By Marie-Ange Betz
Thrifting isn’t just about saving money, it’s also an awesome way to find cool, wild and unique stuff while helping the world. From trendy clothes and vintage jewelry to unusual home decoration, secondhand shopping is about discovering gems that have stories to tell at Grand Rapids Community College.
For Marjorie Mcintosh, 19, of Grand Rapids, thrifting is a family affair as she mostly goes thrifting with her sister, but not as much on her own.
“Usually, she takes me to Goodwill with her,” she said.
Mcintosh credits her sister with inspiring her to start thrifting.
“She told me I should start saving money and stop spending it on expensive clothes, so she took me out,” she said.
Mcintosh goes thrifting once every two months and typically spends $30-$40, depending on the day. She mainly looks for jeans and shirts while thrifting.
Shopping isn’t everyone’s main approach, but many like to pop in and see what they can find.
Mekhi Walton, 20, of Grand Rapids, admits, “I do thrift a little bit on the side.”
He goes thrifting occasionally, with Vintage Fest being his main spot. When asked how often he goes thrifting, he replied, “Probably like maybe every two months.”
“I go to the main stalls and stuff. I’m actually gonna go with my friends,” he said.
He explained, “Usually, I never spend more than $50, mainly because they don’t really have stuff for bigger people. Since thrifting is second-hand and the makers and providers of clothes, like big retail stores, aren’t making clothes for bigger people, it’s not trickling down to the thrift stores. So, if you can’t find anything in the regular stores, you definitely can’t find it at the thrift store.”
While thrifting is popular with many young people, not everyone is into it. Jupiter Sias, 24, of Grand Rapids, does not go thrifting, “because it’s kind of hard to find clothing my size that actually looks good and isn’t just like t-shirts.”
Sias said she would start thrifting, but someone would have to really persuade her.
Genesis Brown, 18, of Grand Rapids, is a thrifter who primarily shops at Goodwill. She explained that she goes thrifting whenever she needs new clothes or has some money, which is about every six to eight months.
When asked about her typical spending, she said, “maybe $100-$120.”
When going thrifting Brown looks for items like pants, shirts and hoodies.
Why does Brown turn to thrifting instead of buying new?
“Oh, not having money and being broke, so we gotta go with the cheap sh*t,” Brown said. “The cheap sh*it can be cute, too.”
