The Spaz deals with nosy thrift store shoppers

While I'm out shopping for inventory I get a lot of funny looks from regular thrift store shoppers.  When I'm pushing around a cart packed full of clothing, people tend to give me the eye.  I get plenty of comments.

"Wow, you sure found a lot!"
"You must have been here all day!"
"I never find that much when I come."
"You must have a really big family."

And sometimes the questions start.

Over the years I've come up with some interesting answers in my head. I usually don't actually respond to people with these answers... usually... but I just can't help my smart-ass brain.

"Is that all for you?"

Yes, I'm buying an entire shopping cart full of thrift store clothes in assorted sizes because I have a rare genetic disorder that causes me to gain and lose weight at shocking rates.  I must have clothes ranging from size 2 to size 22 because I never know what size I'm going to wake up as.

or

No, these are for my life-size dolls. I have a hard time making real friends, but they love me all the time and they like it when I dress them up in pretty clothes. I think Matilda will love this Oscar de la Renta, but it may be a little tight on her. She's a bit hippy.

"What are you going to do with all that stuff?"

I'm going for a Guinness record for the world's largest quilt made of designer clothing.  Are you going to buy that Custo top? I love to use those funky designs for my patches.

or

I have a shopping addiction. My husband said he'd leave me if I stepped foot in the mall with the MasterCard again, so we compromised with thrift stores. Did you know you can get purses for FIVE DOLLARS in here? 

or

I'm trying to get on that show Hoarders but I don't think I've got enough junk in my house yet, so I decided to pick up some more.

"Are you going to sell those?"

Oh my GOSH! Who would think to sell USED clothing? Do you think people would actually buy it? 

But for the most part, I just smile or pretend I didn't hear them. 

I used to tell people that I sell on eBay, but that either cued a long discussion about their sister's boyfriend's great-aunt who sells on eBay or a whole new barrage of questions about how I do it or disgust that I'm taking Ralph Lauren evening gowns from the needy and selling them for profit.

So now I just try to pretend I didn't hear them or didn't understand the question. Or sometimes I just laugh, like that question must have just been a joke.

My full cart also gathers a lot of lookie-loos.  Sometimes I'll leave it at the end of an aisle to delve further into the depths of long sleeve tops or something similar, and when I get a few steps away from it, I'll notice someone starting to go through it.

"That's my cart. Bitch, back off before I cut you."


"Oh, this is your cart? I thought it was the store's."


"No, it's mine."


And you know what? Sometimes people, while having this little conversation with me, continue to go through the cart.


They'll eye an extra-small cashmere cardigan and hold it up, after I've already pointed out that it's mine, and sort of eye me up and down. 

Yeah... I know I'm not a size 2, Ms. Obnoxious Rudenstein... but I just ordered a tape worm from South America, so I'm hopeful.

Just last week I was in my very favorite thrift store when a woman nearby got my attention.

"If you find any Chico's, let me know!"

I buy a lot of Chico's stuff as it sells fairly well, but if someone were looking for something specific and I found it, unless it was some amazing "holy grail" type of find, I'd be more than happy to give it to them. 

So I asked her what size she was looking for.

"Um......" she looked around, "Well... it doesn't really matter what size because I have a lot of friends and they all like Chico's."

Yeah. I don't think so, lady. If you're going to buy stuff to resell, I'm certainly not going to do your work for you.

I'm thinking of developing a habit of muttering to myself under my breath and scratching my head often.  Then if someone touches my cart or asks a question I don't want to answer, I'll just growl at them like a crazed animal and drool a bit. 

An eBay Seller Divulges Her Biggest Secret

As most of you know, I sell on eBay. I'm going to let you in on a little secret here. Come closer so I don't have to say it so loud.

Promise me you won't tell anyone?

Pinky swear?

Okay...

I buy them at thrift stores.

That's right, I do. I don't go to fabulous houses of elegant ladies and clean out their closets. I don't buy them from estate sales. And they were almost never personally owned by me.

I go to thrift stores. (Wow, I said it loud that time.)

Salvation Army, Goodwill, little thrift boutiques, and more. I am on a first name basis with some of the clerks and they know all about The Man, the kids and my business. I know which of them has a son in Nebraska who she visits with on holidays via web-cam and which of them is fighting ovarian cancer and which of them has gone back to school at 42 years old to be an ultrasound technician.

When I first started doing this, Bug was barely one year old. I was newly pregnant with Munchkin and I got laid off. It was one of the biggest shocks of my life. Honestly, my arms still get a tingly feeling in them when I think about it.

I worked as a Marketing Coordinator for a B2B software sales company. I was the bottom rung of the Marketing ladder, a job I fell into by landing a job as their receptionist two years earlier. A month before I was laid off, they had asked me if I would consider moving to Atlanta to work in the main office and I told them I wouldn't. That was probably one of the biggest mistakes I made, career-wise. But at 24, I knew nothing of corporate restructuring and I foolishly believed that if I worked hard I'd have job security. And I loved that job.

At first I tried to jump right back into the job market. I applied for similar positions, made a fantastic web portfolio featuring all the ads I'd created for my previous employer and some I just had in my head, sent my resume all over the place, and even went on several interviews.

I'd never had a problem getting a job before, but things were different now. A mom of one with one on the way? Employers weren't lining up to grab me.

So I followed a friend's lead. She knew fashion and she showed me the ropes. She and I shopped together a lot, splitting the stores in half and digging. Sometimes she'd find things I had missed and vice versa. And back then eBay was a goldmine waiting to be tapped.... everything I listed sold and with numerous bids. The nights when my auctions ended were spent with me sitting at the computer refreshing the screen and watching the dollar amounts go up with each second. It was exhilarating.

These days it's not so easy. eBay is full of people doing the exact same thing I do and the competition is stiff. There have been so many changes that I've had to bite my lip about that there have been times I've been ready to just close up shop and walk away.

But in the end, it's still a great way for me to be home for my kids and help support my family. And in the process I support all kinds of charities with my shopping. One of the stores I frequent donates 100% of its profit to helping abused women start their lives over. Another helps to finance a soup kitchen for the homeless in our area and gives homes and life skills to homeless families with children. Another funds a highly successful 9 month faith based drug and alcohol recovery program that has kept an immeasurable amount of men and women out of jail and homelessness. And, of course, there's Goodwill, the Salvation Army, AMVET, and VVA stores.

Admittedly, I started this business as a way to support my own family and barely gave a thought to the fact that my dollars were going to fund these programs, but now I am so proud that my business directly supports these charities.

Ironically enough, I've had people sneer when I tell them what I'm doing with all the clothes in my basket. A common misconception is that thrift stores exist to provide clothing and goods for people who cannot afford to buy new for themselves. And though that sometimes is the case, the store exists to fund it's charity and the employees and managers are typically elated to see me walking through the door. And honestly, the needy isn't typically shopping for Chanel, Missoni, and Valentino (all of which I've found in my hunt for treasure).

But remember... it's a secret. So keep quiet, okay?