How to make thrift store shopping fun for kids

Some children, especially girls, enjoy shopping. But, do they enjoy shopping thrift stores? As a single mother of two children (son & daughter), I was challenged with staying home to watch the children, or bringing them along to shop thrift stores for items to resell on eBay. To make thrift store shopping (thrifting) fun for children, try these simple techniques:

1. Give the children a few key items to look for. For example, show them a certain name brand logo or a word on the designer label.

2. While in the thrift store, use code words that only your family knows. Instead of the children asking, “Hey Mom, can you sell this on eBay?” have them ask something unrelated to eBay. For example, “Would Grandma like this?” (even if it is a man's necktie).

3. Never, ever call Goodwill, “Goodwill”. Due to the stigma attached to shopping at Goodwill, refer to it as “Macy’s” or “Nordstrom”.

4. Reward children with prizes. For younger children, reward them with a quarter for each item that they found to resell. Pieces of candy (skittles, M&Ms, etc) may be used instead of quarters.

5. Some children are competitive. My children created the “hunting game” to see who could find the most items to resell. Reward the “winner” with a pick of his/her choice: restaurant for lunch, movie, family activity, etc. We all know that, in the end, Mom is the winner with the great thrift store finds!

6. Allow the older children to bring electronic devices to listen to music. My teenage daughter “works” better while listening/singing her favorite songs.

7. Allow children to push their own shopping cart. Or, as my son likes to do, have them hook the clothing in the back of their own collar.

8. Plot the family's thrift store travels with your own version of Flat Stanley. The Flat Stanley project was created to facilitate youngsters letter-writing by documenting the travels of paper cutout, Flat Stanley. Our "Flat Stanley" is a plush stuffed sock monkey, named Ralph. Whether vacationing or taking a mini road trip, we make it a point to stop at a Goodwill ("Macy's") or local thrift store to photograph Ralph, the sock monkey. We document our thrift store travels with Ralph on the Piece Of Scrap Facebook Fan page.

9. Limit the amount of time in the store. While an avid thrift shopper could spend hours browsing clothing racks and shelves filled with toys and household items, limit the time spent thrift shopping with the children to no more than 2 hours.

Enjoying family time is important … even if family time includes shopping thrift stores! To get started making money and selling on eBay, visit How to get started selling on eBay and making money. To get started shopping on eBay and making money, Starting an eBay Business For Dummies by Marsha Collier is a great read and voted one of the Best Books of the Year So Far by the Amazon.com editorial team.

How to remove permanent marker from thrift store shoes

While shopping for items to sell on eBay, it is clear that thrift stores tag items differently. For footwear including shoes and boots, many stores have a set price and do not price individual pairs. However, stores that mark up shoes based on a designer brand or condition (new in box), will often write the price with a sharpie permanent marker on the bottom of each sole. 

By accident, I discovered that a used a dryer sheet and nail polish remover works wonders in removing permanent marker stains from rubber and leather soles. This combination not only works well on rubber soles, but also on other items including my kitchen table!

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I have tried numerous techniques to remove the permanent marker label from the soles of shoes including: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, Goof Off and Goo-Gone. More often than not, these household items will remove the stain, but also leave a mark or residue behind that makes the shoe less than marketable. In fact, Goof Off on rubber soles actually melts the material!

To remove permanent marker stains from leather soles, try fine grit sandpaper. This will rub the writing off making the soles appear slightly worn instead of stained by permanent marker. In my experience, I’ve found that the household materials (even nail polish remover) will take off the permanent stain, but may discolor the leather.

If all else fails and the price is still visible on the bottom of the sole, simply write over the price with permanent marker covering up the thrift store sale price. Then, try to wipe off the fresh permanent marker using nail polish remover. Sometimes, the fresh permanent marker will lift the older permanent marker writing with it and a little elbow grease. If that fails, simply add another digit to the front of the thrift store price to make it appear more expensive. For example, add a 2 to the front of the 4.99 price making it appear 24.99.

Thrift shopping can be fun WITH the kids!

I taught my children at young ages what logos on clothing to look for at thrift stores. The kids would select a rack and I would go down the other side right next to them. At that age, they were content shopping with (for?) me knowing that I would treat them to lunch afterwards for their efforts. While going through the clothing rack, my son picked up a shirt and put it in the cart. Jokingly, I said, "Good job, buddy! You've earned lunch." He continued down the same rack and came back to me with two more of the same shirt in different colors. He place them in the cart and said "this one is dinner, and this is dessert".

My son would hang the shirts he found in the back of his collar so he would have both arms free. 

Follow our thrift store adventures on our Facebook Fan Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/ForSaleOnEbay 

To get started shopping on eBay and making money, Starting an eBay Business For Dummies by Marsha Collier is a great read and voted one of the Best Books of the Year So Far by the Amazon.com editorial team.