THE SCENE of overflowing bins, resellers, and shouting everywhere. Thrifting and second-hand shopping are activities that students at Granger High enjoy in their free time. Thrill and excitement everywhere over finding a valuable item, whether that is clothing, accessories, or shoes, is all worth it. With excitement and thrill comes chaos, as violence ensues and people scrimmage over rare items.
Most notably, the Goodwill Outlet is where all of the chaos happens. This is because there are usually more than 50 people at once, all struggling to find a cart to put their items in. ¨Once I saw a nice pair of JNCO jeans in the bins, and two people started to argue over it and eventually took it outside,” Erick Chavez (12) said. He notes that the bins are very chaotic, with no room for error.
Trying to find a good piece is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and with all the people around, it’s very tough. ¨I hate the smell of the bins, it smells like a bunch of old clothes from someone’s grandpa, and I always get allergies from the clothing,¨ Chavez said. He says the peak times to go thrifting are between 12 pm and 3 pm, since people start leaving around then.
Erick hates the people at the bins, mostly the clothing resellers who take all of the good stuff and leave others with nothing but crumbs. But not all things are bad at the bins. Ethan Nguyen (12) says he found a Carhartt Aztec jacket, and people tried to buy it off him as soon as he pulled it out. His favorite find, however, was a Billabong Surfwear hoodie priced at well over $200!
“You can find a wide variety of stuff at the bins, such as hats, toys, and even books,” Nguyen said. He likes the bins because they are cheap. Items cost about $3 a pound. He also resells a lot of the stuff he finds on Depop and makes good money. Because everything is inexpensive, many people resell the items they find, mostly on Depop. Depop is an app where you can list items like shirts or hats and sell them for quick cash.
There are other thrifting spots besides the bins, Amarion Chandavong (12) says that he likes the Savers racks a lot more. Savers is another thrifting spot, similar to Goodwill Bins, but instead of bins, they have racks of clothing. Amarion likes going at opening time because the employees refresh the old racks with new ones, often containing nice clothing.
¨Compared to the Goodwill Bins, Savers is a lot more tame, no fighting and often the competition are old people who have no clue what the good items are,¨ Amarion said.
Thrifting is an amazing way to add some new clothes to that old wardrobe or just to have fun in general. From vintage Carhartt jackets to someone’s old socks, thrifting is widely enjoyed by many Granger students and is definitely a must-try.
