by Aya De Quiroz
Thrift shopping has found itself a new spot in the hearts of gen-zers and millennials of Manila, alike. More and more people are switching fast fashion for the green hangers. Today, the internet is crawling with thrift hauls and hack videos made by anyone from famous Youtubers to a-class celebs and even down to your friendly neighborhood titas. In fact, one of the well-known video concepts going around is the infamous “500 Peso Ukay-Ukay Challenge”, which is basically video compilations of a kajillion racks of thrift items threatening your yellow-gold bill. David Guison, Laureen Uy, and pretty much everyone else in between have jumped on the trend and have had their own take on it. But for most of them, they never really stuck to the 500 peso limit. I mean, who wouldn’t go overboard for thrift gems like designer jeans for only 100 pesos? I guess, everyone except those who are strictly on the limit– either for financial reasons, or those who can really stick to their word. 500 pesos is still a lot of money, especially in the Ukay world, but how exactly do you win this challenge? Say no more, because here are a few tips and tricks to ace it.
1. Make up Your Mind
Before stepping into the money void of thrift shopping, decide why you’re heading there in the first place. If you go there to simply add new items to your wardrobe, chances are, you’re more susceptible to losing the bet. Counter this by thinking of what you need in your closet, or at least those that you actually don’t have (e.g., ditch the cute sweater if you’ve already got one in the same color) as well as those that complement the rest of the clothes you already have. This way, you can even save up on buying items via thrift.
2. Dig like there’s no tomorrow
One of the key things in ukay is to go through every corner, rack, and pile in the store to not only maximize your visit to the shop, but to also snag your creme dela creme item. In thrifting, brands are quite varied. You may spot familiar lines like Marks & Spencer, H&M, and even Marc Jacobs and Chanel. Checking whether they’re original is another story, but chances you are, you can snag authentic labeled clothes while thrifting. In fact, post-shopping can even lead you to a fun game of searching the brands you got. If you’re lucky, you can get brands from Korea, Italy, France, and more.
3. Haggle, haggle, haggle!
Everyone knows, haggling is how to make every trip to the thrift store #sulit, but doing it right, is a skill that must be honed by many. One of the things you can do is be honest about your budget. Befriending the staff can go a long way, and by a long way, I mean discounts galore. Letting them know how much you have, and seeing how it might not necessarily add up or fit to your haul, can help them meet you in the middle. You can also try to come up with a mark down with regard to the number of items you’ve got (i.e., asking for a reasonable price if you grabbed a lot of items). Buddy them up, also by being textmates with them! Ask them to text you when new arrivals come in or when they have promos or sales, this way, you can the best deals before everyone else.
4. Online for no line? Or?
With the rise of the digital age, even ukay-ukay has found its way to technology. Whether its social media platforms or buy-and-sell sites, there are several accounts which sell thrifted goods in the metro. While skipping the physical ukay store for this can save you time and energy, saving money is debatable. A lot of sellers up their prices almost double and even triple the usual marks in actual shops. Tops that usually go for about 80 pesos, can be sold online for around 250. Some even use a bidding system, which makes each item even more expensive. On top of this, haggling is harder. Most online sellers don’t even allow you to haggle. In terms of actually seeing items– their glory, and well, their flaws, are just as important. These are things you don’t get to experience with online thrifting. Going to physical shops just gives you the whole #tipid experience (and helps you add some cardio exercise into your day).
