Park Avenue Thrift Outlet is Amazing

Discovering My New Favorite Thrift Store

While I was trying to find directions to a thrift store I had been to once since moving to Georgia, I stumbled across a thrift store "outlet". Immediately my radar went up and I read as many reviews as I could find. The store I was trying to find is called, "Park Avenue Thrift" and they have tons of men's, women's and children's clothing and them some books and housewares. I went once and the prices were okay as far as thrift stores go. The prices at Goodwill here in Georgia are higher than those back in Connecticut. While shirts and blouses when I left CT in August of 2014 were running $3.99 each, in Georgia Goodwill stores shirts and blouses are $5.75. The outlet I discovered is called, "Park Avenue Thrift Outlet" and boy what an amazing place it is. Apparently they take all of the clothing that hasn't sold in their numerous regular thrift area stores for the week before, and bring it to this thrift store. I read the reviews and couldn't wait to get there and see this place for myself.

Unbelievable Prices

Before I tell you about my actual experience there, let me first fill you in on how the store works. The most money you will pay for any items at the Park Avenue Thrift Outlet is $2.00 each. Although they do have a few household items and a very small book area, most of the items there are clothing for adults and children. Here is the breakdown of what the items cost there:

*Fridays $2.00 per item

*Saturdays $1.75 per item

*Sundays $1.50 per item

*Mondays $1.25 per item

*Tuesdays $0.75 per item

*Wednesdays $0.50 per item

*Thursdays $0.25 per item 8am-1pm After 1:00 pm on Thursdays, they restock the store with items that did not sell at the other stores, and start the week over again.

I read online, and confirmed it with a cashier at this store that Friday mornings is insane at this store. First of all, customers are waiting in line outside of the store before it opens. Women come in looking for brand name shoes and purses and will actually fight each other for these items. That sounds crazy to me and fortunately I don't sell purses on eBay, and shoes are not something I know enough about to fight over so I will stay away on Friday mornings.

My Thrift Shopping Experience at Park Avenue Thrift Outlet

I read about this place on a Thursday night and knew I couldn't get there till Tuesday. I was chomping that the bit with excitement about going. And believe me, this store did not disappoint. I checked the directions and found that this store is 50 minutes from our house, so I told my husband I wasn't sure what time I would be back.

Upon arriving in the parking lot I noticed a big sign in the window that spells out what the prices are each day, and was able to confirm that Tuesday was the 75 cent day. I opened the door and was immediately overwhelmed with the size of this store. There were racks and racks of clothing laid out in a huge store with very high ceilings which make the place seem even larger. I would like to note here that when one is shopping for a family only, this would not seem so overwhelming. But when you thrift store shop to resell on eBay, the whole world of sizes and brands open up to you, and it can be a bit overwhelming, but oh so much fun.

I am just starting to dabble in selling shoes, so I headed there first. Since this was later in the selling week, I didn't see any brand name shoes there so I then headed to the men's department, which is actually the category I do best in on my eBay sales. They say it is good to have an eBay niche, and men's clothing seems to be mine. I shopped here for four hours and yes, I was tired when I went to check out. At 75 cents per item, I was having a hay day and just couldn't believe I could get items this inexpensively.

Thrift Store Shopping Tips

If you ever go to the Park Avenue Thrift Outlet, or any other thrift store, there are a few things you should know in advance:

1) Examine each item carefully because since these are the ones that didn't sell, there's a reason on some of them. Some items have rips, others are stained. You will have to judge for yourself if you want to spend money on something with a stain you may not be able to get out. I would recommend bringing reading glasses/ a magnifying glass to read the small print on the labels, and a small flashlight to look for holes because some of the darker clothing may have holes you can't see in the store lighting. The above LL Bean Ladies fleece jacket had a food stain on it, but it looked like a surface stain and I was pretty sure I could get it out. And I was right, it cleaned up perfectly and is for sale in my eBay store.

2) Most of the clothes have a funky "thrift store" odor to them. Did you know in order to get a funky odor out of clothing, even a mildewed odor, you first wash the clothes in warm water mixed with baking soda, and then a second time with regular laundry detergent? It works like a charm, and on clothes that need to be dry cleaned, you can hang them out in the sunshine first then take them to the dry cleaners and you should be fine.

My Thrift Store Haul

Anyway, I left the store with 41 items of clothing and only paid $31.80, including tax. Saying I was thrilled is an understatement. Not all of these items are going on eBay, but the majority of them are. Keep in mind that each item I have listed here cost me only 75 cents(plus tax). Here's the list of what I got that day, some of which is in the picture at the top of the page:

1 Woolrich men's black fleece jacket

1 LL Bean Women's red fleece jacket (above)

1 Jones New York 100% wool woman's striped shirt jacket

1 Talbot's bright green sleeveless sweater

1 Jones New York women's black tweed blazer

1 Jones New York women's tweed wool blazer

1 Duck's Unlimited snapback baseball hat

1 Polo jeans men's cotton sweater

1 Tommy Bahamas men's sweater

1 Woolrich cream colored men's sweater

1 Ralph Lauren purple men's long sleeved polo shirt

1 Chico's Design women's sweater vest

1 LL Bean women's sweater vest

1 LL Bean men's plaid button down dress shirt

1 Ralph Lauren men's button down dress shirt

1 Orvis men's button front shirt

1 Eddie Bauer men's button down dress shirt

4 women's Hawaiian shirts

1 Chico's ladies' 2 pc. pant suit

1 Ralph Lauren brown tweed blazer with suede elbow patches (I might keep this one myself, I LOVE it)

1 J. Crew gray V-necked men's sweater

1 LL Bean heavy knit oatmeal sweater

3 Chaps men's button down dress shirts

1 City Casuals men's dress shirt that is new with the tags still attached

1 Pendleton purple 100% wool women's short jacket

1 Travelsmith women's tan blazer (see below)

I have put a few pictures of my favorite items above. Too see them better you can find most of them listed in my eBay store, Faithful Heart Treasures.

http://stores.ebay.com/faithfulhearttreasures

Can you believe it? All for 75 cents each. I had so much fun, but then you can probably tell that. I will update you when some of it sells and let you know how much I got for each item.

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