New 2 You

You probably already know that New 2 You is chock full of staples like tees, jeans and leggings, but our racks are also full of current, trendy items as well. In “10 Fashion Trends You Can Easily Thrift,” Society19 makes it easy to pick up affordable items at New 2 You, and pair them with other basics in your closet for the perfect, on-trend look.

Thrift shopping at New 2 You is already your best bet for finding high quality clothing, shoes, decor and more at incredible prices, but discovering must-have can be an art form. On her blog Unexpectedly Domestic, author Rebecca outlines her ‘27 Easy & Fun Thrift Store Shopping Tips and Tricks,’ including Visit Often, Shop on Days with Extra Discounts and Donate Your Own Items Regularly. Check it out, and start shopping today!

This week’s donation organization tip covers going through your garage and shed!

The garage and shed are places just big enough for us to store too many items, and it can be easy to start to forget what is in the back, or on the bottom shelf. It can be daunting to go through and clean/organize a garage. Hopefully some of these tips will help you figure out the best way to organize your garage and shed donations. 

Here are some tips to help you organize garage & shed items you’d like to donate! 

• The number one thing to do before donating items out of your shed/garage is to make sure your items are clean. We know yard tools, bikes, and toys get used frequently– but if you’re hoping to donate these things and they’ve been sitting in the back of your garage collecting dust and cobwebs, it’s really helpful to us if you just wipe them down before bringing them in!

• If your tools are rusty, we cannot sell them. We understand tools both for the garden and construction projects get used in dirty settings, and some wear and tear is no problem. However, if the metal is rusted, it is not safe for us to have it on the selling floor. 

• Check for broken items before donating. If your items are cracked or broken we are unable to sell them. 
  • Frequently donated items that we receive broken:
    • Garden hose reels
    • Flower pots (please note, we are unable to sell the plastic flower pots that your plants come in when you purchase them)
    • Shovels
    • Kids toys (plastic bikes, sandbox toys, etc.)
  • We are so glad to receive these donations, we just ask that you double check to see if they’re functional first!

• We cannot accept gas powered lawnmowers/tools. It is a safety risk for us to have something on the store floor that could potentially leak gas. Thank you for understanding!

• The last tip we’re offering is just to check what’s inside your boxes before donating. We know it can be tempting to just take all the boxes from the back shelves and drop them off, but we appreciate it if you’re able to sort out what might be broken or unusable before bringing it over. 

We are so grateful for all of the support we receive from all of you. We are incredibly blessed to have people who send us kind words of encouragement during this time while we are closed. We are doing our best to prepare for the day we can open again. Until then, we hope you know how grateful we are for you and your dedication to our store!

Until next week,

Your friends at New 2 You

This week’s donation organization tip covers your toy box and game closet.

 We know that games and toys are things that fit to particular times of life. Of course your kids don’t need their baby toys when they’re older because they’ve outgrown those toys. You can take that idea one step further with other games and puzzles. Maybe there are some games and puzzles in the back of your closet that you enjoyed a few years ago, but you prefer others now. We’d love to take those old games off of your hands! This way the game you don’t get as much joy out of, or that puzzle you’ve already done enough times can bring excitement to someone who has never done it before. 

Here are some tips to help you organize the toys and games you would like to donate:

• For games and puzzles, first check to see if your game or puzzle is complete. 
  • This isn’t to say that we won’t take a puzzle or game if it’s missing one piece or so, but if it’s missing enough to make the game unplayable we are not able to sell it. 
  • If your game or puzzle is missing something, please label on the box “missing one piece”, or if it’s complete, just label it “complete”. This saves us a lot of time counting and checking for pieces!
  • Check for wear and tear on game parts, for example, the playing board or cards.
• For all toys, and especially stuffed animals and dolls, check for missing parts, broken parts, rips, stains, and sticky spots.
• If you have larger baby toys such as bouncers, or exersaucers that may have been sitting in the basement or attic for a while, make sure they’re functional and wiped clean. 
  • *Note, we are unable to accept cribs and carseats.
• It’s always helpful to us when items come presorted, so if you’re donating toys and games along with other items, we’d love it if they had their own bag.

Hopefully this challenge of sorting through old games, puzzles, and toys will bring you happy memories as you remember when these items had different value to you. 

Until next week,

Your friends at New 2 You