I’m not kidding when I say 80% of my closet is thrifted. Out of these nine shoes, seven of them were secondhand. If I asked you which ones they were, would you be able to guess? I’ve seen everything, from Nike Air Forces at Goodwill to Christian Louboutins at Salvation Army, so nothing is out of reach. Here are some tips and tricks I’ve learned with bargaining for shoes over the years.
DR. MARTENS BOOTS
$18
BUY / SELL / TRADE ON HAIGHT-ASHBURY
Before the age of Poshmark, I would frequently bus or ferry to San Francisco, in hopes of selling or trading clothes that I no longer wanted. I would lug several heavy ass bags, with me, and would sometimes only sell 5 things. Even with 5 things, you can accumulate a lot of cash or store credit if they are trendy or name brand items. Haight-Ashbury has A LOT of thrift stores, but I always had the same sequence of going from Wasteland to Buffalo Exchange to Crossroads Trading. The reason why I like Wasteland, so much, is because they only offer cash, and they always select lifestyle and high-end brands. Since they have expensive taste, they give you more money’s worth for your clothes. I always shop around before collecting my cash and, on this day, I ended up using it all on these Docs. I forget exactly how much I earned or how much the boots cost, but I only paid around $18. I do remember being shook by how low the price tag was, so it was a major steal regardless.
STEVE MADDEN BOOTIES
Poshmark
$22
THRIFTING ON POSHMARK
Whenever I want something with a unique detail, I always browse through Poshmark first. To show you how refined the app can be, I will walk you through exactly how I narrowed down my search. For these booties, I started by entering the distinct keywords, “clear heels.” Then I chose the “Women’s” category and filtered down the subcategories from “Shoes” to “Ankle Boots & Booties.” I selected my shoe sizes and the color black, and as usual, I sorted the price from low to high. As I was scrolling, I tried to “like” several listings, so that I could weigh my options at the end. This makes it so much easier to compare the varying styles and prices.
ALDO BOOTIES
$54
THE NEW NEW | IN-STORE SHOPPING
These were the knock-offs I settled for because I couldn’t bring myself to buy the Jeffrey Campbell booties I actually wanted. I think the Campbells were selling for $200-300, and when they sold out, I instantly regretted not taking my chances. Over a year later, I saw these similar booties at ALDO. The belt buckles reminded me of the Campbells, and I also loved the gold plating on the heels. I debated on buying them, at first, since I thought the gold studs would be overkill. The other part that turned me off was the price. It’s silly to think that I considered buying premium booties, but still find $54 questionable. I had never shopped at ALDO before, so I was skeptical with their quality.
Once I purchased the shoes, I never second-guessed anything again. They are one of the most comfortable pairs I own, and I could walk and dance in them for days. They also are, in fact, extremely well-made. After seven years, they haven’t lost a single stud or endured any serious damages.
CHINESE LAUNDRY BOOTIES
Poshmark
$0
TRADING ON POSHMARK
Another great thing about Postmark is that you can trade clothes with other sellers. All you have to do is pay for shipping. I scored real big with this transaction and traded my old Birkenstocks for these booties, a makeup brush, and two sweaters. There are many sellers who don’t do trades, but it never hurts to ask if you see a listing that you’re interested in. Whenever I receive a “like” from someone on my listings, I always browse their closet to see if there’s anything I’d like to trade them for.
CHARLES DAVID HEELS
Poshmark
$14.95
PRICE DROPS ON POSHMARK
Whenever you “like” a listing on Poshmark, you will always be notified when the seller drops their price. I kept seeing these heels reduce over time, so once they reached $20, I bought them. I also used credit from my own sales, so they ended up being cheaper than I expected.
MOSSIMO FLATS
Goodwill
$8.99
PRICE CATEGORIES AT GOODWILL
Most of the Goodwills I shop at, now have a set price for all of their shoes. Spending under $10 on shoes is a bargain, as is, but it’s even better when they are still brand new. There have been many times where I’ve snagged brand new shoes, at Goodwill, and this happened to be one of those special days.
MRKT HEELS
hand-me-down
$0
YOUR FRIEND’S / FAMILY’S CLOSET
In college, I walked into my dorm room, one day, spotting these heels in the trash can. My roommate was tossing them, so I immediately claimed them as my own. I have inherited so many hand-me-downs, from friends and family, throughout my life. Whenever my friends are cleaning out their closets, I always ask for first dibs, before everything is donated. I had the best of luck in college, since all of my friends had the urge to downsize before moving back home.
& OTHER STORIES SANDALS
$57.60
THE NEW NEW | ONLINE SHOPPING
I had been eyeing these sandals, for months, but again, I kept contemplating on how expensive they were. Several months later, I finally made the purchase, but the shoes were slightly too big. The beautiful thing about lifestyle brands is that they tend to have free shipping and returns. Since their price points are much higher, they can afford to do this. For some weird reason, & Other Stories doesn’t have an exchange policy for online orders, so I had to ship back the shoes and buy a new pair. As I was waiting for my refund to transfer, I noticed that the price had slashed from $129 to $64. This was all a matter of perfect timing. To top it all off, I used an additional 10% discount code. Always take advantage of those email subscriptions. You can simply unsubscribe after you access the deal.
UNISA MULES
Goodwill
$7
“COLOR OF THE WEEK” AT GOODWILL
I found these mules in the more expensive shoe section of Goodwill. This particular store had a separate assortment that was curated by style and brand. I think it was no more than $15, but in terms of Goodwill, I consider anything over $10 steep. My only exceptions are furniture, luxury jewelry, or collective items. This location was also in an affluent neighborhood, so it was one bougie ass Goodwill. The price made me hesitate, but I couldn’t resist how cute and comfy the shoes were. Besides, I didn’t own anything else like them. When the cashier rung them up, I was pleased to hear that they were 50% off. Goodwill always color-coats their price tags, and, every week, they choose a different color to discount. These shoes had a white sticker, instead of a colored tag, so I just assumed they were excluded from Color of the Week. Now I know better.
xx
Dana