Thrift Shopping Tips + FAQs

If you know me well and you ain’t new to this blog, you will know I love thrift shopping and more than half of my wardrobe contains thrifted pieces. I think I will say I am an expert when it comes to thrifting and I even have a thrift store. I get asked a lot where I thrift, how I get the good stuff and so on. In today’s post, I will be spilling it all.

Thrift Shopping Tips.

– Make A List: sounds cliche but it actually keeps you on track so you won’t go off buying things you don’t need just because it’s cheap. Make a list of the things you need in your wardrobe and the alternatives you can get if you don’t get the ones you’re looking for.

– Find Out About Market Days: You can ask people around or someone that thrifts around the area if they have special market days or which time of the day you can get cheaper things (Evening most times) or when they open new bail. If you stay in ikorodu, you can get things for a cheaper price in the evening and Sunday mornings. Also, on Wednesday’s there is WASO market at Cabo where they sell clothes for as low as N100.

– Double Check The Items:don’t forget to double-check the items for stains (some can be easily washed off), tear, slim fit (some sellers slim fit items especially t-shirts. the treads end up coming off after a short period), scratches on shoes and bags and also check for polish on shoes. Some shoes will be really bad and probably faded but they will coat it in polish. Also, check for dye in jeans. Some sellers dye their jean and if you look well, they are always pretty obvious. I have had my share of these things. Fun fact, the skirt I am putting on in the above picture has been patched at the back and I didn’t even notice till I got home.

– Haggle: don’t just jump on it because the price they have given you is cheaper than what you were expecting. You can still get it cheaper than that.

– Dress The Part: for example, if you’re going to buy denim or skirts or bottoms, wear leggings so it will be so much easier for you to try them on to avoid coming home with clothes that isn’t your size (that sh*t is painful! especially when you have visualized them on yourself).

– Be patient: remember it’s thrift so you have to be patient enough to go through piles of clothes/shoes etc. I found most of my favorite pieces amidst piles of clothes. So you have to take your time and it advisable to go with someone that won’t start rushing you when you haven’t gotten what you want.

📷: @eveetonia

EXTRA TIPS:

– Don’t try on shoes with a nylon/plastic bag! With nylon, your leg will slip right in even when it’s not really your size.

– Girls! Shop the male section! Especially if you are looking for t-shirts, hoodie, blazer, tailored pants and boyfriend jeans.

– If possible, shop brands. When it comes to denims when I see levis, Uniqlo, Zara, etc I go for them because of 80% of the time, they’re of good quality.

– Go with your own shopping bag to avoid collecting a lot of plastic bags which isn’t good for earth.

FAQs

Q: where can I thrift in Lagos/ikorodu

A: Lagos(yaba, asuwani, ojota, ikotun, cele underbrigde, cms). Ikorodu (ikorodu garage, cabo(every Wednesday, agric bus stop)

Q: What thrift store will you recommend in ilorin:

A: you can always thrift at challenge or post office but for thrift store, you can check out mum fareeda’s store @mark, tanke.

Q: Do you thrift your sneakers too?

A: I have only thrifted one for my self and a few for my siblings. I prefer to go for new sneakers most times because it’s quite hard to get really neat ones that are my size or maybe I don’t just have luck with them. Although recently, I found about two online thrift stores that stock really neat sneakers. Check out @thriftbyadetutu

Q: How do you not overspend cause it’s affordable.

A: This is where your “making a list” comes in. Follow what’s on your list and buy only what you need. You can also write down the amount you want to spend on each item you need and take the total amount in cash to the market. It takes discipline but you can do it!

Q: How to bargain

A: There is really no right way to bargain but what I do I slash the original price into two or three depending on what I think the item is what. Let’s say an item is 1000 naira, I will ask if I can pay N500 then haggle from there. I might end up not paying more than N600

Q: How do you find trendy pieces

A: I list out the trends I want to jump on and thrift according to the list. Having a list makes it easy for you to spot what you want when you get to where you want to thrift. Let’s say you have cargo pants on your list when you get to the market, and you spot anything cargo, you immediately want to check it out. You might not find all you have on your list at once but you will eventually. It took me about a few months to finally get the black blazer fit I wanted.

Q: where to get affordable shoes that are cute for big feet.

A: not sure where but I know a store online that stock big sizes and they are quite affordable. Check out @ijerhe on IG

Q: How often do you shop?

A: quite often. I have a thrift store and I help people to shop so I shop quite often. But for myself, not often just to avoid getting things I don’t need

P.S: if you don’t want to go through all the market/thrift shopping stress, I can help you with that for a small fee. You can contact me @curatedbyzayn

I hope all these tips will help you thrift better so you can slay on a budget ♥. You can also share your own tips in the comment section…

Zaynab Xo…