One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to decorate your green home this Spring, while helping protect the environment, is with second-hand shopping. Second-hand shopping is a great way to reuse; you’ll save money and add charm to your home that you will take your design to a personalized, humanitarian and eco-friendly way. Now is the time of year when families declutter by donating or consigning their belongings and having garage and yard sales, so you can come across some great items on the cheap.
Repurposed design items are often the best. They’ll make for great focal points and conversation pieces of a space. The Equifax Finance Blog shares some tips on savvy second-hand shopping in one of its newest blog posts, “
Shop Second-Hand Stores and Garage Sales Like a Pro.” Here are a few:
- Haggle happily, but know when to stop – don’t be the customer that shop employees hate; be friendly and respectful when bargaining for a deal; know your reserve price and walk away if a shop owner can’t go any lower
- Carry cash – Consignment and thrift store owners will often times be willing to go a little bit lower on items if they can avoid paying merchant credit and debit card fees
- Check condition – give items thorough inspections before deciding to take them home; examine things carefully for holes, tears, nicks, missing pieces, etc. If the item has only minor damage, decide if it is priced where it’s worth repairing. Don’t be scared to ask to plug in electrical items; and the article even recommends carrying a few spare batteries to test any items that might need them
There are more savvy second-hand shopping tips on the Equifax blog, visit it to read the full article and get other financial management tips, as well as tips on insurance, retirement, credit,
identity theft solutions and more.
