By Gene Ayres

This week's report that consumer confidence has reached the lowest levels in decades shouldn't be surprising, given that we've been hammered with a quadruple whammy of lower real income, falling property values (hence loss of equity), and sharp increases in the two most needed commodities these days: food and energy.

I can remember the last major downturn like this, in 1989, when I moved from California to Florida to raise my son, mostly because it was a lot cheaper there (and still is). One of the things that struck me most about the Florida economy at the time was that people who actually had jobs, apart from the plentiful doctors, lawyers and developers, all worked in the service economy, for low wages which, amazingly, are just as low today. I thought it pretty ironic that people who worked at Wal-Mart or K-Mart couldn't afford to shop anywhere else! I called it the Wal-Mart economy, which seems to be truer than ever today, unless you happen to have a nice job at Microsoft or Harborview.

I did learn some tricks about how to be a happy consumer even back then, without having to resort to shopping at K-Mart (the dollar stores didn't exist yet, at that time).

As it happened, my oldest and closest friends from my New York media days had a home in Palm Beach, and while visiting them I was amazed by a trend, or practice, that their chic neighbors found very fashionable to do even then: go shopping at the second hand stores (they go by various names, of course: thrift, resale, gently used, what have you). And it was easy to understand, because even rich people love a bargain, and what better place to find a bargain than a thrift store.

Here's why: those same rich (or even middle class) shoppers know exactly where all that stuff in the St. So-and-So's Happy Resale Shop comes from: their own closets! Woe unto the Palm Beach socialite should she wear that new Yves St. Laurent or whatever dress more than once. Hence, drop it off at the resale shop and take a nice tax deduction (often for full value). So a $1000 dress is suddenly back on the rack for a mere $100, or often much less. And the same goes for furnishings, dishes, glassware, silverware, electronics, even antiques. And unlike the dollar stores, not all of these goods are mass-produced in China. A lot of it is either name brand, or handmade in Iowa or North Carolina, or somebody's grandfather's workshop.

Recently I was browsing in such a shop when I saw a 50” plasma TV for sale. It was $500, and no takers, because now you can get a brand new LCD HD for not much more and why bother with a clunky old plasma? If sold at all, it will be for less than $100, in the end. My wife and I bought a complete oak dining set with expandable table and six chairs with silk cushions for $150 at one such store last year.

I've seen furs, antique tables, retro outfits and jewelry in those stores going for a fraction of their original cost. When it comes to certain clothing items, like jeans, this is especially amusing to me because the department stores sell “new” jeans that have been artificially aged, faded, or torn for $50 to $100 or more, whereas you can pick up the same ones in equal condition, including the same brand names, for $3-$5 at the thrift stores.

Unlike at jewelers and antique dealers (where, after all, used goods are stock and trade, the older the better) these shops, for the most part, do not employ skilled appraisers to evaluate whether or not that old mirror is a candidate for Antiques Road Show episode #208. They just need to raise some quick basic bucks for their respective charity (and they are almost all charity driven, that are worth shopping at) and depend on rapid turnover. As evidence of that, a local St. Vincent de Paul has a habit of putting stuff that hasn't sold out front for free, sometimes some pretty good stuff. And some of the items even come with warranties. Even deals in art and crafts can be found in these stores.

The new Goodwill in Shoreline has taken resale to a new level, by offering basic lines of new commodities alongside the used ones: things like socks, and underwear. Recently they had a rack of brand new leather coats and jackets in all sizes and varieties, all for less than $30 (granted, these were, in fact, from China).

So if we're going to be suffering through another Wal-Mart economy, there's no reason to have to spend it–or your diminishing hard-earned money–at Wal-Mart. Try your neighborhood thrift store, and spend it in style! That's where the real bargains can be found. And don't forget to donate. You too can take a tax deduction for recycling that high chair you no longer need, or bike rack. I still can't believe my neighbors who throw such things in the dumpster. If not some common sense, they at least could use a tax deduction.