Shopping for pre-owned items at thrift stores has become more and more popular and has even established its own verb: thrifting. Students and teachers at the school have been following the trend as well by doing some “thrifting” of their own.

Freshman Maddy Williams enjoys thrifting for clothes because of the low prices.

“I like thrifting because I can find a lot of stuff that matches my style and it’s so much cheaper, [so] I can buy more clothes,” Williams said. “I get compliments on stuff that’s like $3 which I think is really cool.”

Senior Dominic Martinez also likes to thrift for the low prices and the diverse options the thrift stores offer. His style matches the options he finds at thrift stores.

“A benefit to thrifting is that it’s cheaper and I honestly feel like you can find a lot more of a variety of clothes at a thrift store because it’s literally everything,” Martinez said.

According to art teacher Erica Crist, thrifting is more time consuming than regular shopping. Shopping for something specific a thrift stores can be difficult because of this.

“[Thrifting] definitely takes more time,” Crist said. “Sometimes I’ll just go thrifting if I have a little bit of extra time and I just keep a general list of things that I’m looking for so I just scan the aisles really fast and look for them. If you want something really specific, then it’s a lot easier to just go to a regular store.”

Crist has noticed both the benefits and the disadvantages to thrifting.

“A benefit to thrifting is that you can save a lot of money,” Crist said. “I think it helps eliminate some of the waste in such a consumer-driven society. It’s crazy how much stuff you’ll find there. However, a disadvantage to thrifting is just that it takes a little bit more time.”

Williams has experienced these disadvantages as well. She stresses the importance of being patient while thrifting.

“You have to go through every item of clothing so you just have to be patient and wait until you find something you really like,” Williams said.

While shopping at thrift stores is enjoyable for Martinez, donating to them is just as enjoyable for him.

“I think you should [donate],” Martinez said. “I do that a lot too because if I end up having a lot of clothes I don’t wear I just donate them and then somebody else can wear them.”

Crist’s experience thrifting has helped her gather helpful advice for someone looking to try thrifting for the first time.

“My advice would be to hit some of the thrift stores that aren’t as popular. There’s a lot of local churches and other organizations that have thrift stores that people don’t know about so [go] to those,” Crist said. “Also, go at the times when you know people are going to be getting rid of their stuff; a lot of people are getting rid of things at the new year. I’d also recommend finding a thrift store right when it’s opening.”