and Resale Shoppe which I recently blogged about here.

Thursdays I work the afternoon/evening shift and hitting the resale shops in the morning is usually on my to-do list once a month. For my local readers: there are 2 resale shops in the Northwest suburbs that I visit regularly, Rosemarie's Closet which is located near downtown Arlington Heights and Anne's Unique Boutique in downtown Palatine. Both are goldmines for upscale women's clothing, one of a kind sample pieces and even some never-worn-tag-still-on items. This morning I ran by both shops and found a Ralph Lauren gray pencil skirt for $8.00, a cashmere camel colored shrug sweater from Ann Taylor for $7.50 and an Anne Taylor summer skirt for $7.00. All are in excellent condition and had been recently dry cleaned. Love that!

For online shoppers and those not in the Chicago area here are a few of my favorite websites for bargain shopping:

Ebay: this site doesn't need a description, it's like shopping heaven. I particularly like the sellers with online stores, makes the browsing easier.

Etsy: fabulous site for one of a kind items, vintage, handmade and more.

Goodwill: ya, online auctions. Fabulous finds.

Lulu's Vintage: worth a look just for the gorgeous vintage dresses.

Rusty Zipper: huge selection, some things better for a costume party.

My tip, if you buy something, you donate something. This has kept my closet manageable and my clothes stylish. If you have any suggestions for stores, online sites etc leave them in the comments field. Happy Hunting!