A How-To Guide for Thrifting Like a Pro

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And I'm Noah Michelson, Head of HuffPost Personal. Welcome to Am I doing it wrong? The show that explores the all-too-human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Alright, Noah, it's the fun ones. Are you thrift shopping wrong? So I first want to say that I've had a cold so this is why I sound like this. It's sexy! Thank you! I hear me coughing throughout the episode. That is also why. But a little secret is that when I was in 12th grade, I had an internship at my local paper. There were scene journal times in Wisconsin. Okay. And my final assignment was to do a big story about anything I wanted. And I did one on thrift store shopping. That was in 1996. Love it. And it was just starting to be really a big thing that teenagers were doing back then. Totally. I mean, 30 years ago now, I did it. My brothers did it. And my friends did it. I loved it. So I've been thrifting for three decades. I think I'm good at it. Okay. But I feel like I can always learn more. That's right. So what about you? Are you love thrift? I love thrift so much. I talk about, you know, what I'm wearing that's thrifted that I got for $7. But I'm pretty sure I'm doing it wrong. I'm just an amateur out here being sloppy and thirsty. I don't really know how to look for something that's, quote, unquote, high quality that I can take care of. I want to take you more seriously because I do think it's the responsible thing to do. Okay. Well, luckily for you and for me and for all of our listeners, we have Emily Ruane. She is the head of shopping at HuffPost. She came on for the online shopping episode. Yeah, she loved her. She came on for, she's been on a couple of times. She is going to school us on thrifting. So you're going to do it right by the end of this episode. Thrift me up, Emily. Emily, thank you for being here again. We love having you. Oh my God. Thank you so much for having me. Let's start with this question. People were asking me when I was saying we're going to do an episode about thrift shopping. They're like, what the hell is the difference between thrifting and vintage? So just like very succinctly, what is the difference? Besides you sound cooler when you say vintage. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think there was a time when vintage implied older stuff. It does still sort of imply that, but the olderness of it has evolved because now the, like early 2000s are older. Right. So there's like maybe a wider scope of what would be considered vintage in terms of the chronology of it. But it generally means that something is just, it's, it's more curated. Right. You know, it's been looked at by some sort of buyer, sorter picker, like whatever you want to call it reseller and deemed, you know, special enough to separate from the stream of like unwanted clothing that is just constantly flowing. Uh huh. That makes sense. And there reminds me of like when Gen Z's called Boyz to Men like oldies or whatever. I know. Yeah. I know. I know. We always demand on the head. Yeah. I love that. Okay. So as we know, there are so many reselling sites right now where you can buy thrift online. So that's why people are wondering, you know, can we come back to that IRL experience? Do thrift stores and vintage stores still sell good stuff? Or is it all online? I think it's very much still available. There's more clothes than ever in the world, obviously. And it's all very readily available. You know, the notion that it's like all getting picked over by the resellers like I want everyone to dispense of that because you might not be looking for what the resellers are looking for. You might be looking for 40 yellow t-shirts for a Halloween costume or you might be looking for a pair of like oversized cargo pants from like the 2010s or something like that. Or you might be looking to find those like Prada heels before they get to D-pop, but it's definitely really possible to do that in like a brick and mortar setting. Yeah. I know that stuff I donate, even like some of my great stuff that I don't need or want anymore, I'll take it to a Buffalo exchange or something rather than sell it online. I'm old school like that. I want someone to touch it and enjoy it. Yeah. Definitely. So if we're going to go to one of these shops and I think I'm even thinking of like not like a Buffalo exchange or somewhere that's been curated. But I think you have like a real thrift store, what I grew up with, the Goodwill, what one called Value Village that we would go to. That's my. And these were like charity shops, you know, Salvation Army, which has its own issues with queer stuff. But you know, what should we be doing if we're going to go to one of these? Is there a best time to go to one? Is there a day that they're restocking? Do we want to get there in the morning? What have you found in your research? The advice I think you'll hear a lot is just to like get to know your local store. Right. And go regularly. You don't even have to go and like spend two hours there every day, but just like poke your head in and look and like, do they have visibly like new things kind of on display that they maybe didn't have like a week ago or like a month ago? Because I think sometimes you'll find that these more like out of the way places like this stuff will just kind of like sit there and it's like not turning over frequently. So I think you want to like look for evidence that that the inventory is like changing. And it doesn't involve taking a million years to do that or anything like that. Right. I have seen on some of the like big box, I'll call them like Goodwill and Salvation Army. They do have depend, you know, they're all different kind of regionally, but at least I know in New York for the Goodwill bins store, they tell you on the website like, you know, we refill the bins every morning. So yeah. So some of the bigger operations will I think sometimes depending on where you are, have more detail about their putting out new stuff like cadence, but if it's an independent store or like your local store, I think it's good to just like talk to the shop keeps and like, you know, just even poke your head in the door to see if the display is rotating. I think if people really get into the suit, it's like a lifestyle. It is the kind of thing where like they're going to stop on the way home and just look or spend a half an hour, they're going to go or they're going to go with their mom. And that's that's the time that they spend with their mom every week, you know, I kind of love that. I also just add to that I romanticize thrift shopping a lot. Like I'm one of those annoying people that's like, I wonder who this like, this belong to it and what's the story behind this? And I love kind of inheriting something that feels really amazing. But I get exhausted. I don't I never spend 30 minutes. Like I'm always in there for like three to four hours. My eyes are watering from like allergies. Like it is hot chaos. So help me. What should we bring with us? I never prepared when I see a giant their shop. I want to go in and I just like live in there for three hours. Yeah. Are you bringing gloves with you when you go? I'm not usually no. I would say so like the bins that I was talking about, it can be good to bring gloves to those. I mean, it's like a good will thing specifically, but I think that probably some other like of the larger chains operate a similar setup where like the stuff that goes into the bins, sometimes it's stuff that has been at goodwill and has not sold. So it's like going back or a lot of the times what ends up in the bins is stuff that it gets to goodwill or or a larger chain thrift store. And it's like a little bit too gross for them because the sorters at the big chain stores are like, they're very cautious, you know, and like if anything looks like it has severe damage or like it's really dirty or there's evidence of pass like visibly, they're just going to put the whole chain like in a trash. Yeah. Or if something is just like really visibly not clean, you know, I mean, obviously like the three things and thrift stores are imperfect, but sometimes maybe there's just like literally dirt on, you know, and they're not going to put that like in their rack. So that stuff will get sent to the bins. And the bins are like, you're literally just and you're digging for it. You're basically digging. It's a thrift store in Minneapolis when I was in college in the late 90s. It was called diggers. I was with my roommate Ben look and I talked to him in 20 years. He was digging through it when he pulled out a cardigan and a head vomit on it. And that's when I learned I was like, if you're going to go in the bins, you don't know what's waiting for you. You don't really know what's waiting for you. And it could be something amazing or in the sweater covered in vomit. Yeah. Yeah. So I think you'll see more crusty things in those when things are not on racks. So good. I think that's a good litmus when things are not on racks. Watch your back. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Good fun, right? But yeah, generally if things are hung up, which like they mostly are, I think it just depends on like your comfort level. Yeah. I was definitely like texting with my like other diehard thrifting friend. Her name is Kelsey and she has like a brand where she does a lot of like reworked vintage stuff and new stuff. And she was like, I've definitely just bought stuff from the thrift store and like weren't at home. And I was like, I know, but yeah, it's for some people it's like yuck, but I was like same Z's, you know, like I've done that. I can't do that. Yeah, it's, you know, it really, it really depends on your comfort level, you know? I think I'm not a gloves guy, but I'm a pure relic guy. Yeah. Yeah. I would just, you know, use a little hand sanitizer and I'm probably good to go. Yeah. Anything else we should bring with us possibly? Oh, like equipment wise. Yeah. Or like, you know, I sample sales all sometimes where like leggings I can put things over. That's smart. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that totally is like a good idea. I would actually say like less is more because depending on how sort of, um, organize your environment is like you don't want to be like worrying about like where your bag is. You know, like I'm again like in a bin situation or even like in your average, like good will, you don't want to be like, oh my god, like my purse, you know, I like to just be free and clear. Yeah. You know, your phone, because maybe you want to like look stuff up on eBay or take pictures or something like that. Right. Right. Right. But and then if you're doing really like functional shopping, you know, like if you're looking for a specific piece of furniture or like a specific garment, like the tape measure, I think is your friend. Very smart. Yeah. I got some good advice from this same friend that I mentioned before about like when you're thinking about your measurements, you don't necessarily need to like know you're like bust waste hips. Like to measure other clothes that you already own that you like the way they fit. Oh, I am smart. So like if you love like the fit of that like one like boxy, you know, like oversized button down, like measure that, like don't worry so much about like your actual body unless you want to be in like body con stuff, which is like respect. Right. Right. I have this one skirt that I own that I feel fits me really well and I bring it to my tailor to alter every skirt I own just like it. I'm like, yeah. Just do this. Just do this. Yeah, because everything else makes me look like assless or like something and I need the perfection of that one skirt. Yeah. Really proud of that. Measure that skirt the next time you go thrift it. Okay. You know, or like commit the measurements to memory. Well, I think that that's a good point too is that when you thrift things might not fit exactly right, but because you're paying so much less for it, you can get it altered. You can spend 20 bucks. And if you have a good person, I don't know, sometimes in the suburbs you get, you get a seamstress and tailor that won't charge you lie and do magic. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. I think that it's sort of widens what you can buy, which I think is great. I had a funny conversation with my friend Kelsey Parkhouse who I told mentioned to you guys before about buying a project, which again, that's something that not everyone has a threshold for. Like, you know, sometimes you will find something that's like an unbelievable gem, but it needs like a lot of work and are it's like, are you are you really going to do that? That's the point of being honest. I will buy stuff and I'm like, they just need to be hemmed and they sit in my closet for three years because I don't want to go to the tailor. Yeah. And it's stupid. So like you have to weigh whether or not you're up for a project or not. Yeah. Yeah. And if the item is like really worth it. Yeah. All right. We have a question from Lily. Okay. What are the best kinds of items to thrift or buy secondhand? I always like to get sweaters and shoes. You tend to be able to find good qualities and materials, but is there something we should be looking for that's usually a steal if we see it? This is like such a great question. I have my own personal hot takes. I feel like I got some hot takes on this for like leather. Oh. Oh, I love. I have my favorite leather jacket is thrifted and it's so much better than the scrap that's out there now. I don't really wear a lot of animal products, but this is I can't let go of it. Yeah. Well, I actually, so a couple of things on like the animal topic, but yeah, my friend Michael's wife who's worked in the second hand industry for like a really, really long time. And he has like an amazing collection. He was the one that said leather any any old leather like 40s, 50s, 60s, like, you know, especially if it was manufactured like in the US or in Europe, the version of that that you would be buying at retail is going to be like so much more costly than the version that you're like finding at the thrift store. That does apply to like shoes outerwear. Yeah. And like also just like the wear you can find on an older leather piece is just it like just can't be replicated. It's just so worn in a perfect way. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. Well, okay. So I was going to save shoes for last, but like guys shoes are is very polarizing. Oh, I have to say it's the only thing I don't like to buy. It's just psychological. And then I don't want too much shoe funk. It's the only thing. I feel that. Yeah. I literally bought like lingerie, but not shoes. Yeah. It's everyone has their way which like I can because sometimes like innerwear is out of where. Yeah. Like on one hand, you can find like really incredible quality footwear at like a really good price because you know, I think it's fairly common knowledge now that the quality of a certain type of item made 30 or 40 years ago can be better than the same item made now. I can't say that across the board because there's like too much minutia there. But if it is like a good brand. Yeah. I was talking to mention duck Martens specifically older duck Martens like if you can find those what a flex. Yeah, those are cool. They were and still are at least partially made in England. And this is also not to rag on international manufacturing. What so. Like can I just say PSA international manufacturing and be of amazing quality. The duck Martens tip. I was like, Oh, I'm filing that. That's really good. That's like a really good one. You know, and so yeah, so an older duck Marten is probably, you know, before the manufacturing changed in like maybe the 80s or 90s. If it's like one of the made in England styles, it can be like a really good find. So like yes, some shoes. Huge grail definitely. I will say though. So I love rebacked pumps. My dad wouldn't buy them for me in the 80s. And so now that I'm old and I have money, I buy them for myself. Yeah. So there's some pairs that I buy that are vintage. Maybe that means five years at this point, 10 years. And they I got a pair that had never been worn. But the soul was coming off because shoes often, especially if they're glued like sneakers, they just break down after a while. And so you have to be really careful. It can look like it's in pristine condition. And then it's just like it's just loads apart just disintegrates. I just have a shoes though that like I'm a little squeamish about them, but sneaker resale is the hugest like industry ever right now. People will pay so much money and for good reason. And I've all done a YouTube whole of like refurbishing sneakers and how wonderful you can make them look. Definitely. So I mean, this is the big money. And I just put like an insol in there and I don't think about all the sweat that might have come before. That might have worked. I want to ask you to about your we were talking about leather. And you were saying you liked by leather because you don't actually have to like no new cow died for the leather. Yeah. Same with for I think a lot of people say I wouldn't buy for a coat unless it was second hand. Unless it's like second hand. Yeah. Yeah. Which is interesting because then you're not contributing to it. Yeah. But you can still be part of it. But you can still like rock it. I love finding like a wacky or like artistic like logo t-shirt. Oh yeah. Me too. That is like my personal greatest. I feel so silly being like grill. But I have to shout out like a couple of resellers that do this really well like chickies vintage and like interim year old who I follow on Instagram and I'm like so thirsty for like the sometimes like these like not 80s and 90s t-shirts just like the graphics are like so good. And like you know the weird old like Philharmonic or something like or like the you know New Orleans marathon. I love those. I can remember. I can remember. I'm like concert merged from the 80s and 90s like yeah. So like you're the coolest person if you have one of those on in condition. Hey, it's Anna and Mandy from our podcast Sisters in the City and we're currently sponsored by the department for work and pensions. Life's busy and admin gets forgotten. But if you're claiming benefits, listen up. If something changes, you need to tell DWP otherwise you could face a penalty. 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The skirt that I bought on eBay, which avoided the sniff test because I bought it on eBay, arrived to me like reeking of my falls. And I so that's like, that's another way in which brick and mortar thrifting is going to like help you because you're going to like see the item and there won't be any weird surprises when it arrives in the mail and like no shade to eBay ever. But yeah, I was just like, oh my God, this is it just like really reeked of my falls. But I hung it outside for like a week. And it's I'm pleased to report because I smelled it this morning that it's a little less stinky. I'm sure it is an magical, right? Yeah, I feel like you can put anything outside in it. And vodka too. Yes, oh my gosh. I have like actually, I have like a whole list of like like household cleaning agents. We've learned that from Patrick. Yeah, listen to the laundry episode again after you listen to this if you're a thrifter. Yeah, it doesn't but vodka gets rid of odors. Yeah, it's like a miracle. Yeah, also if you drink it, it makes you happy while you're cleaning. I sit for you. I sit for your skirt. Like a lot of balls. Exactly. A lot of ball teeny. But yeah, like for like damage check. Oh, yeah, so sniff test. And no, also, you know, if it fails the sniff test and you love it, like, you know, if there we have our like cleaning solutions, but like kind of per what I was saying before, if anything is like visibly like pestilent, like it's not going to end up at goodwill. Right. Because they don't want that stuff. That's like a big problem for them. Yeah. If like suddenly there's like bed bugs in the whole goodwill, they're stringent, you know, about that stuff. So I think you can also shop with like a degree of confidence and also just like use your eyeballs to like look for, you know, if you if you like see critters on something, I would definitely. Yeah, it doesn't hurt to look at the seams. Totally. Yeah. I also have unfortunately the last time I was thrifting, I found this dress that made me look like pow pow pow. And I was like, yay. And then I found a big stain on it. Yeah. And it was so sad. And I think they put it out there knowing that whoever knew how to take the stain out would be fine. Yeah. And you have to be honest with yourself about that too. Because I thought about buying it and like going on YouTube and finding out. But if you're not going to come into taking the stain out, don't. Again, it's not. Do you want a project? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And some people do. It's like $14. Yes. And you can afford that. It's not going to break your budget. Maybe you just buy it. Yeah. And you know, you might not get ever get to wear it. Yeah. Because it's just the stain will never come out. It's just, yeah. But you like that. It's like you're going to buy a scratch off ticket or you're going to buy this skirt that you love that has a stain on the crotch. Yeah. And you see what happens. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can do it. I'm a writer. Does that. It looks so cool. You can embroider over it. Yeah. Sorry. Not a lot. I hope it's still there. I mean, that's a magic of thrifting. You find something and you're like this and it could take several hours. But you're like, this was made just for me. And it's so magical. Because then you feel I get really self-righteous. And that when I'm like, ooh, this has been worn a few times and I'm saving the planet. Can I like make a quick interjection with the several hours thing? Because you guys were asking about like what to bring before. I would say lots of time. Yeah. That's like a huge, huge thing. And something that I think in the variety of people that I spoke to in preparation for this episode, it's just you just have to have a lot of time. And you really have to prepare yourself to spend a lot of time. It's almost like browsing at a thrift store or going into a thrift store when you only have 20 minutes to be there. No. Is an exercise in frustration for me. I call it thrift. For thrifting. I've done that. You know when your friend wants to hit it like five or six, you've done this. And she's like ready to leave. And I'm like, no. Oh my God. It's. Don't even get me started. I love you, babe, on like thrifting with like my husband or like my family. Like it's like, I'm just going to pop in and everyone's like, you're lying to me. You know, like or like when I, we would go like my husband, I would go and like, I would be like, yeah, I'm just and he's like, are you almost ready? I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely almost ready. Yeah. Yeah. You're like, I'll see you on Thursday. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're magical. So yeah, it's really just like that's my biggest piece of advice I think for anyone that like wants to like thrift well or for success. Yeah. And then you're like, yeah, I'm like, I'm just going to go and get you a little bit of love. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you're like within four walls, yeah, stall, yeah, you know, like, I would, I'm like, we should look about flipping. It's basically like a flea market environment, something like that. They're a goodwill brick and mortar, yeah, the prices, if there's like windows and doors, if someone is employed there, yeah, if someone is like paying employment taxes, yeah, to have people do things. It's like there is some structure to that business. So they're probably not going to be open to haggling. And I think someone had also asked about if there's damage to something maybe you should let it off. Right, but it's staying. If it's staying, that's like, I think in the thrift store environment, there is sort of the blanket as is policy. I'm also just follow your bliss if you feel comfortable asking. Like it doesn't. But I think the likelihood of someone being willing to haggle with you is much greater if you're outside. Yeah. Okay. Back to kind of like the condition of things. Yeah. How do I clean these items? Because I actually have zero idea. And I don't think they do. Do they? They don't. Oh, that's what I thought. They don't. There is like a disinfectant spray that some places will use. That they like use like the exterminator hose to like spray on like textiles and stuff like that. But I don't think that's by any means like a universal policy. Right. That's why I think it is on the donating end. Very important to donate clean clothes. I have never donated anything without washing it. Or it's been new. I hope other people have the same decency. I feel like most people with like the wear with all to like have excess clothing and to organize it for donation are probably like doing the same thing. I think you get into less clean territory when the donation is happening in a way that someone didn't have control over. Like if they've passed away. That makes sense. Or I can't think of anything else. Yeah, exactly. But this is why I wouldn't wear something home with that. Because that personally, I'm just like, I need to clean. Yeah. Okay, I just don't know. This is not related to just the rift. But my husband knows that I have a rule about new clothes. You know sometimes you buy something new. You don't have time to wash it or whatever. If it touches my jibs, I wash it. That's what I say. Oh, yeah. If it's not going to, if it's like a jacket, I don't think. Like. I think that's fair. Yeah, I'm just like, if it's going to touch my parts. But I don't think most people wash new clothing. Even though they say you shut it. Yeah. But I don't think most of us. I don't think people do. I think sometimes I'm just like, am I really washing this? Like it's been through so many like steps and things and dada dada. I don't want to say that it's more important to wash new clothes. Because it's definitely important if it's important to you to wash the clothes. But like new clothes are probably subjected to like just as much random like questionable unknown like things. Yes. Like a thrifted item. Absolutely. But yeah, I think like generally you can assume that like thrifted stuff is clean because it probably got donated clean. Yeah. Probably. Probably. Like, you know, level set it to what you, to your detergent smell, to your like level of meaning, humbliness. It's just best practice, I think. Okay. What are some other red flags that we should be watching out for when we're at a thrift store? Or things that like you would never buy secondhand. Like, you know what? I would never buy secondhand beauty products or toiletries. I've seen some places. Do they ever have those things? I've seen some places that do. Yeah. And that's just me personally. And I actually know some people, that's how that's how they can afford those products. And I get that. Yeah. But I would be worried about that. About that. Yeah. No, I'm with you on that note. I might buy nail polish. Okay. That makes sense. Yeah. I'm thinking about like the one thrift store that is near my sister's house in the Philly suburbs. And then they've been a good nail polish. Yeah. But is it red, white and blue? Oh, I'm so excited to shout this out. See? It's called New Life. Okay. It's in Glenside. Listen, Billy. Yeah. Billy Western. Billy Western. Billy suburbs. Best thrift thing that I've experienced anywhere. It's really good. I mean, I think that's not to go on a total tangent. But like, you know, the suburbs and like the outer regions of this nation, this great nation are your friend when it gets to thrift. Or overall. Yeah. So small and Wisconsin. They have the best thrift. And it's not picked over. Yeah. Yeah. I really need to go on a pilgrimage with you. Noah. Like when Noah comes back. That's where they're visiting his family. Yeah. And like talks about what you've seen. I don't really buy electronics. Uh-huh. They're often available. And I'm sure that there are people out there that are more like handy than I am that have like greater success with just navigating that. But I feel like there's too many like unpredictable factors there. Yeah. Just the functionality of it, like the age of it. I would even like kind of zoom out to say like anything that's like heavily functional. Like, um, I mean, we've talked a little bit about like strollers and like baby equipment and stuff. And just like potential for like safety recalls on those. Yeah. I was reading about that where a stroller that's 10 years old might have been recalled. And you wouldn't know that if it was just that a thrift store. Yeah. So buying baby stuff can sometimes be dangerous. Yeah. I mean, certainly like I know that for some people like affordable thrifted baby and like children's equipment can be like a real necessity. Yeah. Like obviously no shade to it. But I think if you maybe have the option to like exercise more like caution in that like regard, it's probably on the safer side. Or do the research. Do the research. You know, pull it up and take a look at what you're about to buy. Yeah. If you can. But I think electronics like just they're again, as like a functional object and something that has the potential to kind of like if it's wired incorrectly to like catch fire. To fear into dangerous territory or like do things to the wiring like in your house even. And also like I know again, like I think that thrift stores are like very clean and great places. But like I've heard some horror stories about critter friends like next day. It's like a sort of a known thing if you're on bug reddit, which I'm unfortunately also on the reddit that they really like electronics. And like and like appliances and stuff. I also have heard too like old dishware. And sometimes I have led in it or things like that. It's like the favorite stuff to buy. So you just kind of have to be careful. Or maybe you buy it and it's decorative and something that you're going to display. But actually not eat off of. Maybe it can't be put into dishwasher or the microwave. You just don't know. Yeah. So you have to be a little bit smarter about what you're buying. Or that's the stuff that you like keep on display. Tessa was telling me she's like a big vintage collector and like lives in LA. So like very jealous. But her like vintage bar wear she just keeps out. You know, she doesn't really like serve off of it or anything like that. I would also say like anything nonstick. Like do not. Because like you know the nonstick coating gets really like you know worn away. Yeah. Again going back to the functional thing like any kitchen stuff. Like really cooking stuff that you're going to really like use to cook on. That's like very worn. Yeah. I would just like steer clear. And especially because like the nonstick coating can be like bad. Okay. It starts to disappear. I heard the one. Oh, you're going to say no you go ahead. No, no, no. I just want to say that like cast iron like refurbished cast irons are huge because you can re-season them and they're like brand new and people romanticize them because the old ones from like 200 years ago cook really well. Yeah. So cast iron I have to say that one is a good one. Yeah. One thing I just thought of is mattresses. Oh Lord. So my one of my really good friends Emily. Another Emily in college she bought a mattress because she had moved into a new apartment. Didn't have very much money. And it was by the window. It rained really hard and it got wet and it had been filled with urine. And it didn't really smell like it when she bought it. But then the rain released the urine. Yes. And so we all had to go over and help her get rid of this like urine filled mattress. So again, I think some people that is where they need to buy a mattress. I understand that. But like give it the sniff tests. Yeah. Be wary of that. They can be hiding things. Yeah. Bugs. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Can you give us any tips for donating? I have a rule that every time I buy a new article of clothing or pair of shoes, I try to take one thing out of my closet. I love that. Yeah. I live in the city. There's not a lot of room. Plus like I don't need to be hoarding. Should at all. If I'm lucky enough to get a new thing, someone else should get a new thing. Yeah. So how should I donate responsibly, whether that's like cleaning something before or you know, just any tips you have? Yeah, donate stuff clean, you know, because like I yeah, as we know, it's probably it may not get cleaned again. Okay. So it's just kind of like out of respect to like the other people in the ecosystem. So if you're like looking to donate to like a charitable organization, you know, if you want your clothes to kind of do good in some way, I would like go directly to said organization like go to your goodwill or go to your SPCA thrift store. Also shout out to wagging tails in Rockville, Maryland. The SPCA thrift store, which is like my personal favorite. I'm just imagining a place with all dog clothes. That's what I'm saying. I'm sure that's that what it is. I think they do have some dog stuff, but no, it's mostly human stuff. It's just okay. A lot of those like parking lot bins that are like everywhere. There's nothing like wrong with those, but there's a good chance that those are going into like the for profit resale stream. Which again, I mean, you know, if you've got clothes to get rid of, like just pass them on, you know, don't like keep them around. But if you're like, if it's ideologically like important to you, that they go to like a charitable organization, like the bins are not always going there. I read an article about that. And yeah, they were like, most people think if you put it in a bin, it's going to a charity. And so often it's going to for profit. And they actually a lot of them are sneaky in that way. They want you to think that. Yeah. Because then they get your clothes. So, right, I like the idea of actually taking it directly to the place you wanted to go to your local church. If you can do it. Your local church. Yeah. Like if there is one like available, that being said, like, you know, what did they say? Like, oh, the best camera is the camera that they always have with you. Like the best donation place is the one that is the closest to you. So like because their flip side of that is being like, you know, waiting until you have time to drive like an hour to like the local church or whatever. And then the stuff is just going to like collect dust in your house. So I'm like a big fan of just like getting it like out the door. Yeah, I like that. Same. I do want to talk about like being a good person and the ethics. Talk about that. I mean, I think that's a good person. No, ethics with thrift is a real thing. And I think that we should just spend a little time about that. Yeah. You know, well, I've heard some people say that you shouldn't thrift. Because you're taking away items from people who actually need it at that price. Yeah, educate me on that. Because what are your thoughts on that? I'm also not a Rockefeller myself. So, yeah, I bet that's the real real. Yeah. I talked to a couple of people about this. And like, I think we can probably all agree that there are like so many clothes in the world right now. And I think this question probably would have looked really different before what we know as fast fashion was such a common and available like thing. Because arguably now you could get something for cheaper like at Old Navy or even like she and you know, that same item might be the same price or even more expensive at a thrift store. Right. So I think the sort of the notion that like a thrift store is like the only place to get affordable clothing is like in 2025 is a little bit like that's just kind of not the case anymore. If you were saying a lot, I'm not going to name names, but some of them are charging a lot for these clothes. And for fast fashion. I think there's also the notion that like, you know, that thrifting should be like reserved for maybe under-resourced people is like very stigmatizing. And you know, I spoke to people who have like personal experience growing up having like having to thrift and that being a source of stigma, you know, and like being the kid growing up in like thrifted clothes, you know, I think there's definitely someone that would be like, oh, that's so cool. You wear thrifted clothes. But if you are someone who has thrifted clothing because that's like the only thing that's like affordable and you know, everyone else at your school is wearing like all the cool new stuff that I don't even like know what that is. Like, you know, that's like not a good feeling. So I think it's like important. It's important to I think normalize thrifting as something that is like available to everyone because you don't ever want anyone to feel like they're having to shop this way because of a lack of like resources. You're right, though. There's so many clothes out there. Like, yeah. And that's the other thing too. Like environmentally. Yeah. It's a good idea to be donating and buying from the stream. From the stream. Yeah. It gets harder and harder though with fast fashion because stuff doesn't last as long. You know, the quality isn't there. Things fall apart after a couple. Yeah. There's our washes. But I think it's a good idea just for our planet. Yeah. I did just say about fast fashion that like I have found myself. First, I was like, how dare they put this forever 21 dress back on here, like whatever. The shirt I have on right now, it's a plain black tea. It's from Uniqlo. I've thrifted it. From $7. It's probably like 14 at Uniqlo. Yeah. It's my favorite. It fits me like no other. You guys are going to see it on the show many times. Right. But it fits me better than any other black tea I have. It just works. So I have stopped being like, oh, who's fast fashion here? I'm giving this fast fashion several lives. Yeah. It's not going to end up in a, yeah. That's important too. Like I love a good find. Like something from the 80s Valentino shorts or something. But like this is important. I'm trying to do good. Yeah. And look at the same time. And you do. I think for someone our age, guys, 40, sorry to blow up everyone's spot. Like the experience of like thrifting in high school versus thrifting now is like kind of jarring because there's like so much more fast fashion like in the mid. And they want it. They want to buy the fast fashion. Yeah. And you given person that thrifting is looking for something different than like the other person. But like yeah, to your point, Raj, there's like a discourse of like bummidness about like all the fast fashion that's there. But like, you know, it's just part of the ecosystem now. Like it's just part of the the clothing environment. And like, yeah, that's that's an awesome Uniqlo shirt that's like only five years old or whatever. That's like embrace that stuff and yeah, give it like a second life that that it will like benefit. Yeah. That is a beautiful place to end this, I think. Molly, thank you for being here. I learned a ton and we really love having you on. And I really want to go through shopping right now. Same. Let's get in the car. What is it? Come on losers. We're going for two. Yeah. I love that. Hey, it's Anna and Mandy from our podcast Sisters in the City. And we're currently sponsored by the department for work and pensions. Life's busy and admin gets forgotten. But if you're claiming benefits, listen up. If something changes, you need to tell DWP. Otherwise, you could face a penalty. That could be a partner moving in, even if they keep their own place. Or if your car doubles up as a taxi and a family car, you must only report work related costs. Or forgotten savings like premium bonds. To find out if you need to report a change, search tell DWP. Hi, we're Audrey and Tolly, host of the receipts podcast. Our podcast is currently being sponsored by Cadbury Delights. Tolly, is there anything better than running to catch a train and getting on right before the door closes? Oh, honestly, the joy I feel like a superwoman. And also, when your makeup comes out 10-10 on your first go, that's definitely enough for a little treat. We really deserve those little peaking ups. Try Cadbury Delights. It's a little treat, made of chewy newgar, caramel and covered with delicious, cadbury milk chocolate, available in three flavors, salted caramel, hazelnut flavor and orange, with 91 calories per bar. This is an ad from BetterHelp. Am I forgetting something? Did I reply to that email? What am I doing? Ever feel like your mind has an inbox that never stops filling? Don't forget to reply. Some days it's not just messages. It's pressure. Did I say the wrong thing? It's doubt. Do you think they like me? It's everything at once. Therapy with BetterHelp can give you space to unpack what's weighing on you. One message at a time. Get matched with the qualified therapist and start clearing your mental inbox today. Add BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com slash random podcast for 10% of your first month of online therapy. And now it's time for BetterInFive. These are the top five things that we learned today. All right, first things first. The most important things to have with you when you go through a shopping is time. Mm-hmm. Number two, get to know your local shop for the best times and days to score big. Speaking of scoring big, heavy hitters when you're through shopping. Leather, cashmere, silk, or boots in good condition. Yep, grab them. Number four, if you find something you like, check for holes and do the sniff pass. Mm-hmm, sexy. And number five, thrifting is good for everyone and for our planet. So get into the habit of buying and donating. Okay, Raj. So after all that, have you been thrifting wrong? Yes, absolutely. Charmingly so. No, I think I love, as you said, I love thrifting. But I think I was doing it wrong because it is just about instant gratification for me. And like, oh, cute. I'm not really sure if it's going to fit. Like I'm just jazzed in the moment. Whereas I think the smart and responsible thing to do is to find out if this piece of clothing can stay with me. If I can take care of it, it can take care of me. Uh-huh. And so there's not a lot of like clothing ending up in a landfill somewhere. Being a little more intentional. Intentional, that's it. Okay. You know what? This is one of those episodes where I think I've been doing it right. That's right. These don't happen that often. So when they do, I want to celebrate it. Exactly. But yeah, since I've been doing it for so long and I really do enjoy it. I don't do it as much as I use to because I don't have the time. Yeah. I don't want to spend three or four hours. I'm in New York. You're, it's a more cut throat here. Yes. You have to get out in New York to do, I think, really good thrifting. Yeah. But I love it. And I'm so glad we did this episode. It seemed like a quirky kind of weird episode for us. Yes. But I thought it was really useful and a lot of fun. Thank you. Anyways, until next time, as long as there are things to get wrong, we're going to be right here to help you do them better. Dress me up in your love, babes. Am I doing it wrong? Is a co-production between Huffpost and A-Cast. Our producers are Eve Bishop, Carmen Burka, Carrio, and Malia Aguadello. Our executive producers are Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rutter. Special thanks to Huffpost's head of audience, Abby Williams. Head of video, Will Tuk. As well as Kate Palmer, Marta Rodriguez, and Terry DeAngelo. And where are your hosts, Raj Punjabi Johnson? And Noah Michaelson. Hey, it's Matt here from P1 with Matt and Tommy. And we're currently being sponsored by Lad Brooks. The Lad Brooks app is doing a lot more than just sports. 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