7 Tips for Shopping Online Thrift Stores

3. Know your size

Many online thrift stores don’t offer returns, and when they do, you’re often required to pay for shipping. To avoid any purchasing blunders, it’s important to know your size and the sizes of your family. Even better, take everyone’s measurements. Many secondhand websites provide measurement details for each item they sell. That’s a foolproof way to get the right fit. You can also stick to brands you’re familiar with. That will take a lot of the sizing guesswork out of the equation.​

4. Pay attention to details

Most online thrift stores vet the products they sell to ensure they are not too damaged and are what they’re claimed to be. The condition of the item is usually listed alongside photos. If there are multiple images, make sure to go through each one to spot any damage not listed in the product details. ​

5. Narrow your search with shopping tools

One of the joys of online shopping is that you can sift through thousands of items at breakneck speed, thanks to filtering tools. Found on most secondhand sites, they let you browse based on size, product type, color and other categories. Let’s say you are on the hunt for a black shirt, size small. You can put that into the filter, and the website will show the items matching that criteria. Swap has a feature called “shop this style”: You click on an outfit, and it will kick back every matching or similar product. “With online thrifting, you have a much larger array of products than any thrift store can have, and you’re not sifting through racks and racks of clothing,” Gallizio says. GoodwillFinds.com has curated collections that make shopping easier, be it for Halloween costumes, fall sweaters or home decor. 

6. Sign up for emails

Aim to save even more? Consider signing up for emails and alerts with your favorite internet thrift stores. Most of the secondhand sites let you do this and will send you deals and discounts from time to time. Some will give you a percentage off your first purchase and/or free shipping. If you’re worried about your inbox getting flooded with thrift store emails, create a free email account to handle the influx of bargains. 

7. Don’t give up

If you can’t find what you are looking for, come back often. The websites update their inventory regularly, and what may have been hard to locate last week could be abundant the next. The key is to keep at it to get the best deals on items you want. “For people who haven’t shopped thrift online or in general, my main advice is to remove this idea that there is any stigma behind thrift, especially in the current market,” Gallizio says. “Once people try it and see the value and quality, they are eager to come back sooner rather than later.”