Tried and true tips for shopping wisely at thrift stores, used clothing stores and second hand shops.

It's the last Wednesday of the month, and a visitor to the Ohio Thrift Store in Columbus, Ohio might assume that a bomb went off in the store today. There are clothes everywhere; scattered on the floor, falling off of hangers, draped over racks. The harried staff can't keep up with the melee. The staff is exhausted anyway, because since the doors opened this morning it's been like the Oklahoma Land Rush, with frenzied shoppers running for carts and staking their claim to every manner of old coats, shoes, sweaters and pants that they can grab. The last Wednesday of the month is half price day at the thrift store, and every smart shopper in town has come to get their fair share.

Or have they? Is it the smart shoppers who have come today to stuff their shopping carts full of as much junk as they will hold? Not on your life.  Because smart shopping is about more than low price. It's really about value; about using the dollars you spend to acquire something of quality.

So how does a shopper on a short budget get high style at a thrift store?

Years of thrift store shopping have taught me to follow these rules:

Rule number one, don't buy something just because it's cheap. Probably the hardest to adhere to, but the most important. Otherwise, like our Wednesday sale maniacs, you will end up with cart fulls, and eventually house fulls, of clothes, shoes, coats and pants that don't fit, aren't your color and have broken zippers that you'll never fix. It's exciting to see a shirt from the Limited at a low price, but that alone is not a sufficient reason to buy. You must also:

Make sure it's your size.  Resist the temptation to buy something that is a bit to small or that you'll be swimming in. At a normal store, finding your size is a no-brainer, but at the thrift store, with it's limited selection, it is more difficult, and you'll be tempted to stray up or down a size. Resist. You will not wear the pants that come up to your chins. You will not wear the shorts that hit your chins either.

A word to the wise about the size!  Remember that in the US, sizes are getting bigger. In other words, what used to be a size 12, is now called a size 10 or even 8. This will affect a thrifter quite a bit. Since you're buying generally older items, you may need a size bigger than you would wear in a current item.

Examine each item with a critical eye.  Remember, there is a reason someone gave away that Ralph Lauren shirt. Like that it has a big hole in the back. Look for broken zippers on pants and jackets. Look for moth holes and pilling on sweaters. Look for missing buttons on shirts, and look for stains on everything.

Buy good brands that you could not otherwise afford.  A thrift store is not the place to buy cheap brands. The price difference between new and used on cheap brands is not great enough to compensate for the difference in convenience. If you want a cheaper brand, go ahead to K-mart and Walmart and get it there, where you can try it on, and return it if neccessary. One lesson learned from thrift store shopping is that good quality materials hold up over time.  At a thrift store, look for better brands that will hold up and retain their value.

Consider the color and style-are they flattering to you?  Like the size, the color and style rule may be one you'll think of bending just because the selection is so limited. But stay firm. If you look terrible in lime green, you won't wear it. And the money you spent on the "great buy" lime green blouse will be a total waste.

Shop when you have time and energy.  Thrift store shopping is much more time-consuming than a department store. Most are arranged by type and color, rather than size. So you need to look at whole racks of clothes rather than small sections.

Shop at the beginning of the season. The best selection, and the nicest items will be found at the start of the season. As the season wears on, the clothes are picked-over, and there is not much to replenish the supply. Clothes are generally donated at the end of a season, and not during the midst of one.

Try on as much as possible. Some thrift stores have dressing rooms, many do not. And even fewer will allow returns. So be prepared. Wear stretch leggings so that you can slip pants on over them for a quick fit check. Try on coats and sweaters for sure. Wear a tight fitting t-shirt so that you can slip into a blouse. It's a bit embarrassing, but will save you lots of money.

Shop, or at least browse, in regular stores and catalogs too.  That way, you will be able to recognize a real value. Otherwise, you may assume that the thrift store price is a bargain, when a much better item may be available elsewhere for the same or similar price. Thrift stores are in business to make money, and as they have become more main-stream, so have their prices.

Watch out for overpriced knock-offs.  It's not that likely that a genuine Prada or Gucci bag ends up at a thrift store, so when you see high-end designer pieces, often displayed as "showcase" items, be suspiscous.  Most of the time, these items are knock-offs, but the thrift store may label it as real and treat it like the crown jewels. So please pass on the "Gucci" purse with the stiff plastic lining and the polyvinyl leather, so matter how it's labeled.

Check on ebay. The staff at thrift stores relys on ebay to set the price, but sometimes the thrift store is much, much higher. The thrift store staff, with their mounds to junk to sort through and price, are not very careful in comparing quality and condition to the ebay item, and so it's not unusual for a piece of junk to end up priced too high. Example: I saw a Royal Worchester juicer at the thrift store for $49.99.  The same juicer, in perfect condition, sold for $12.99 on ebay. I've seen Coach purses marked at $99.00 that were so worn and torn an ebay seller wouldn't touch it. I've seen Gibson China teapots with broken spouts marked at $40.00 at the thrift store, and the same item selling on ebay in mint condition for $6.99.

Stick to this criteria faithfully, and you will save money at the thrift store. You can bet on it.