6 tips to shop in a second hand clothing store [best second hand shopping tips for 2020]

In this article you will get 10 tips to better shop in second hand stores and make it a satisfying alternative to high street brands shopping.

6 tips to shop in a second hand clothing store

Second hand shopping tip 1:

Plan more time to spend in your second hand store and enjoy the process!

Alice in Wonderland - white rabbit with clock

Second hand shopping is different from buying from stores like Zara and H&M for many reasons.

In a second hand store each item is unique and, usually, doesn’t have alternative sizes.

It means that browsing clothes in a second hand store becomes a real treasure hunt!

You don’t only search for a model but for a size too.

While some people can see it as a time-consuming disadvantage, I believe that that is exactly what makes a second hand shopping experience so unique.

Second hand shopping tip 2:

Plan your second hand shopping in advance

Before heading to second hand shop, think about what you miss in your closet.

Are these t-shirts? Shorts? Jeans? Something else?

Second hand store shopping planning:)

Think about colors that you like and that make you feel good. What color do you miss? Maybe you do already have a black high-waist trousers but you want white ones!

Preparing your second hand shopping before leaving the house makes it much easier to browse through the store assortment and directly go to the type of clothes and the color that you search for.

Second hand shopping tip 3:

Browse the Internet to find feedback about second hand stores in your city

Even though all second hand stores are called the same, they are all very different.

It goes together with the uniqueness of each item - each store brings second hand clothes from different places or, sometimes, buys them from private people.

Imagine, only in Tel-Aviv we can find second hand stores with clothes imported from: Japan, Holland, USA, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and local brands!

In addition, each store concentrates on a specific theme or style direction: dresses and more feminine clothes, hipster style, Californian vibe, Parisian style, artistic mix etc.

Looking for feedback about the second hand stores in your city will save you time and direct you yo the most appropriate place.

Second hand shopping tip 4:

Be open minded

Quite often, I hear from people who are not used to go to second hand shop that this type of stores are dirty, messy, smelly etc. Not a positive feedback, right?

Buy Kilo second hand store in Tel-Aviv

While some second hand stores are, in fact, smelly and messy, most of them are totally fine! Usually second hand stores are “standalone” (not inside over-conditioned and over-perfumed shopping malls) occupying unique commercial surfaces which makes them different from, for example, Zara stores that have all the same design all over the world.

We are, sadly, very used to “the familiar, the same” - a concept that makes chain stores able to offer low pricing and to stay easily recognizable.

Second hand stores are usually owned by small local businesses and are all different (the design of the store goes together with the personal taste of the owner and the architecture of the commercial space available at the moment when an entrepreneur is searching to open a second hand store).

Second hand shopping tip 5:

Abandon sizes

While sizes definitely help us to orient while choosing our clothes, nobody should ever be a slave to the numbers (or, for that matter, letters!).

Oversize! That's OK!

If you browse fashion bloggers many will advise not to pay attention to sizing but to simply try clothes on and then decide.

Going to second hand shop myself, I noticed that I liked:

- trousers 1 size bigger

- denim of the exact same size as I am

- shirts - 1 to 2 sizes bigger

- slip dresses - 1 size bigger

- t-shirts - 1 to 2 sizes bigger

etc.

Don’t forget also that natural material shrink in the washing machine.

In a second hand store most of the items were washed before being put on the hangers so the shrinking issue is less of a hustle, still, think that with the next wash the item will still shrink a bit and extend only after you wear it 1 to 2 times.

Second hand shopping tip 6:

Be yourself

In a second hand store the best way to find something that you will like, cherish and wear over time is to know yourself, your style, your taste, what makes you happy.

If you know yourself and what clothes make you happy, you will be able to easily find something that you like.

Don’t listen to anyone, or, maybe, take people’s feedback but do what ir gith for you and only you.

Knowing yourself will bring you to the world of your personal style far from fashion telling you what, when and how to wear.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s totally fine to check what the last trends are, maybe get some styling ideas from fashion gurus (something that I totally do myself!) but don’t take it all as a rule or a dictate.

In the end, the only thing that matters is that you feel happy with how you look!

Thank you for reading this article, and here is a video about how to find your personal style from a lovely YouTube blogger that I follow - Audrey Coyne: