I know I must sound like a broken record when I continue to tell my family and friends how intriguing the thrift world is.
Imagine a store where every day, thousands of items pour in the door and each bag or box is a mystery.
Sometimes they contain ordinary, everyday items such as a popular book, dish or sweater.
Yet other times they contain magical, extraordinary items such as swords, rare magazines, expensive jewels and antique lamps.
(Yes, we’ve had all of the above donated).
Antique lamps that are selling online for $450 each.
You heard me! $450 for a pink 1950’s lamp that our little Prince George Hospice Resale Store had two of.
Two lamps that were priced for a modest $7 each; two lamps that sat and sat on the shelf, until someone either realized their value or just thought they looked neat and bought them.
You have no idea how often this happens to us.
Someone comes up to the till barely containing their excitement, waiting until their item is rang through and paid for before announcing to us that the vase they just paid $3 for is actually worth $250.
They literally do a little celebratory dance and they’re on the way out the door to resell the vase and profit $247!
I’m always so amazed and fascinated when this happens and it’s happening all day, every day. Especially now with the huge shift to online buying and selling.
We’re about to see more and more stores begin to offer their items online. In fact, we’re considering the move online as well.
I keep saying COVID-19 has been a blessing and a curse for the resale world.
So many of us found ourselves spending a lot more time at home this year. And what do we do when we’re bored at home?
We clean and we organize, which means we usually have stuff that needs to go, so off to our local thrift stores, we head.
Here’s the blessing: We’re so lucky to have so much love and support from our community. On average we get 250 bags and boxes a day.
Here’s the curse: We’re running out of physical space. We have two stores and a donated warehouse and we still are running out of room.
So the online world may be in our not-so-distant future to keep up with the steady stream of donations.
But fear not my die-hard thrifting fans! I promise that our stores will always hold many treasures just waiting to be stumbled upon such as the pink 1950’s lamp.
On that topic, we have made a new donation schedule.
Donations can be dropped off at our McGill store Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays during store hours.
Hunting with Holmes is a featured column in partnership with the Prince George Hospice Resale Shop and Amanda Holmes. You can find treasures at its stores, 3051 McGill Cres. and 1466 3 Ave., visit its Facebook page or give them a call at 250-964-1505.
