7 Ideas for Your Thrift Store Inventory

Thrift store inventory is getting increasingly popular due to people becoming more environmentally conscious and wanting to reduce their fast fashion consumption.

Thrifting enables people to buy trendy second-hand clothing at cheaper prices than brand new items. Many thrift stores also sell non-clothing items like furniture, home decor, kitchen accessories, and house appliances.

If you plan on opening a thrift store, you might wonder what types of products to sell. You might wish to sell a variety of different things or focus on one particular product. However, we recommend the former to expand your customer base and get as many sales as possible to keep your thrift store going.

Below, we’ve got seven great thrift store inventory ideas to inspire you on what to sell in your shop.

Clothing

The most obvious product type to sell in your thrift store is clothing. Clothes are the most common things you’ll find in thrift stores across the country, and they’re often the first things people think about when they see thrift stores on the high street.

Consider stocking a range of men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing to widen your customer base. Create sections within your store to make it easy for people to find the right gender of clothing.

You could also split your thrift store into sections based on types of clothing, such as basics, formal wear, and party clothes. Alternatively, you can categorise them into tops, jackets, pants, and skirts.

Aim to stock a wide range of sizes to ensure you provide an inclusive selection of products for people who need extra small to extra large clothing sizes.

You might want to offer designer brands and labels or stick with lesser-known brands, depending on your preferences. Selling branded clothes might draw more people into your store as they will be searching for clothing from their favorite brands and labels at a fraction of the original price.

Accessories

Alongside clothing, consider stocking accessories in your thrift store, including custom trucker hats, beanies, scarves, gloves, belts, and bags. You can upsell accessories when customers purchase clothes by encouraging them to build unique outfits with the items in your thrift store. In turn, you can increase customer satisfaction and drive sales.

Shoes

Shoes are another great choice for a thrift store, as they’re something that many people will buy alongside a new outfit. You can stock various shoes, including those for daily wear like sneakers and sandals and formal occasions, such as loafers, closed-toe shoes, and heels.

You might also want to stock athletic shoes, such as sneakers and pumps, to widen your audience to sportspeople.

Furniture

If you have space available in your thrift store for larger items, consider selling furniture. Offer chairs, tables, sideboards, and even sofas for people to purchase second hand for their homes.

You may want to offer refurbished items that have been revamped to look brand new. Selling refurbished furniture can encourage people to buy second-hand items instead of brand-new pieces. This, in turn, supports the environment by reducing the need for new materials to be manufactured.

Home Decor

Consider offering home decor to complement the furniture you sell in your thrift store. Things like mirrors, lamps, vases, ornaments, photo frames, and fake plants are great options for customers who want to spice up their home’s interior design.

Books, Magazines, Music, and Films

Selling a range of books, magazines, music, and films in your thrift store is the perfect way to attract creative individuals. Consider stocking books in a range of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, and children’s stories. Offer the same with your magazine collection, where you stock magazines that cover a variety of topics to appeal to a wide range of people.

For your film collection, stock a collection of DVDs, Blu-rays, and classic films. Organise them according to genre to make it easy for your customers to find the films they are looking for. Apply the same principles to your music collection, organizing them according to genre or alphabetically so customers can browse with ease.

Dinnerware, Cutlery, and Utensils

Although kitchenware isn’t as commonly sold in thrift stores as clothing and accessories, it’s a great product line to include in your shop. Almost everybody uses kitchen items on a daily basis, so you can reach a wide customer base by offering kitchenware as part of your collection.

Stock up on plates, bowls, pots, pans, baking trays, cutlery, and cooking utensils. Place matching items next to one another to encourage people to purchase full sets of dinnerware and enhance your sales.