CONTEST NOW CLOSED - Three Cheers for Bargains! It’s Thrift Shop Day!

[Alan_K]

Happy Thrift Shop Day! Once a year we celebrate the second-hand stores that fill our lives with knickknacks, retro clothes, hidden treasures, and relics of the past (Is that a VHS player? Yes, yes it is.). How amazing does it feel to find a leather jacket for five dollars, when it originally cost a hundred? How do you feel when everyone at the Christmas party is jealous of your ugly sweater? Good – that’s how. Thrift stores are where we go when we need a little shopping therapy but don’t want to spend the big bucks. So go forth, thrift well, and be prepared with these hot thrift shopping tips:

1. Dig through the bins. Most people scan the top and miss out on all the buried gems below. Roll up your sleeves, dive in, and we promise you’re going to find something good at the bottom.
2. You can alter items with a little creativity. Sure those jeans look funky as pants, but with the help of some scissors all of a sudden you have yourself a pair of trendy jean shorts. Keep those creative juices flowing when you’re rifling through the rack.
3. Shop when the seasons change. Think about it. When winter turns to spring people are cleaning out their closets and donating all the items that have been cluttering up the basement. Hit the thrift, because it’s going to be a goldmine!
4. Shop a lot. Like any pursuit, there are good days and bad days. Some days, you’ll search the shelves and not find anything that piques your interest. No big deal. Come back in a couple days and you’re sure to find something marvelous.
5. Load up on jewelry. Let’s face it, most people can’t tell the difference between the real stuff and the fake stuff, so why not pay five bucks for some faux pearls? Plus, thrift stores are great for finding vintage jewelry like eclectic broaches and dazzling rings.

Here at Public Mobile we’re all about that thrift life, which is why our plans start as low as $10/month. And hey, want a little extra money for the next time you go thrifting? Enter our contest! Just comment below with your best thrift store find by Friday, August 24th at 12:00PM EST and we will randomly select three winners to win a $50 Public Mobile credit! As Macklemore once famously said, “I’m gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket,” but if you choose Public Mobile you’ll have a little more than that.

Spoiler

Public Mobile Thrift Shop Day Contest
CONTEST RULES

1. HOW TO ENTER & ELIGIBILITY
   No Purchase Necessary.  To enter entrants must share their best thrift store find on the Public Mobile Community post. Only one entry per person accepted.  No other form of participation is accepted.  In the event of a dispute on the entrant identity, the person who is the holder of the email address specified on the online form will be deemed to be the entrant.

If your entry contains a person, other than the entrant, by entering the contest, you state that you have obtained consent from everyone in the photo. If your photo contains a minor (under the age of 18) parental or legal guardian consent is required.

Contest runs August 17 to August 24, 2018 at 12:00pm ET.

An Entry will be considered void and removed from the Community post if it contains subject matter that, in the opinion of the contest administrators, may violate community standards or is otherwise of questionable taste.

To be eligible, an entrant must be an existing Public Mobile customer and entry must be received on or before end of contest closing date and time. Entrants must be a Canadian resident who are 13 years of age or older and must be a member of the Public Mobile online Community. Contest not open to employees of TELUS Corporation, its affiliated companies or subsidiaries, its sales agents, its advertising and promotional agencies, and members with whom they are domiciled.  By accepting these Contest Rules, entrants agree that any and all liability related to this contest by TELUS is limited to the value of the Prize(s) as defined hereinafter.

2. THE PRIZE
   There will be three (3) prizes awarded. Each winner will receive the following prize:

            One-time $50 Public Mobile account credit

Prize(s) must be accepted as awarded and with no substitutions, is/are not transferable unless set out in the Contest Rules and cannot be exchanged with Public Mobile or cash. Public Mobile reserves the right to substitute the Prize with a Prize of equivalent value if such prize becomes unavailable for any reason.  The chances of winning are dependent upon the total number of eligible entries received.

3. THE DRAW
   A random draw for all Prizes will take place at the Public Mobile office located at 25 York Street, Toronto, Ontario on or about August 24 at 12:00PM ET by a TELUS representative. Selected entrants will be notified on the Public Mobile Community. If the selected entrant cannot be reached within two (2) business days, or if the selected entrant does not meet any of the contest requirements, another entrant will be selected from the remaining eligible entries.
   In order to win, the selected entrant must correctly answer unaided a mathematical skill-testing question and will be required to sign a standard release form. If the selected entrant is under the age of majority in his/her province of residence, his/her parent or legal guardian must read and accept these Contest Rules.  Failure to answer the skill-testing question correctly, comply with the Contest Rules or sign and return the release form within two (2) days of receipt will result in disqualification and another entry will be selected until the Prize is awarded. Prize will be delivered to a Canadian address of the winner’s choice within (7) business days after prize has been awarded.
   
   
4. PRIVACY
   By entering the contest, entrants consent to the use of their names, city of residence, photograph, voice and/or image for publicity purposes in all media used by Public Mobile, without payment or compensation. Entrants agree to TELUS’ use of the entrants’ personal information that may include contacting you regarding limited time offers, promotional offers and/or surveys. Full details are as described in Public Mobiles’ privacy policy located at publicmobile.ca/termsofservice.
   
   
5. OTHER
   All entries become the property of Public Mobile. Public Mobile assumes no responsibility for lost, damaged or misdirected entries during the contest period, for any problems or technical malfunction of any online systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software and failure of any e-mail or entry to be received by Public Mobile on account of technical problems, traffic congestion on the Internet or at any web site or failure of handset or mobile web browser. Public Mobile reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to change, cancel or suspend this contest without prior notice. Entries are subject to verification and will be declared invalid if they are mechanically reproduced, forged, falsified, altered, tampered with, not in accordance with Community standards or unlawful in any way. Entries submitted by unauthorized means will be disqualified. In the event that it has been determined that an entry has been made in an manner not sanctioned by these rules and/or an entrant has submitted more than the number of entries permitted by these rules, the entrant and all of his/her entries will be disqualified. Entrants agree to abide by the contest rules and the decisions of the contest judges, which are final. This contest is subject to all applicable laws and regulations.

[Orz]

A special controller for a Japanese import video game. I paid only a fraction of what I would pay if I buy it overseas. 

[szymon247]

While I'm not a fan of thrift shopping, the one time I went I managed to find a pair of my favorite shoes that they no longer make, which was actually a pleasant discovery. I was fighting myself, as I didn't want to buy potentially pre-worn shoes.

I bought a couple of Xbox games for 2-4$ each though.

[jclaydon2018]

My best thrift store find?  I am an AVID old movie buff and some of my favourite memories growing up are watching movies like Pinnochio, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, The Aristocats, Jungle Book and a couple of non Disney movies like "My Fair Lady" and "The Pajama Game"

Well, after randomly searching thru a couple of the local haunts, I manage to find a place that had 10 of my all time favourite Disney movies, AND the two mentioned above for $80! Considering that disney movies retail for $20-30 each, i'd say that was a STEAL!

i was dancing around like a little girl, everyone thought i was a mental patient

Cheers

-James

[Bgill]

Hand turned pottery for $1-$10. Real pottery is quite expensive to buy (especially if it is a nice pattern as opposed to very dated pottery). It takes a lot of digging to find decent stuff. Usually it's from estates I think. 

[dna2016]

Wow, my first thrift shop experience was way back when I needed a suit jacket for my first ever job interview.  Was a dark brown suit, luckily the light brown patches were not included, lol.

I think it was just a bit under $30, had to sell some old school video games at the flea market to come up with the money, those were the days.

[jt17g]

I’ll take those flannel zebra jammies

[Jarvar]

A bag of three perfectly good swim goggles for the kids at $2.

[wfitzpatrick]

I got a fantastic wooden Philips console stereo with a functional 8-track and record player for $20

[jp2]

When I first started snowboarding I got all of my equipment for under 50 dollars on a winter gear clear out sale. It was in great condition I am still using the boots and bindings 3 years later 

[jingsz]

vintage Chinaware that completed a set passed down from my grandma! 

[pm-smayer97]

About a year ago I learned that places like Value Village are not true charities but rather a FOR PROFIT business, to the point that the CEO was making over a million dollars in income off of donations given by people that believe it is a true charity. It is not. Over the years I have also noticed how Value Village has increased their prices to the point that I have to ask "who is willing to pay that much for such cheap stuff?".

This is in contrast to the head of Salvation Army Thrift Stores who only makes in the $13K range.

Have a read here (and the comments) for some insight:

https://communityedition.ca/selling-the-poor-the-politics-of-value-village/

Be wise in your choices.

BTW, we found a great leather jacket for our then 18y.o. son for $10 which we would easily value at over $250. It looked like it had never been worn.

[Bro1]

I have found so many good shirts and pants there

[mynamejc]

I never been to a thrift store, but finding a clearance item is pretty close lol. Cheap t-shirts!!

[SD08]

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@ShawnC13 wrote:

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@will13am wrote:

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@RobertQc wrote:

I WIN.

Since visiting multiple thrift shops is an almost daily occurrence I should win this... random competition but seriously. I will never forget the value village employee carrying out a receiver from the back sorting room as I see MARANTZ I tell the guy I WILL TAKE IT. And he says there is a huge pile of these. My heart started to race, I literally had butterflys in my tummy. A pile (literally) of Carver, Rotel and Marantz used audio equipment new cost was around MSRP $30,000 paid $79.99 sold for ~$4,000 on craigslist/kijiji

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Never hoard tech, lol.  That's why these expensive units end up at the thrift store.  Your story is further reason why my story should win.  We should not just focus solely on the purchases, but also the generous donations of items we no longer want/need but would be fantastic find for others.  It is better to give them to receive.  For all these reasons, a giving story is a slam dunk.

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This was never a competition about giving against finding,it was a thread to share your story of a great find. 

Enter our contest! Just comment below with your best thrift store find by Friday, August 24th at 12:00PM EST and we will randomly select three winners to win a $50 Public Mobile credit! 

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Come to think of it, since these are supposed to be random winners, anyone could simply concoct a fake bargain story and win.  It could be the most boring deal or even a purchase of terrible value and still win, as long as it meets the contest entry requirement.

[Thranduilien]

The complete set of The Sims 2 (Base game, all expansions and stuff packs) for $2. I love that game, still have it loaded and play it. Love controlling their lives 😄

[ShawnC13]

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@will13am wrote:

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@RobertQc wrote:

I WIN.

Since visiting multiple thrift shops is an almost daily occurrence I should win this... random competition but seriously. I will never forget the value village employee carrying out a receiver from the back sorting room as I see MARANTZ I tell the guy I WILL TAKE IT. And he says there is a huge pile of these. My heart started to race, I literally had butterflys in my tummy. A pile (literally) of Carver, Rotel and Marantz used audio equipment new cost was around MSRP $30,000 paid $79.99 sold for ~$4,000 on craigslist/kijiji

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Never hoard tech, lol.  That's why these expensive units end up at the thrift store.  Your story is further reason why my story should win.  We should not just focus solely on the purchases, but also the generous donations of items we no longer want/need but would be fantastic find for others.  It is better to give them to receive.  For all these reasons, a giving story is a slam dunk.

---

This was never a competition about giving against finding,it was a thread to share your story of a great find. 

Enter our contest! Just comment below with your best thrift store find by Friday, August 24th at 12:00PM EST and we will randomly select three winners to win a $50 Public Mobile credit!

I personally have also found those who give the most say the least about it

[will13am]

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@RobertQc wrote:

I WIN.

Since visiting multiple thrift shops is an almost daily occurrence I should win this... random competition but seriously. I will never forget the value village employee carrying out a receiver from the back sorting room as I see MARANTZ I tell the guy I WILL TAKE IT. And he says there is a huge pile of these. My heart started to race, I literally had butterflys in my tummy. A pile (literally) of Carver, Rotel and Marantz used audio equipment new cost was around MSRP $30,000 paid $79.99 sold for ~$4,000 on craigslist/kijiji

---

Never hoard tech, lol.  That's why these expensive units end up at the thrift store.  Your story is further reason why my story should win.  We should not just focus solely on the purchases, but also the generous donations of items we no longer want/need but would be fantastic find for others.  It is better to give them to receive.  For all these reasons, a giving story is a slam dunk.

[ShawnC13]

Mine great find was actually at a garage sale where i got 2 skycaddie good gps's with all the clips and holders for $5. I didn't need one of the mounts and was easily able to sell it for $10.

My daughter says i have to tell her story now lol. She is 8, just last week she got an Our Generation doll at the thrift store for $1. She was so happy with that deal

[RobertQc]

I WIN.

Since visiting multiple thrift shops is an almost daily occurrence I should win this... random competition but seriously. I will never forget the value village employee carrying out a receiver from the back sorting room as I see MARANTZ I tell the guy I WILL TAKE IT. And he says there is a huge pile of these. My heart started to race, I literally had butterflys in my tummy. A pile (literally) of Carver, Rotel and Marantz used audio equipment new cost was around MSRP $30,000 paid $79.99 sold for ~$4,000 on craigslist/kijiji

[Jonavin]

Found a perfectly working record play once with some random vinyls of artists I’ve never heard of before.

[luckee7]

I always give than receive. And boy do I give.

[Psygineer]

A semi-rare (or at least hard to get) expansion for the original Starcraft called Insurrection. Wish the other one would have been there too, but I was so happy to have found that. That was quite some time ago. Something more modern was a Dell XPS mouse pad. I was going through the cloth ones fairly regularly but this hard surface pad has lasted at least 100x longer than any old pad. 

[tazzy_s]

I got my Android tablet and also my ipod touch from the pawn shops, still working fine after about 4-5 years.

[Watoko]

An old school Nokia Sony Ericsson phone! Brings back a trip down memory lane.

[dgage]

I was in one today and found a shirt to compleat my "Don Cherry" look for coaching a hockey team at the Canada senior games next week in New Brunswick.

[SIM-phony]

Mine was a RiteTemp oil radiator, works perfectly and keeps my apartment toasty warm in the winter. I don't recall how much it ran me, but it was a nice find back when I bought it a year or so ago.

[Effort]

Quite a few years ago I found a fully functioning R.O.B. for $5. Honestly, the only reason I bought it was I thought it did more than what I thought it did or mistaken it for something else that I used in a store as a child.

I still have it and on ebay, it's about $100-200. So I guess it was worth it?

[edude69]

I just found a pretty sweet bud the spud shirt the other day.

[Someone_here]

A great Arcteryx jacket in good condition for $20, can't beat that 🙂 

[will13am]

I am going to go against the grain and say places like Salvation Army thrift stores are a great place to donate previously loved items.  When I last moved 12 years ago, there was lots of good stuff that didn't fit in the new house but was still totally usable.  Instead of having to pay someone to haul it away as junk, they were all donated to Sally Anne for resale.