Local mortar retail thrift shops have been around for many years and today online thrift stores are becoming just as popular. Most people shop second-hand stores to find great deals on a wide variety of merchandise including, clothes for their family, home decorations, furniture, sporting goods, holiday and seasonal decorations.The Internet has made it possible for us to shop online from the comfort of our homes, saving us gas money and the time it would take for us to make the trip to our local thrift store. For those that are looking for that one particular treasure, they can simply search for that treasure from the home page of an online thrift store to see the stores’ latest availability.
Listed below are a few of the many benefits you can expect to receive:
Advantages
- Very low prices!
- Special deals & discounts
- Convenience of shopping from the comfort of your home
- Customers won’t have to battle with crowds of people
- Customers save gas money
- Customers saves time
- Most online thrift stores will also offer new merchandise
- An online thrift store will tend to be organized and easy to navigate
- Easy to find merchandise through search capabilities
- Some online thrift stores offer consignment services, which gives you the ability to sell your unwanted items and earn some extra money
Disadvantages
- Availability – most second-hand merchandise will have a limited quantity
- Customer service – In some cases, email is the only form of communication
- Customer does not have the ability to see the product, except through pictures
- Customer does not have the ability to try on apparel
- Customer does not have the ability to test electronics or fixtures
- Sold as-is condition
- Security and safety of your payment and personal information
- Shipping charges
Although there may be a few disadvantages, many online thrift stores have overcome these disadvantages by offering better return policies and they will often offer discounted or free shipping options. This is a great way to shop, because you can virtually received your merchandise risk-free and if you find that the product you ordered didn’t fit, wasn’t what you thought it was, didn’t work, etc. you simply return it.
Most online stores will have a “Contact Us” page listing their company’s phone number, mailing address and email address as a means of communicating with their customers. So, if you find a problem with your order or have a question about a product you seen in their store, don’t hesitate to contact them.
Security and safety of any online purchase has always been a concern. It is important to look for sites that have a high security level (SSL certification, don’t share payment or personal information, including email, etc.); this information can generally be found in the store’s policies, terms and conditions pages. Most secure sites will proudly display high security badges on their shopping cart pages or some will even display security badges on the header of their store pages letting their customers know that their information is safe.
Shopping online thrift stores can give you the great advantages of saving time and money purchasing your treasures, clothing and general merchandise at very low prices and receiving special discounts with the convenience of shopping from the comfort of your home.