The Top 5 Most Reliable Sections to Check in Thrift Stores

The hunt for thrift finds begins

When you’re thrifting on a time crunch, an overwhelming amount of dread will hit your stomach when you first walk into the store. There’s simply too much to sift through and not enough time to do it thoroughly.

But there is a way to transform your shopping experience from chaos to curated bliss. If you want to effectively navigate the aisles with confidence to get in and out of the thrift store with some perfect thrift finds, you’re going to want to look in these 5 locations:

Goodwill is a great example of a non-profit thrift store you can visit

1. The Put-Back Rack

This is a rack that’s either by the dressing rooms or at the entrance of the store. The clothes on this rack are from people who either tried on their clothes and didn’t like them, or who changed their minds as they were checking out.

This is a great place to look because people did the work for you, and already sifted through all of the clothing. It narrows down the store to one rack that you can easily check.

A realistic picture of what the put-back rack might look like

2. The Awaiting Rack

Awaiting racks are racks of clothing that are about to be put out on the floor and in their organized sections. They aren’t organized yet while on this rack, but they have a ton of options that haven’t been picked through.

These racks can be found either near the back of the store or in the aisles. Just make sure you’re not walking into their back rooms to look through them, make sure that they’re at least out in the open and you're allowed to flip through the clothing.

By checking these racks, I actually found two pairs of corduroy overalls and a vintage Yale sweatshirt that is my current obsession.

The vintage Yale crewneck I recently thrifted

3. The Ends of Aisles

This is a great place to look because the ends of aisles are super visible, so you can quickly glance at them to see if anything piques your interest.

However, there’s another reason why you should check the end of aisles: you can also find people’s put-back clothing. This is when people, usually avid thrifters, leave their unwanted clothing at the end of the rack, similar to the put-back rack.

I know this seems far-fetched and it definitely isn't always the case, but the influencers I follow who thrift say that they do this, and I know I do too. We just want to share the thrifting love, and make it easier for people to find sweet clothing.

It's also nice because people usually have one aesthetic when they're shopping, so when you find someone's put-back clothing, there are a lot of options within that one aesthetic. If it matches yours, then you've hit the jackpot.

An example of the end of an aisle

4. The Kid's Section

This might sound weird at first, but trust me, it's a gold mine.

The kid's section is an especially great place to find baby tees which are very in style right now. Plus, they're great shirts for people with small torsos or for people who like to wear low cut jeans.

It's also a great section to look in because it's not very picked over, so you can find some really cute items that nobody has noticed.

A girl showing off her baby tee

5. The Shoe Section

This section is super easy to look through because most of the time the rows are marked by size, so you just go to your size and quickly scan the shoe options.

They're pretty organized on the racks, so it can be really easy to see all your options and what you're working with, especially if you're looking for a specific color.

Some thrift stores don't allow you to try on clothing in the store anymore which can really impact what you're buying because something might not fit, but the nice thing is that you can always try on their shoes.

Vintage boots found at the thrift store

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