I scored my best thrift find yet at Goodwill Bins for $2.70 – two colors gave away ‘designer jeans were worth up to $2k’

AS a regular at Goodwill Bins, I have come across a number of standout pieces – but my latest find might just be the best yet, and it cost me only $2.70.

Two bold, unmistakable colors on jeans’ label immediately grabbed my attention, often associated with designer price tags reaching up to $2,000.

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I frequently thrift at Goodwill Outlet because it offers many advantages over a regular Goodwill store[/caption]

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Goodwill Outlet is frequently referred to as “pound store” or “Goodwill Bins”[/caption]

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On my latest trip to Goodwill Bins, I spotted my best thrift find yet[/caption]

I am an avid fan of Goodwill Outlets – or what the regulars call “Goodwill Bins” – as they offer a wider selection of clothing at a significantly cheaper price point.

The bins differ from a regular Goodwill thrift store in that, instead of clothing racks, there are gigantic blue bins piled high with clothing, homeware, books, shoes, and more.

Another notable difference is that the items at Goodwill Bins are priced by the pound rather than by item.

You can score a pound of clothes, or about three to six items, for just under $2.

The bins are by far my favorite store to shop, although I will admit that you have to be in the mood to put in work to score big at a Goodwill Outlet.

Spotting the items worth finding can take some digging – while some people avoid the bins for that very reason, it’s my favorite part.

Every time I hit up Goodwill bins it feels like a treasure hunt, and I never know what I’ll walk away with.

A tag caught my eye on my latest trip to the bins, and I left the store with a designer lover’s dream pair of jeans in hand for just $2.70.

EYE CANDY

I made my way to the Goodwill Bins in South Austin, Texas, last Sunday around 6 pm.

The outlet is typically flooded with customers and resellers who stack several carts high with clothes, but this time, there weren’t nearly as many shoppers as normal.

Regardless, there is always tough competition at the bins to score the best finds.

Goodwill employees routinely swap out dug-through bins for newly stocked ones, chock-full of new pickings, instructing shoppers to wait behind a line before they give the go ahead.

Once the thrifters are given the signal, there is a mad dash to grab as many clothes as possible, with shoppers typically blindly snatching up armfuls of clothes.

On my latest trip to the bins, I waited a bit for everyone else to sift through the new selection and then started my way around the long line of bins, looking through them one at a time.

I began on one side, digging through each bin, and made my way all the way around to the bins on the opposite side.

By the time I had neared the end of the row, several hands had already passed through the bins and they were less than halfway full.

I was digging through the second to last bin in the section, and my eye caught something that many before had seemingly glanced over – a very distinctive red and green tag.

THRIFT GOLD

I saw the words “Gucci Jeans” printed on the label and quickly grabbed them before anyone else noticed, shocked that no one else had snatched them up yet considering just how many resellers frequented the outlet.

The light wash jeans featured a dark blue tag with the iconic red and green Gucci stripes, with “Elegant Design” stitched below in gold, as well as silver hardware engraved with the designer brand’s name.

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I spotted a pair of Gucci Jeans when I visit the Goodwill Outlet in Austin last weekend[/caption]

I tossed the jeans in my cart and covered them with the other clothes I had picked out to ensure no wandering hands could get a hold of them, finished my shopping, and headed to the checkout, confident I had secured my best thrifting find yet.

I rolled my cart onto the scale and ended up paying around $20 for 10 pounds of clothes, with the Gucci jeans accounting for roughly just $2.70 or so.

The second I got home, I Googled around to see the price of various jeans from the designer Italian brand with the intention of reselling mine, shocked to see some pairs priced at nearly $2,000 brand new.

I knew Gucci was expensive, but I didn’t realize prices got that high.

I looked through resale platforms such as Poshmark and eBay in search of the exact pair I had thrifted, but to no avail.

I even used Google reverse image search but couldn’t find the jeans.

Desperate, I sent some photos of the denim to handy ChatGPT, which informed me that my find was likely from the late 1990s to early 2000s.

It also revealed that, during this period, Gucci licensed its name to manufacturers such as Ittierre, which produced jeans that were not part of Gucci’s main luxury line, often made with different materials and quality standards.

The AI tool detailed how licensed Gucci Jeans from this time period were priced lower than mainline Gucci products, typically retailing between $100 and $300 and reselling between $150 and $200.

Although slightly disappointed that my Goodwill Bins jeans weren’t as pricey as a pair of mainline Gucci jeans, I was still pleasantly surprised that I could potentially make over 7,300% profit.

DEAL DISCOVERY

I then decided to ask ChatGPT if my thrifted denim seemed authentic, and was disheartened at the bot’s response: “These jeans are almost certainly not authentic Gucci.”

The artificial intelligence tool outlined how Gucci had never released a line of jeans labeled “Elegant Design,” with that type of wording generally found on counterfeit or knockoff items.

The button design, embroidery style, and placement of logos all aligned with known counterfeit trends, especially from the 2000s, according to ChatGPT.

I’m still not entirely certain whether or not the jeans are the real deal, as they seem to be made from high quality, soft denim, and the leather patch on the back pocket feels authentic.

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The back pocket of the jeans features a circular leather patch and red and green Gucci-style detail[/caption]

Not to mention, ChatGPT isn’t always the most reliable source.

If they do turn out to be genuine Gucci jeans, I’d say that they were well worth $2.70.

And it’s not completely out of the ordinary to find designer and high-end brands at the bins.

I’ve come across a number of expensive pieces, including a brand new Skims crop top with the tags still on it as well as a new Triangl bikini set – both worth over $100 brand new.

I have also taken home an Aviator 5 Stripe Hoodie and a pair of vintage Lawman jeans, reselling them on Poshmark for hundreds of dollars.

Many other savvy shoppers have come upon valuable finds at the thrift store.

For example, one Goodwill shopper was stunned after spotting a $13 “thrift of the year” – the tag alone makes it worth $1,169.

Another customer thrifted a beautiful bag from Goodwill for just $20 – but two initials on the outside immediately made it worth $3,200.

The U.S. Sun

I paid just $2.70 for the light wash denim jeans at Goodwill Bins, where items are priced by the pound[/caption]