Finding thrift and consignment shops

Selling and buying used clothing and goods is becoming more popular in this tough economy. I even saw a thrift store that catered to tweens and teens in Santa Monica recently! If you are not sure where to find thrift and consignment stores, here are some resources.

KidsConsignmentSales.com lists sales by state. I clicked on many states and each had a few cities listed. Not a bad place to start.

The National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops has a searchable directory of their members, which you can narrow down by state and zip code.

USCity.net lists consignment shops in California. For other states, go to their home page, then under the tab Select a Directory, chose a state. Click Go and you will get a page with tons of categories. Click on the letter C and then find Consignment Services. Click on that for a list of consignment stores in your state.

Unfortunately, none of the links seems to be working on the USCity site, but take the name of a store that comes up and search online for it. You should be able to get an address and phone number.

Then there's always second hand stores run by Goodwill and the Salvation Army.

New to buying used? Real Simple provides 6 tips for being a savvy second-hand shopper.