Adventures in Thrifting - My First Goodwill Outlet Experience

This past Saturday was my day off!  My hubby didn't have to work, and he agreed to watch the kids all day while I got some much needed time out of the house, ALONE.  Since I had two full days of garage sale shopping on Thursday and Friday, and I awoke to a thunderstorm on Saturday morning, I decided to sleep in and then hit some thrift stores.  I went out of town this time because as I've mentioned before, the thrift stores in my town aren't all that great.  While searching online for the stores I wanted to visit, I was so excited to find a Goodwill Outlet just 20 minutes from my house.  I decided to make that my first stop.

Oh boy.  I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into.  I walked in and saw a bunch of big rolling bins lined up and filled with junk treasures.  This is what I had expected from pictures I had seen on other blogs.  As I casually browsed through my first bin, I noticed a bunch of people crowded in one area on the other side of the store. Hmmm...what are they up to?  I continued browsing while keeping an eye on the crowd.  I watched the workers move the bins out of that area, and come back with new bins heaping full of new junk treasures. Then all at once, people started digging in, passing items to their spouses who put them into their carefully guarded cart.  It reminded me of Walmart's toy department on Black Friday.  "WOW! These people are CRAZY!", I thought.  I continued rummaging through my bin on the quiet side of the store.

Suddenly, the crowd started gathering around my area, and I realized that my side must be next.  I'm always up for new experiences, so I claimed a spot next to my bin.  Why not?  Within seconds people were standing shoulder to shoulder, waiting for the bins to be swapped out.  The new bins came and when they were all in place, the worker said, "OK, GO!"  It was INSANE!!!!!  I didn't stay in my area for very long.  I just wasn't prepared for what was happening, so I went back to the other side of the store where browsing was much more relaxed.  This same scenario played out over and over, section by section.  I have no idea if this is how it always works at the Goodwill Outlet, or if I just happened to end up there on some special day.

I'm not sure how I feel about my experience at the GW Outlet.  It was thrilling and uncomfortable at the same time.  I only ended up buying one thing.  A Tickle Me Elmo Surprise doll for 30 cents, which I'm pairing with a Tickle Me Cookie Monster.  I did see a lot of things in other people's carts that would be nice for reselling on Ebay, so I might end up back at the outlet someday.  One things for sure, I'll be more prepared next time and I'll bring gloves. Yuck.  At least I know where to get my fix when I'm craving the thrill of Black Friday shopping.

I went to a couple other thrift stores after the GW Outlet.  One store in particular stood out as my favorite.  Everything in the store was 1/2 off that day.  I got a nice pair of running shorts for $1, and a set of hot rollers for $3.  I was fully intending on selling the hot rollers on ebay, but my curiosity got the best of me and I tried them out. I fell in love!  I have very fine, very straight hair that has no volume.  Enter hot rollers.  My hair has never looked this thick and bouncy. I'm keeping them! :)