The Current - Merry Thriftmas! The art and appeal of giving second-hand gifts

Episode Date: December 18, 2024

Some people are exploring thrifting to find the perfect gift this holiday season, hoping to save money and cut down consumer waste. We get some tips from expert thrifters.

In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news, so I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with Season 3 of On Drugs. And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy.

On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is The Current Podcast. For my daughter's friend's birthday parties, I find a series of books, and then like a top, and then maybe a stuffy. You can find everything. That's Caitlin Fears. She runs For Me and More. It's a pre-loved clothing and accessory company geared toward kids and their parents. It is no secret that life is more expensive these days and with the holiday season here, the bills can stack up quickly. And so with that in mind, it turns out more and more people are hitting the thrift store or scrolling online marketplaces on the hunt for gifts.

And as Caitlin points out, there are sweet deals to be had. For me, it's also that I really like high-end stuff and I can't afford it at the prices that it perhaps is at firsthand. And I don't, I wouldn't want to pay that. I don't want a new H&M dress when I could have a secondhand Stella McCartney dress. Our producer, Amanda Grant, loves a good thrift score, and so she was off to Value Village to give this idea of thriftmas a try.

I have a few people I'm looking for. I need to look for my mother-in-law loves vintage candlesticks and fiesta wear and always looking for books for my six-year-old. He's into graphic novels and kind of mystery chapter books right now. And I'm also looking for my husband. He needs more button down shirts and some slacks, and if I'm really lucky, a leather blazer. Okay, let's see what we can find,

and maybe a little holiday decor for the house as well. It's a big long list, but it was not too long before something caught Amanda's eye. Okay, so my sister-in-law really likes to do puzzles, and there's one here. It looks like it's still in the wrapping, in the plastic. It's a little dicey to get a secondhand puzzle because you want to make sure that there's all the pieces. That would be important in the secondhand puzzle. After scouring the racks and shelves, she did indeed find that leather blazer for her husband.

Now, if you want a more curated thrift experience, Stephanie Pellett has you covered. She runs Objects and Outfits, and Amanda caught up with her at a secondhand pop-up market in Toronto. My goal is to kind of elevate the secondhand buying experience. Like, what I want to do is attract customers who hadn't even thought of it and don't realize how much good stuff there is out there and that sometimes it can feel easier just to go online and buy a bunch of stuff from one of the big retailers. And then if you don't like it, you might send some back and return it. But what they don't understand is that that stuff, it ends up in the landfill.

Even when you return things, it doesn't end up back on the shelf. Stephanie's been a lover of Thriftmas for years, and so she's now trying to pass on that secondhand holiday cheer. At every year, I might start giving people a secondhand gift and ease them into it. So this year, I hope my parents aren't listening, but I got them some sterling silver salt and pepper shakers for the Christmas table.

Now, they're beautiful. They come in still the original box, and when people are buying from my daughter or my family, I say, please, they're beautiful. They come in still the original box. And when people are buying from my daughter or my family, I say, please don't get us any gifts. But if you want to, please buy it secondhand. And so then people are also like kind of seeing the value in that. With me now are two people who know that value and the joy of shopping secondhand. Tara Wickware is an avid thrifter in Halifax. Kevin Jackman runs Rivendell Books. It's a used bookshop in Barrie, Ontario. Good morning to you both.

Good morning. Good morning. Tara, how did you get into thrifting? Well, I, as I was explaining to your producer, I grew up in the Annapolis Valley and there's a retail phenomenon, Frenchies. It's a secondhand clothing chain based in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and established in 1972. And the supply pipeline comes from sort of the eastern seaboard. So it's a lot of, you know, cast off American clothes. And, you know, starting from when I was a kid, we would go there regularly.

And it was a treasure trove of great brand names and great quality clothes. And it was kind of back before thrifting really became a thing, but it's always been sort of this steadfast presence and probably the reason I fell in love with it originally. It's a phenomenon, you say, not just a store. So when you take in the phenomenon, I mean, what are you looking for when you go to Frenchies? Well, there's a combination of my approach. So I may have a short list of things that I'm sort of manifesting in the thrift hunt. But also it's just sort of you have to be open to discovery. So I will often start in the men's department, go through sweaters.

I'm looking for natural textiles. So wool, cotton, a hundred percent cotton, cashmere, um, you know, great leather pieces. Um, and sort of, I, I go through and I really stick to basic classic colors and, and that's sort of how I approach it. And then I, you know, move to denim and so on, but, uh, just with an open mind and then with maybe a few things that I may have in mind that I'm looking to source. So that might be for yourself. I mean, as I mentioned, one of the things that's happening right now, given the cost of living crisis and the fact that life is just generally expensive

for people and the holidays are right around the corner is that people are looking to try and save some money and maybe buying secondhand would be an option for them. What would make a good secondhand gift? Well, there's sort of two elements to a great secondhand gift. I mean, there's starting with, if you've selected something purposely for someone, and that's a very special sentiment that you're putting forward. And, but the two things I give as advice in this gifting is the restoration. So you find a sweater and it might maybe have an odd smell. So, you know, once you wash it and dry it and kind of put some care into it, the second part is the presentation.

So, you know, for the sweater, you might line it with tissue and wrap it in a beautiful box with a big bow. And that sort of gift exchange experience becomes elevated. But here it is, this is maybe a $7 sweater, but it's something that I picked just for you. No one else has one exactly like it. And so in the presentation, I just think it's a great experience. And there seems to be a shift in the mindset out there. I think people are far more open to upcycling clothing secondhand.

It's the stigma is, you know, slowly but surely going away. So, which is a really good thing because we need to keep things out of the landfill. And so that's why I'm so passionate about thrifting. And I think that's why others should sort of embrace it as well. Do you think that that mindset is really changing? I mean, there's a psychological hurdle for some people here when you're giving a gift or when you're on the receiving end of a gift, the expectation is it's going to be something new. It's not going to be something, um, when he could say pre-loved or just used, right?

Right. So sometimes you might want to caveat that. It does depend on who the receiver is of this gift. Some people are more open than others. But I think, you know, millennials are driving this movement around secondhand and upcycling and how they're, you know, kind of candidly sharing their finds and making it more of a, you know, so much more commonplace. And making it more of a, you know, so much more commonplace. But, you know, for example, my brother-in-law, one year, I found a Barney's gray cashmere coat. I had it dry cleaned. I put it in a great garment bag. And I gave that to him for Christmas. And so rather than just a standard, you know, boring, you know, button-down shirt, I gave him this very special coat.

And he's worn it ever since and eternally grateful. So, um, that's, that's an example of, you know, what you can kind of do to give it a little more kind of, of a, of a special touch. And, but it does depend on the, on the kind of end recipient for sure. Kevin, you've been listening in, um, I love used bookstores and used bookstores. Um, I mean, they're not as common perhaps as they used to be, but they still have a huge place in the book shopping landscape, if I can put it that way. Why do you think used books make a good gift? Well, I think when it comes to books, books are one of those things that I find people don't mind as much of it if it's been preused. It's that idea that somebody else has read that story, has kind of taken part in that adventure, if you will. So when somebody walks into a used bookstore, they're looking for that special find, that nicer edition or something that

somebody else has had their hands on. And so I feel like that idea of giving a used book is not, doesn't hold that same stigma as maybe other things. People enjoy the used books and like the fact that that has been in somebody else's hands before. It gives it that history and a little bit more of a, I don't know, a little cachet to that present from what I've found. If you are, I mean, and this is one of the things that comes out if you shop, you know, with face-to-face with somebody rather than just ordering something online, is you actually get to talk to the person about what you're buying. And hopefully that person has some information that can help steer you into what you might want to purchase. What do you, if you're pulling together a selection of used books for somebody, what do you look for? And what are you thinking about? So I always start with what are their interests? What kind of books have they read in the past? What are things that have really gotten them excited about reading in the past?

Take a look at your bookshelf, especially if you're buying for somebody else. Take a look at their bookshelf. What are the books that they're interested in? I find when giving gifts of books, the very best gifts I've given in terms of books are the books that I have loved in the past. Cause then you're not just giving them something to read. You're giving them something that, you know, you've experienced something that you can debrief about after they're done, uh, something that you can share in. And so, you know, when giving suggestions for people as, as to buying gifts, it's, I

like to talk to them about, you know, what have they read in the past? What are they interested in? And what do they, you know, what do they want to share with somebody that they're giving to? that people, and maybe it's a generational thing, people are interested in not just purchasing something new, but perhaps upscaling something and using something that's already been loved. Are you finding that people are giving used books increasingly as gifts? Absolutely.

I mean, we have countless customers coming in, especially at this time of year, that are looking for those specifics or just looking for suggestions for books to give to people for the holiday season. Absolutely. Tara, that's a lot more work. I mean, giving a secondhand gift, you're not just sitting in front of your computer, clicking in the middle of the night, ordering something online and having it delivered the next day. What would you say to people who don't feel like they have the time or maybe even the patience to, I mean, the chase is part of the goal here in some

ways. You have to spend some time doing this, but people might feel that they don't have the time or the patience to do that. Well, that is one thing. It does require patience, but in the earlier clip, Stephanie, who has the business of reselling and kind of making that access point easier for people. So I think you'll see, you know, on our downtown main streets, secondhand, more and more secondhand clothing and decor stores popping up. And so that makes that easier for the average consumer to go in, take the advice from the salesperson, which is a little bit different than going to a Frenchies or a Value Village

where you're really independently on your own search. So I think that's a component that's happening. And, you know, consignment stores are terrific. And I think, you know, to buy something that's higher quality than something from a mass retailer and something that's more unique, that's so special. And something that's more unique. That's so special. So I think I encourage people to experiment and just dip a toe in with consignment and then you can go if you build that interest. I don't want to ruin the surprise for anybody. Is there a gift that you're planning to give this holiday that you're looking forward to?

Several. Oh. Several, yes. Okay. Tell us about one. So one is I'm restoring this vintage coach bag. Tell us about one. you know, a tube of my favorite hand cream. And then I think that's kind of a lovely gift. And that all together is, you know, not expensive, but it's great meaning. And it's also, you know, it's something I could have kept for myself, but I looked at it and I thought of, oh, this is like suitable for my friends.

The meaning really counts, right? That's the big thing here. It does. It does. Kevin, what about for you? Is there a gift that you've been given, a secondhand gift that you've been given that means a lot to you? Absolutely. My oldest brother is a writer and is the most difficult person to buy for. And part of that is that he is such a good gift giver. He has, over the years,

through Christmases and birthdays, he has given me, always used, a book of his choice. And every year it's one of, if not the best book I've read. He's, you know, an excellent, excellent judge of books. But, you know, part of that is just knowing that he's read it and having that time to kind of discuss it with him afterwards. And that's a part of the gift in itself. What a really interesting idea. I think a lot of people, I mean, in this time, and the clock is ticking in terms of people having to do their shopping as well, will be interested to hear about this.

And perhaps we'll move their way toward, if they can get their head around it, that idea of a secondhand gift. Tara, thank you very much. Well, it's a pleasure. Thank you, Matt. Kevin, thank you. Hey, thanks for having me on, Matt. Tara Wickware is an avid thrifter in our Halifax studio. And as you heard, prioritizing secondhand gifts this Christmas.

Kevin Jackman runs Rivendell Books. It's a used bookstore in Barrie, Ontario. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.