Thrift Score [Paperback]

Al Hoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1997

Shopping is America's No. 1 pastime, but nothing beats the thrill of thrift shopping, The lowest prices! One-of-a-kind items! Oddities from the past!

Let All Hoff, a 20-year veteran of the thrift-store wars, tell you why you must always check the toy section (thrifts stick the best weird stuff there) or how to try on clothes in the aisle without showing your underwear!

Thrift Score is packed with fun information: Learn the origins of thrift-store perennials like plastic dinnerware, polyester shirts and paint-by-number masterpieces. Get smart about buying used clothes. Discover new uses for previously overlooked items like bowling balls and Herb Alpert records. See how easy it is to gather up common thrift items and throw fabulous theme parties -- Tiki Party tonight! New Wave Party tomorrow! Marvel at the folly of dead fads like designer jeans, CB radio and fondue.

Thrift Score is a funny, useful book no serious thrifter or thrifter wannabe should be without.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

These inexpensive guides represent both sides of the secondhand market craze. For those who like their haute couture on the cheap, Schneider lists hundreds of consignment stores nationwide, as well as in Australia, Ireland, France, Canada, and England. The listings include name, address, phone number, hours of operation, and specialties. From Alabama's Birmingham Antique Mall to St. Alban's Born Again Clothing in Worland, Wyoming, this has just what the converted consignment store shopper will need. Hoff, creator of the zine ThriftSCORE, offers not so much the where but the why and why not of thrift stores. Her philosophy is simple: life is a never-ending treasure hunt, and if you like what you dig up and it's cheap enough, buy it. She offers tips on finding the best collectibles, how to browse shops, and even how to analyze the cars in the parking lot for obvious yuppie interlopers. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Hoff makes thrift-shop hunting seem like the only way to go. Her book is funny and might convince those who think of thrift-shops as just this side of the town dump that the value of anything is in the eye?and pocketbook?of the beholder. Both books are recommended for public libraries.?Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1st edition (August 22, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060952091
• ISBN-13: 978-0060952099
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,000,922 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally! Someone who gets it . . ., June 16, 2004

By 

Justine R. Raphael "The New Hunter Gatherer" (Port Angeles Wa, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thrift Score (Paperback)

When I picked the book up, I thought it was going to be a guide of the "tips and tricks" sort. There is enough of that to make the book useful, but what really fed me (other than being able to show my husband that there are legions of others like me out there . . .) was the smart and funny analysis of the Who and Why of thrifting, the sociology and cultural anthropology, if you will allow me to describe something so "lowbrow" as thrifting in such intellectual terms.
Al Hoff's review of different periods of available stuff made me want to go out and BUY! For small change, of course.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why do you thrift ?, July 6, 2001

By 

Kenneth J. Greer (Niles, MI. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thrift Score (Paperback)

I initially bought this book for my wife and started paging through it to take a look. I ended up reading the whole thing. This book has it all, from the philosophy of why people thrift to where to look in the store for those hidden bargains. I hate to admit it, but I think I have been converted into a thrifter. I highly recommend getting this book, but don't wait until you find it in a thrift.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Someone From My Own Heart: Thrift Philosophy, January 12, 2005

By 

John (Southfield, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thrift Score (Paperback)

Even before discovering this delightful book, I developed into a thrift-shopping fanatic. My discovery of this book came from my desire to expand on my thrift-shopping philosophy. Naturally, I used libraries and the INTERNET to get more info about this phenomenon. I came across this book.

Before I read it, I told others about my thrifting thirst. I was accused of being "obsessed" with thrift stores. I have been told that thrifting is only for the poor and downtrodden. I continued doing it. Then I read this book. I became excited that "I" am not the only one who thrift shops as a way of life. That made me feel good.

Much of what she discussed in the book, I had discovered before reading the book. However, she did mention things that I had not thought about. This broadened my mind. I also enjoy the history lessons explaining some of what one might encounter in the stores.

There are times when I would recommend checking a book out of the library. However, for those who are inveterate thrifters, or those who have an interest in it, this is a book that should be "bought". This represent an encyclopedia, the "BIBLE"of the thrift philosophy.

This book shows that people who are not rich, can appear to be by buying thrift.

I wish that I could someday meet Al Hoff.