Former Alberta Value Village Employee Reveals Secret Tips For Shopping In Canada
Did you know that you can get paid when you drop off donations?
Value Village store.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
For all you Value Village thrifters out there, this former Value Village Calgary employee has some secret tips that will help you save money and get the best selection (including some designer finds). She told Narcity all about working for the company, and how they actually determine their prices.
Paytton Lynn, @itspayttonlynn on TikTok, stopped working for Value Village a couple of months ago, but still works in the industry at a consignment store.
@itspayttonlynn Visit TikTok to discover videos!
She told Narcity all of her thrifting tips, and answered burning questions many Canadians have about Value Village — like what is the best day to shop there is and how they price clothes.
What is the best day to go to thrift stores?
When asked what the best day to go shopping at Value Village is, Lynn said that for seniors, Tuesday is the way to go, as they get 30% off.
In terms of getting new stock, she said that it actually gets put out every day. She did recommend going early in the week though, "before the weekend craze."
How can you save money at Value Village?
It turns out that you can actually get money off your next purchase when you donate at Value Village. Lynn said that at the store she worked for, you could get a 20% off coupon every time you donate.
"Just make sure to tell an associate you've dropped something off if they didn't notice," she said.
How can you find designer clothes at Value Village?
"With designer clothing, you just need to know what you're looking for and be able to tell what is fake and what's not, which will take time and practice," Lynn said.
A cool tip she had for shoppers was to look up the exact item they found at Value Village on eBay, and compare the clothing tags. That way you can see if it's fake or not.
"Obvious give always for fake designer brands are misspelling, different font, larger font, etc. Keep an eye out for Jimmy Choo heels and handbags. Surprisingly I saw a lot of that while working there," she added.
How does Value Village determine the prices?
Value Village is a thrift shop, but every now and then you'll see something pretty pricey. Lynn said that the company "determines their prices based off damage, wear/condition, and worth."
"If you ask me, lately their prices have skyrocketed and even when I worked there no one could tell me why we started pricing higher," she added.
What are the benefits of working at Value Village?
Lynn said that the best part of her job was the employee discount, which was "pretty good." She also loved her co-workers and supervisors at the store.
As for the worst parts of the gig, she said that it was "by far the upper management and the customers."
What are the most annoying things customers do at Value Village?
Since customers were one of the worst parts about working there, we had to ask Lynn for some examples.
She said that it was annoying when customers piled "shopping carts worth of clothes onto the racks by all the mirrors."
"It was a nightmare cleaning up the store after close because so much miscellaneous crap was just thrown all over the place left by customers who didn’t want to put it back," she added.
On the weekend shifts, she said that workers would have to stay an extra hour just to clean up after closing if it was busy that day.
What's the best section at Value Village?
Value Village has a ton of different sections, so you probably want to know where to be-line to when you walk in. Lynn thinks that the best section is the "showcase," which is the locked glass display case.
She said it keeps jewellery, shoes, and other unique items.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.