I’ve been reading The Thrifty Chicks for awhile now. And her recent blog post ‘Thrift Store Tips #1: Converting the retail mind to the Zen of thrift” (dated 25.06.09) strike a chord in me. Below is an excerpt from the post:
“The thrift store is a place of many mysteries and surprises and reawakens our foraging skills. We develop more of a connection to treasures found. We take a glimpse at how wasteful we are to throw away so many valuable and unique items. We recalibrate our spending power and prices in new retail market become obscene. We become more creative and self-guided in that we don’t need to listen to television commercials or rush out to fight bargain raged crowds at sales. People are generally very nice in thrift stores. We become more thoughtful and appreciative as we spend a year searching for the perfect gift. Chances are the gift will be treasured in return. And, at the end of the year, we relax and spend our valued time with friends and family, not at an overcrowded mall and in horrific traffic jams.
There is no shame in giving a thrifted gift. If you shop eBay, there’s a very high probability the item was found at the thrift store and you’re paying the mark up. The same applies to funky boutiques that sell mixtures of new and old. As said many times, Americans need to get over this commercially planted idea that “If it’s not new, it’s EWW.” Let’s manage the products already assembled instead of turning to factories on the other side of the world and asking for more. “More” is out of style.
Please know, when it comes to gifts, it’s not so much where you found it, it’s the sentiment, what you do with it, and how you present it.”
You see, I’ve often come across things in the opshops which I thought “hmmm, so-and-so would really like that!”. And I’d think of buying it and giving it to that someone on his/her birthday or during Christmas. But more often than not, I balked at doing so. Fears of ‘what if the person think I’m a cheapskate?’ or “Would she be offended if she knew I bought this in an opshop?” But after spending quite a bit of time (ahem) in opshops by now, I realized that there are really good and unique finds sometimes. You wouldn’t believe what people throw away! Some even come with price tags attached! Then there are those items that had obviously seen better days but therein lies their charm sometimes.
After reading the blog post, I am more convinced that there’s nothing wrong with buying gifts at opshops. Because I know in my heart that during those times when I saw something in the opshops, I’d wanted to buy it not because it was cheap but rather a specific someone had come to my mind who I think would like that as a gift. And because I choose to think that my loved ones and friends wouldn’t be judging our relationships based on the monetary value of gifts received from me. I hope not!
So I was at an opshop after the above epiphany, and serendipitously, I saw this gorgeous blown glass vase. Immediately I thought of a couple whose kitchen’s theme colour was red. And the vase would fit really well in their retro-styled kitchen! My co-worker who was with me then said she’d seen a similar vase selling at $50 in a shop. What I paid: $12. I am saving this as a Christmas gift for the couple.
[Pictured here with the red vase is a portion of my collection of glass jars which I've been collecting since my op-shopping days.]
