ThriftShopper Mission Statement

My love for secondhand started in 2006 when my youngest son, then 8, asked me to sell his cleats on eBay. I couldn't believe that someone would buy his used, albeit Mom-cleaned, shoes. When they sold, I was so excited that I called school, begging the administrator to get the message to him in class. Soon, he had me researching and subsequently selling my childhood Barbies, since my sons quickly became heavily invested in selling almost anything in the house, and they had no use for my old dolls. As a disclaimer, selling is in my DNA, as I had a "restaurant" in my playhouse when I was 5. It didn't matter that every item on my fancy menu returned a piece of Bazooka gum or an Oreo.

Many years later, after moving to a small town during COVID, I began volunteering at my church thrift shop. I started noticing patterns again — what sells, when people buy, and how moves, downsizing, and even local news shape what comes through the door. Like many thrift shops, ours gives back — every dollar we raise goes straight into the food pantry, which now feeds more than 50 families in our community. I, too, am a buyer and have discovered the magic and the thrill of the find. The "mascot" for ThriftShopper is a rhinestone-rimmed belt with a picture of Dorothy – and company – on the yellow-brick road. Never, in my wildest imagination, would I have gone searching for this belt. Nor did I imagine the number of times I would be stopped while wearing it.

I know we all get our blood flowing in dusty attics and the way-back shelves, imagining the story behind a vintage cookie jar or a well-loved book. I hope to keep that magic alive — to bring the joy of discovery online, while also creating space for people to share the stories behind the things they find. There's so much possibility here, and I can't wait to see what we'll discover together.