Tag Archives: Thrift Stores

T-Shirts!

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The Big Picture for Our Side Step into T-shirts

The bigger trail video project we’re working on has always been a good idea that could be a real benefit to us and others as well as a long shot (with respect to getting the word out and getting it funded). We’re so ready to do that. There’s the matter of paying for everything though. We’re not ready for the successful funding campaign that has to come first.

We’re intentionally making the video project low impact, so when originally considering supporter rewards for the video project, we considered a t-shirt, but decided to make all the rewards digital. There were several reasons. First, because “no reward” support levels are often close to the same price point as “t-shirt reward level” support options. That can cause a supporter to think “Well, it’s basically free, I might as well go ahead and get the shirt.” When a person chooses a shirt that way, they aren’t necessarily that interested in wearing it. It may go straight to a thrift store, or worse, it might even get round filed before it ever gets worn, the worst form of Fast Fashion. Fast Fashion has big environmental and human costs so we didn’t want to offer clothing that might not be used.

On top of that, the shirt is never actually free. There’s a real cost of production. For every t-shirt reward the project has a real monetary cost and needs more supporters to meet the project budget, which produces even more t-shirts that may never be worn.

But when life changed, we came to the idea of doing a t-shirt as it’s own project, one that people would buy because they wanted to wear it.

The Hiccup

When Russ lost his job, he broke the news with the joke that he’d have plenty of time to work on the project. In truth, the newfound freedom could be a potential stroke of serendipity that would make everything work out for the best, and things may still work out that way, they just haven’t yet.

The job loss blindsided Russ, and we needed to reassess personal threats and potentials to see how much actual freedom we had for the project in stress mode. We went in a few directions all at once without knowing what to prioritize. It doesn’t help that I’m so overdue to be earning something. Ongoing family obligations, the pandemic and the project have tacked years on to what would have otherwise been a short time away from paid work for me. I don’t have any regrets about choosing family, or pursuing the project, but the financial downside to those choices has been life changing. I’m not excited about all of the changes those choices brought.

As much as I need focus, direction, progress and movement right now, Russ has needed time. It’s just a really good thing that we love each other because we’re not in the same place and it feels like love is all we have right now. We keep recommitting to the project, but the challenge is how to get there from here without having epic failure rock our world.

Part of our reassessment has been to answer the question “Would the sale of a T-shirt ease the financial pain, or just delay the project?” With all the competing time obligations and the pressure to move forward with the project itself, we’re already swamped. But the answer seems to be that we should give it a shot… if we do it right.

As a frequent thrift store shopper, I see Kickstarter rewards in Atlanta area thrift stores from time to time. Don’t get me wrong. Just because a reward made it there doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t a worthy item. But, if a lot of any given item makes it into the mega dumpster out back, that, of course, would be a different story.

We’re willing to offer T-shirts as a stand alone project because people wear them. People wear them a lot, and T-shirts are only fast fashion if they have a short life cycle. Even if they make it to the thrift store fairly soon they’re only a waste of resources if nobody ever wears them. So we’ll do our best to create and offer a t-shirt that people will want to wear and use, responsibly sourced shirts that last well and can be recycled or up cycled.

I can’t wait till we have them ready to show you! They’re going to be great!

Thrifting Update

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Thrifting Update, how’s that for a mundane title? Well, it’s been a while since my post Thrifting for a Day, and it seems like time for an update on how the shopping for stuff is going, so that’s what I’ve got for a title.

I/we have had quite a few unproductive and low productive days lately. Thrift stores are the most conditionally responsive places of business on the planet. If the donations are low, or the prices that people will pay rises, they adjust with lightening alacrity. So, shopping conditions change just as quickly. One of the thrift chains advertises that it’s a new store every day because of the thousands of items they put out daily. Thrifts are also new every day because they are constantly testing price increases to see what today’s market will bear. The only signal we as shoppers have is to leave things on the shelf. That’s pretty easy on those occasions when we recognize prices that are equal to or higher than normal retail, but smaller increases aren’t always so clear and they want to know what we will pay today.

The prices I’m willing to pay are also pretty varied, depending on my purpose. I’ll pay more for the right gift, much more, because I was going to spend a certain amount anyway. I’ll also pay more for things that I was going to purchase regardless, and things I’m in a hurry to replace. But there are other things that have no particular time pressure. I’ll wait for things to show up at the bottom of their price range if I can wait. I’ve been doing some waiting lately. The number of times I’ve paid more than I really wanted, or left a store without even a “gas money” purchase has been higher.

Last weekend we had a good board game weekend though. Board games are good for crafting supplies, but often the pieces are missing. If it’s Scrabble, a missing piece or two is no big deal and I don’t count, I just check condition. If it’s Monopoly, you want most or all of those pewter pieces to be there. Thrift stores tend to tape up the boxes to prevent people from loosing or stealing pieces, but usually if you ask up by the register, they don’t mind if you open the box to check. I have been refused once (by a new employee that I didn’t see on subsequent visits). I bought more board games last week than I have in the last 6 months, most of them at weekend yard sales. When we get into the house and I start back into my Etsy world, I’ll be in good shape on board games, not as many as I had before the fire, but an impressive collection all the same.

Jewelry is also a hit or miss category. I had a good couple of weeks, followed by increased anticipation visiting the jewelry counters without significant results for 2 months and now I’m often just glancing for something that stands out as I zoom by. After my few good finds, I got a gem tester, some sensitive scales and some lighted loupes so that I could list accurate information, like which gem a color stone is and weights for metals. I had two weighty sterling bracelets before the fire that I never listed because I wanted to be able to quote an accurate weight. So, I felt some residual urgency and when I bought the equipment, I was hoping it would pay for itself quickly, but I don’t think what I’ve purchased since will do the trick.

Probably much of what I bought in the months preceding my equipment purchase will do the trick, but I won’t know until I get the stuff listed and see if it sells well. Some of my more valuable finds, the ones that will pay for the equipment, are not the ones I needed the equipment to list well. Simichrome, used to test for Bakelite may be more important.

I’m really looking forward to unpacking all the things I’ve collected over the past six months. I’m sure there will be things I’ve forgotten purchasing. It could even be somewhat like Christmas…and I’ll bet while forgetting things I’ve packed away in my hope chest for tomorrow; there will be things I’ve purchased twice, things that may go right back where they came from. As always, it will be an adventure!