19 Amazing Thrift Store Finds | What to Look for at Thrift Stores

In recent years, and with more awareness about the conservation of the planet, thrift stores have multiplied throughout the cities. Stores, like Goodwill, offer us a great way to repurpose our valuable things and find items that other people don’t use anymore. In the past, our moms used to go to these thrift stores to find items for the home, but now, even influencers tell stories about the fabulous and unexpected things they find in these places.

And it’s incredible what one can find in thrift stores if they know how to search and where to look at. It’s not only the things found on hangers, but also items located on drawers and other less obvious places. So, next time you go at a thrift store, make sure to take your time and look around as meticulously as you can in order to find the best items possible. We have collected several images of people who found spectacular items on thrift stores that made us believe that the best things in life don’t have to cost crazy amounts of money.

1. “Found this beautiful Alphonse Mucha mirror for less than $10.”

• If you like that, then you’re really gonna love the rest of Mucha’s work. Really wonderful artist, definitely look up his stuff. the9thEmber / Reddit

2. “Wingback chairs, $20 for the pair!”

• That floral 70s looking box is a document organizer from the early 80s I believe, thrifted for $7! I centered the room’s color scheme around this side table I refinished and came across the chairs and the organizer the same day, ha! Super successful thrift day that was! catchyriff / Reddit

3. “Y’all!!! I found 2 14k gold and 3 sterling silver rings in this $2.00 bag at an estate sale today! Lucky days happen!!!!!!”

• That looks like a 1-1.25 ct. marquise. If real that would cost $5,000 — $9,000 depending on the quality. If it’s a lady that keeps that stuff mixed with her costume stuff, then I’m sure it’s a cz set in gold setting. That would be the money maker. That band next to it would e great. That bottom piece is definitely silver & cz’s. That’s what I always hope to find when I’m thrifting. I love those bags. Klnkly / Reddit

4. “Watermelon picnic basket! Literally, my heart melted when my eye caught this one at Goodwill.”

• I would at least make a full watermelon kitchen... I already have watermelon bowls and cups, just need a few watermelon dish towels, magnets on the fridge, paintings of watermelon, maybe a “You’re one in a melon” sign. I can see it already! goose195172 / Reddit

5. “Someone lost his head at the flea market.”

• I don’t know if this is an everywhere thing, but I spend way too much time at my local goodwill and have talked to the manager/workers at mine. They have explained to me while individual pricing is up to the specific employee pricing things at the moment, they have a “set” lowest price (based on like total sales and lots of other data that I don’t personally know) that’s set by the manager and no matter what it is they can’t price something below that without taking it to the manager and getting their approval and overriding the system which takes a lot of time. So at mine, since the store was doing pretty well they changed the minimum from $1 to $2, so now a bunch of the random stuff you wouldn’t want to buy has to be $2 no matter what it is unless they take time from their job to go find the manager on duty and they do some computer work to fix it. bunnygirly / Reddit

6. “I found this antique 18-karat gold ring at a thrift store for $15.”

• Hard to tell from the picture, but if you can see the side of the diamond in that setting and take a look at the girdle, if it’s rough (not polished) it’s usually real. A vintage ring will usually have a single cut or euro cut diamond set in it as well. Unfortunately the diamonds are probably not worth much, but gold is high right now if it’s actually 18k! IRLJewelcrafter / Reddit

7. “My favorite find, my wedding dress, which I found at a local thrift store — I checked the tag and it’s a Carrie Bradshaw-inspired ’cloud dress.’”

• Nice find! Congrats on your wedding! Never worn and donated to a thrift store. I wish I could know the stories behind some of the cast off treasures in thrift stores. EmersonLake89 / Reddit
• The store owner gave me a little backstory. He told me that a girl came in with the dress and said she didn’t want to wear it anymore because her mom posted a photo of the corset back part to her Facebook. She bought it from the designer and the skirt was mid alteration with pins still in it, and it had already been altered to fit her waist. He said it sat at his store for months and no one had even tried it on because the waist was so small and the dress is intimidatingly heavy. shygirlll / Reddit

8. “I thrifted this throne for my queen.”

• I think these baskets only come from thrift stores. I’ve never seen a new one, but my cats got one from the thrift store years ago too! Pastafarian_Pirate / Reddit

9. “Found in the $0.50 jewelry pile. Tested the diamond at 2 different stores. Biggest find to date!”

• A pal of mine owns the store I sold it to, he was more than fair I completely agree. Treating my younger brother to dinner and as you say, planning on spending the rest on some school age cousins holiday presents. hwhejckcjrk / Reddit

10. “Got this for $2 at my local goodwill and noticed some stitching and looked it up...”

• Yes!!! Those are the scores I enjoy most: you buy it because you genuinely love it, THEN you find out it’s actually worth something. The best feeling! A gorgeous scarf...perfect for fall, a treat you can wear. Great job! EvenLouWhoz / Reddit

11. “The Blendtec Total Blender, $6.99, and a brand new Yeti Rambler, $1.99”

• It’s the sheer quantity of thrift stores, I have 20 different stores within 15 minutes of my house. Not including the mom and pop/church stores or flea markets. lowlife9 / Reddit

12. “A $5.25 antique Goodwill dresser”

• I bought it brown and chalk painted it green then did a light coat of stain on top. The wood was pretty banged up in some spots so paint helped it be less noticeable. ITisILLUSIONtoTHINK / Reddit

13. When the lamp suddenly comes to life:

• I think you found yourself a whale!! Those lamps go for anywhere between $1200-$3000 depending on condition. That’s awesome. tyoung925 / Reddit

14. “Look at these dumb little jerks: salt and pepper shakers.”

• In my family we call them STUPEEDS. Stupeed = that undefinable mixture of adorable/absurd/precious/foolish. zuzugum / Reddit

15. “Found my white whale at a local thrift store — it’s a music box that opens to hold lipsticks.”

• Rarely do I see something here that gets added to this anti-knick-knacker’s list of “stuff I’d really love to have.” But here we are. I would be so delighted to have something like this. What a weird, wonderful little treat to have anytime I wanted to apply lipstick! What a lovely find! lamante / Reddit

16. “A vintage 9 Ct gold necklace with opal I found this weekend — just wish I could find the designer.”

• $361. I found a very similar style piece that sold for over $900. Seems to have come from the same maker. sleepnowdielater / Reddit

17. “I found this for $15.”

• A few years back I also found a carpet like this. I bought it for $29.99. I took it to an appraiser and as I was getting it cleaned anyway he told me that the value was $1,500, That it was Tunisian, and went into the detail of how long it took how it was made ETC. Good job. Tyrannusverticalis / Reddit

18. “These thrifted rattan shelves for $30 is my favorite find so far.”

• THIS IS SO DARN COOL! I have a small space, but would happily toss enough pieces to fit in something like that. And you have arranged it beautifully; all the plants just make it look happy. Dang_It_All_to_Heck / Reddit

19. “Picked up this (possibly vintage?) dress yesterday! It was 25% off, so I paid less than $5!”

• This dress makes you look like the amazing female lead in a heist movie, when you’re at the black tie affair pulling off some crazy stuff with your male counterparts who are pretending to be waiters. theWildBore / Reddit

Do you think it’s preferable to buy new or do you give secondhand items a chance? What have been your best finds at a thrift store you visited recently? Would you ever thrift any of your old items that you rarely use anymore or you have abandoned in your basement?